Fast power/ground network optimization based on equivalent circuit modeling

• Published in: Design Automation, 2001 Proceedings pp. 550 - 554
• Main Authors: Tan, X.-D. Sheldon, Shi, C.-J. Richard
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY, USA ACM 01.01.2001; IEEE
• Series: ACM Conferences
• Subjects: Applied computing > Physical sciences and engineering > Electronics; Applied computing > Physical sciences and engineering > Engineering; Constraint optimization; Equivalent circuits; Hardware > Electronic design automation > Logic synthesis > Circuit optimization; Hardware > Electronic design automation > Physical design (EDA); Hardware > Emerging technologies; Hardware > Robustness; Hardware > Very large scale integration design; Integrated circuit reliability; Linear programming; Mathematics of computing > Mathematical analysis > Mathematical optimization > Continuous optimization > Linear programming; Optimization methods; Permission; Resistors; Sun; Technological innovation; Theory of computation > Design and analysis of algorithms > Mathematical optimization > Continuous optimization > Linear programming; Wire
• ISBN: 1581132972; 9781581132977
• ISSN: 0738-100X
• DOI: 10.1145/378239.379021

This paper presents an efficient algorithm for optimizing the area of power or ground networks in integrated circuits subject to the reliability constraints. Instead of solving the original power/ground networks extracted from circuit layouts as previous methods did, the new method first builds the equivalent models for many series resistors in the original networks, then the sequence of linear programming method [9] is used to solve the simplified networks. The solutions of the original networks then are back solved from the optimized, simplified networks. The new algorithm simply exploits the regularities in the power/ground networks. Experimental results show that the complexities of simplified networks are typically significantly smaller than that of the original circuits, which renders the new algorithm extremely fast. For instance, power/ground networks with more than one million branches can be sized in a few minutes on modern SUN workstations.