Patent ID: 7620923
Filing Date: 2009-11-17
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method of determining which routing resources of an integrated circuit (IC) are available for use in routing a multi-fanout net, said method comprising: defining a bounding perimeter encompassing the multi-fanout net, wherein the bounding perimeter is sized according to, and comprises, locations of a source and each of a plurality of loads of the multi-fanout net; identifying routing resources within the bounding perimeter and a type for each identified routing resource, wherein type specifies length and orientation of the routing resource; qualifying routing resources within the bounding perimeter which conform to a routing template, wherein the routing template specifies a permissible sequence of routing resource types that must be used to route a signal path; and constraining a router to consider only qualified routing resources when performing a routing expansion for the multi-fanout net.