Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A computer-implemented method for generating a layout of an integrated circuit design, the method comprising:invoking the computer to transform integrated circuit design data to a plurality of shapes associated with the design;determining, via the computer and from the data, a first set of spacings from a first one of the plurality of shapes associated with a first cell of the design to a boundary associated with the first cell;determining, via the computer and from the data, a second set of spacings from the boundary to a second one of the plurality of shapes associated with a second cell of the design; andgenerating, via the computer, a neighborhood of shapes within the layout of the integrated circuit based on the first and second set of spacings, wherein a chip is fabricated based on the generated layout. 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:characterizing a lithography process using the first and second set of spacings; andgenerating a mapping from the first and second set of spacings to the lithography process. 3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:generating at least one of leakage information or timing information based on the first and second sets of spacings. 4. The method of claim 2 wherein characterizing the lithography process comprises characterizing effective transistor channel lengths as a function of the first and second set of spacings. 5. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a mapping from the first and second set of spacings to a lithography process. 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a mapping from the first and second set of spacings to leakage. 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a mapping from the first and second set of spacings to timing. 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the first one of the plurality of shapes or the second one of the plurality of shapes comprises a polysilicon transistor shape. 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the first one of the plurality of shapes or the second one of the plurality of shapes comprises a wiring shape. 10. A computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium for generating a layout of an integrated circuit design, the computer program product comprising:code for invoking the computer to transform integrated circuit design data to a plurality of shapes associated with the design;code for determining a first set of spacings from a first one of the plurality of shapes associated with a first cell of the design to a boundary associated with the first cell;code for determining a second set of spacings from the boundary to a second one of the plurality of shapes associated with a second cell of the design;code for generating a neighborhood of shapes within the layout of the integrated circuit based on the first and second set of spacings, wherein a chip is fabricated based on the generated layout. 11. The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising:code for at least generating at least one of leakage information or timing information based on the first and second sets of spacings. 12. The computer program product of claim 10 wherein the code for characterizing the lithography process comprises code for characterizing effective transistor channel lengths as a function of the first and second set of spacings. 13. The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising code for generating the mapping from the first and second set of spacings to leakage. 14. The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising code for generating the mapping from the first and second set of spacings to timing. 15. The computer program product of claim 10 wherein the first one of the plurality of shapes or the second one of the plurality of shapes comprises a polysilicon transistor shape. 16. The computer program product of claim 10 wherein the first one of the plurality of shapes or the second one of the plurality of shapes comprises a wiring shape. 17. A system for generating a layout of an integrated circuit design, the system comprising:a processor; anda non-transitory memory storing a set of instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to:transform integrated circuit design data to a plurality of shapes associated with the design;determine a first set of spacings from a first one of the plurality of shapes associated with the first cell of the design to a boundary associated with the first cell;determine a second set of spacings from the boundary to a second one of the plurality of shapes associated with a second cell of the design; andgenerate a neighborhood of shapes within the layout of the integrated circuit based on the first and second set of spacings, wherein a chip is fabricated based on the generated layout. 18. The system of claim 17 wherein the set of instructions further cause the processor to:generate a mapping between the first set of spacings and the second set of spacings. 19. The system of claim 17 wherein the set of instructions further cause the processor to generate leakage information based on the first and second sets of spacings. 20. The system of claim 17 wherein the set of instructions further cause the processor to generate leakage information based on the first and second sets of spacings.