Abstract:
A CRC redundancy calculation circuit and a design structure including the circuit embodied in a machine readable medium are presented. The CRC redundancy calculation circuit is pipelined to run at high frequencies and configured to operate on an arbitrary multiple of the base granularity of the data packet. Additionally, the CRC redundancy calculation circuit provides the same multiple of outputs that provide intermediary output remainder values. Thus, for example, a circuit which processes 24 bytes of packet data per cycle and which the packets have a 4 byte granularity, the CRC redundancy calculation circuit provides 6 output remainder values, one for each 4 byte slice of data.

Description:
[0001]    This application is related to co-pending and co-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/673,086, filed Feb. 9, 2007, currently pending. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates generally to systems for ensuring integrity of data communications in high bandwidth applications, and more particularly, to a novel apparatus for providing data redundancy checks and a design structure including the apparatus embodied in a machine readable medium. 
         [0004]    2. Discussion of the Prior Art 
         [0005]    A typical requirement of any data transfer system, such as a high-speed PCI Express or Infiniband serial bus system, is to provide verification of write data transferred by the system. Thus, typically, write data is encoded in accordance with an error checking algorithm, such as a cyclic redundancy check algorithm (CRC), and the resultant check data appended to the write data. The data is then checked at the other side of the PCI bus system by the same algorithm, including the check data, and, if the data is error free, the remainder of the redundancy calculation is typically an all zero output. 
         [0006]    The majority of current communications standards require the computation of a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) for data packets sent. As successive standards increase the bandwidth of data, the bandwidth for CRC computation will likewise increase. Current CRC circuits that provide CRC redundancy calculations do not scale well as the CRC value increases, nor as the amount of data processed per cycle increases. Sizes of current solutions can scale with the square of the amount of data processed per cycle. 
         [0007]    Previous solutions addressed increased bandwidth. For example, commonly-owned, co-pending United States Patent Publication No. U.S. 2005/0268209 (hereinafter “the &#39;209 publication”) assigned to International Business Machines Corp., and incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, describes a novel cyclic redundancy check generation circuit that comprises an efficient pipelined solution with built in recursion for increasing bandwidth. Thus, a fast pipelined CRC circuit that operates on 256 bits of data per cycle is known in the art, however, a total data length of the data packet must be a multiple of 256 bits. While this may be acceptable in some highly specific situations, many common industry standards have a much smaller data packet granularity, which would prevent the applicability of the previous solutions. For example, both the Infiniband and PCI-Express bidirectional serial data bus configurations that provide very fast serial connection, e.g., at least 2.5 gigabits per second (Gbit/s) or greater in each direction, utilize packets that are multiples of 32 bits in length. Any CRC circuit that operates on these standards will need to function at a high bandwidth and operate on a 32 bit granularity, as well as being restrained size-wise. 
         [0008]      FIG. 1A  illustrates conceptually a current solution  10  requiring the cascading of 32 bit CRC calculators, for example, each combinatorial CRC32 — 32 block  15  within combinatorial block  11  representing the circuitry for calculating the CRC signature for each successive 32 bit portion of the data (message) latch  12 . It is understood that the byte granularity is configurable depending upon the application, e.g., may be sixteen bytes or eight bytes, etc. For example, the CRC32 block  15   a  generating the CRC signature for the first 32 bits of the message slice, the next block  15   b  for the first 64 bits, and so on. Thus, the last block  15   n  calculates the CRC signature for the 192 bit message. The latch  16  at the output feeds back the data to the first 32 byte calculator  15   a , so that the next cycle can begin for the next data portion. Each output  14  represents the CRC remainder computed on a specific multiple of the base granularity date message. For example, output  14   a  represents the CRC signature for the first 32 bits of the message slice, output  14   b  for the first 64 bits, and so on. Thus output  14   n  represents the CRC signature for the 192 bit message slice. However, this solution effectually linearly increases the critical timing path as the size of the data message slice increases, which is too long for today&#39;s high frequency operations, e.g., 250 MHz operation, or greater, example. 
         [0009]      FIG. 1B  further illustrates conceptually each CRC calculator block  15 . The portion of the data message from data latch  12  is connected to a 32 bit input, 32 bit output data XOR tree  150 . The XOR logic in data XOR tree  150  is understood to be constructed to implement the data-related specific type of CRC calculation desired for CRC calculator block  15 . The CRC remainder input to CRC calculator block  15  is connected to a 32 bit input, 32 bit output remainder NOR tree  151 . The XOR logic in remainder XOR tree  151  is understood to be constructed to implement the remainder-related specific type of CRC calculation desired for CRC calculator block  15 . The outputs of XOR trees  150  and  151  are connected to a 32×2 input XOR function block  152 . 
         [0010]      FIG. 2  illustrates a CRC calculator solution  18  as described in the exemplary related art described in the &#39;209 publication, which includes a first partition comprising a set of XOR subtrees and latches  215  for processing the data bits and a second partition is a set of XOR subtrees and latches  210  for processing the remainder bits of the CRC. Both partitions are multi-level partitions, each level comprised of multiple XOR subtrees and latches. The outputs of XOR subtrees and latches  210  and  215  are connected to a 32 by 2-input XOR gate  220 . The output of XOR gate  220  is connected to a current CRC remainder latch  205 . The output of latch  205  is connected to remainder partition NOR subtrees and latches  210 . Preferably, each XOR subtrees of the data partition is no slower than the slowest XOR subtree in the remainder partition. Each level of NOR subtrees performs a portion of the CRC calculation and each XOR subtree belonging to a particular level performs a portion of the portion of the CRC calculation performed by the level. The size of the largest remainder subtree is chosen so that all the XOR calculation it performs can be completed in one clock cycle at the desired frequency. Since all the XOR subtrees of the data partition and the remainder partition are no slower than the slowest remainder XOR subtree, each data partition levels portion of the CRC is preferably performed in one clock cycle or less. 
         [0011]    With reference to the  FIG. 2 , the prior art apparatus as described in the &#39;209 publication is still fixed to the m-bit wide data portions and messages are typically not multiples of “m” bits. M on the average could be m 192 bits, e.g. multiples of 32 bits, however, messaging generally implements packets that are not necessarily multiples of M -thus, there may be leftover bits. Consequently, there needs to be a mechanism for calculating the CRC signature for the leftover bits  8  or  16 , or like multiple of the base granularity (e.g., 32 bits). That is, a mechanism is needed to obtain the CRC signature of only last message portion (i.e. leftover information). 
         [0012]    It would thus be highly desirable to provide a CRC circuit, system and method that is pipelined to run at high frequencies that operates on these standards, i.e., is capable of processing at a high bandwidth and operate on a 32 bit packet granularity, as well as operating on an arbitrary multiple of the base granularity of the data packet. 
         [0013]    It would further be highly desirable to provide a CRC circuit, system and method that is pipelined to run at high frequencies system and that additionally operates on an arbitrary multiple of the base granularity of the data packet, and provides the same multiple of outputs that provide intermediary output remainder values. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    The present invention addresses improvements in the CRC redundancy systems generally, and particularly is directed to a novel CRC circuit employed in data redundancy systems which is pipelined to run at high frequencies. 
         [0015]    According to the present invention, there is provided a CRC circuit that is pipelined to run at high frequencies. This CRC circuit also operates on an arbitrary multiple of the base granularity of the data packet, and provides the same multiple of outputs that provide intermediary output remainder values. Thus, for example, a circuit which processes 24 bytes of packet data per cycle and which the packets have a 4 byte granularity, this disclosure describes a CRC circuit that provides 6 output remainder values, one for each 4 byte slice of data. 
         [0016]    Thus, there is provided a method and apparatus for pipelined cyclic redundancy check (CRC), the apparatus comprising: 
         [0017]    a plurality of cascaded CRC calculator blocks each for generating a CRC value for data of a respective slice of a data packet; 
         [0018]    a plurality of XOR logic trees adapted to accept CRC input data, the XOR logic trees coupled to the plurality of cascaded CRC calculator blocks and generating intermediate CRC remainder results; and, 
         [0019]    at least one remainder latch device adapted to receive and save an intermediate CRC remainder result between the cascaded CRC calculator blocks. 
         [0020]    In the apparatus, one remainder latch device is coupled in series between two cascaded CRC calculator blocks for reducing a critical path length. 
         [0021]    Moreover, the apparatus effects the realization that the CRC input to CRC calculator block could actually be a combinatorial output of the previous cycle of packet data and the previous cycle CRC value. Thus, a first of the cascaded CRC calculator blocks receives a CRC packet data slice input at a cycle “j” comprising a combinatorial output of a previous cycle of packet data for cycle “j-1” and a previous cycle CRC value (for cycle j-1), in a pipelined process. 
         [0022]    Moreover, a first of the at least one remainder latch devices is propagated through the critical path to achieve balanced timing paths. 
         [0023]    Advantageously, the pipelined cyclic redundancy check (CRC) apparatus is adapted for CRC processing an arbitrary multiple of a base granularity byte value of a data packet. 
         [0024]    Advantageously, according to the apparatus and methodology of the invention, many recursive steps potentially implemented for a CRC calculator block depending upon the configuration. 
         [0025]    In another aspect of the invention, a design structure embodied in a machine readable medium is also provided that includes: 
         [0026]    a plurality of cascaded CRC calculator blocks each for generating a CRC value for data of a respective slice of a data packet; 
         [0027]    a plurality of XOR logic trees adapted to accept CRC input data, the XOR logic trees coupled to the plurality of cascaded CRC calculator blocks and generating intermediate CRC remainder results; and, 
         [0028]    at least one remainder latch device adapted to receive and save an intermediate CRC remainder result between the cascaded CRC calculator blocks. 
         [0029]    In another aspect of the invention, a design structure embodied in a machine readable medium is also provided that includes: 
         [0030]    a plurality of cascaded CRC calculator blocks each for generating a CRC value for data of a respective slice of a data packet, wherein a first of said cascaded CRC calculator blocks receives a CRC packet data slice input at a cycle “j” comprising a combinatorial output of a previous cycle of packet data for cycle “j-1” and a previous cycle CRC value for cycle j-1, in a pipelined process, and wherein a first of said at least one remainder latch devices is propagated through the critical path to achieve balanced timing paths; 
         [0031]    a plurality of XOR logic trees adapted to accept CRC input data, the XOR logic trees coupled to the plurality of cascaded CRC calculator blocks and generating intermediate CRC remainder results; 
         [0032]    at least one remainder latch device adapted to receive and save an intermediate CRC remainder result between the cascaded CRC calculator blocks; and 
         [0033]    means for initializing a CRC remainder value when generating a CRC redundancy check value in a first cycle. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0034]    The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art, in view of the following detailed description taken in combination with the attached drawings, in which: 
           [0035]      FIG. 1A  depicts a current CRC solution  10  having cascading 32 byte calculators that would double the critical path length, which results in too long a path for a 250 MHz communication channel; 
           [0036]      FIG. 1B  depicts a combinatorial 32 bit CRC calculator  15  such as implemented in the current CRC solution of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0037]      FIG. 2  depicts a an exemplary 32-bit CRC circuit calculator  18  in accordance with the &#39;209 publication. 
           [0038]      FIG. 3A  depicts a CRC solution  100  according to a first embodiment of the invention, that implements cascading of 32 byte calculators  15 ″ whereby the CRC input to the first calculator, e.g., at a cycle “j” is a combinatorial output of the previous cycle of packet data (for cycle j-1) and the previous cycle CRC value (for cycle j-1) in a pipelined process; 
           [0039]      FIG. 3B  depicts a CRC calculator block  20  as implemented in  FIG. 3A , calculating CRC remainder values on 192 bits of packet data; 
           [0040]      FIG. 4A  illustrates a CRC calculator block  30  comprising a cascaded CRC32 — 32 block preceded by a CRC192 — 32 bloc and the previous latched cycle data  12 ′ (cycle j-1); 
           [0041]      FIG. 4B  illustrates an alternative embodiment wherein the X_in latch can be pushed through its portion of the XOR tree, resulting in approximately the same critical path as a normal CRC32 — 32 block of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0042]      FIG. 4C  illustrates a preferred embodiment wherein all XOR logic blocks are collapsed; 
           [0043]      FIG. 5  depicts a CRC solution  200  as in the prior implementation of  FIG. 2 , however, implementing the cascaded coupling of 32 byte calculators having the same critical path length however with an extra pipeline stage embodied as the CRC224 — 32 block  30 ; 
           [0044]      FIG. 6  shows a CRC solution  300  that implements cascading of 32 byte calculators having a reduced critical path length as a result of pushing the latch  16  back through the XOR trees of the circuit  200  of  FIG. 5 , e.g., by configuring the latch between the third and fourth cascaded CRC blocks  15   c,    15   d,  respectively; 
           [0045]      FIG. 7  shows the CRC solution as depicted in the circuit  100  of  FIG. 3  however now showing initial latch values (for the latch  16 ,  16 ′) that are obtained by determining the “negative” CRC values for the packet; and, 
           [0046]      FIG. 8  is a diagram of a circuit  300  circuit implementing generic parameters including circuitry for initializing packet data input for the “negative” cycles. 
           [0047]      FIG. 9  is a flow diagram of a design process used in semiconductor designing, manufacturing and/or testing. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0048]    As an extension to the teachings provided in the &#39;209 publication,  FIG. 3A  illustrates an intermediary pipelined CRC redundancy check solution  100  according to a first embodiment of the invention, that implements the cascading of 32 byte calculators  15   a , . . . ,  15   n  whereby each CRC input to a calculator, e.g., at a cycle “j” is actually a combinatorial output of the previous cycle of packet data (data from data latch  12 ′ for cycle “j-1”) and the previous cycle CRC value (for cycle j-1), in a pipelined process. Thus, the CRC calculator block  20  labeled CRC192 — 32, represents the combinatorial calculation of a 32 bit CRC from 192 bits of data for the previous cycle data  12 ′ (cycle j-1) and provides the CRC remainder for the next cycle processing, i.e., cycle “j” processing. That is, the output of CRC calculator block  20  labeled CRC192 — 32 is actually the output  14   n  of the combinatorial cascaded calculator block  11  of  FIG. 1A  for input to the CRC32 — 32 block  15   a . As shown in  FIG. 3A , by computing two cycles worth (cycle j- 1  and cycle j) of CRC data, two latches  16 ,  16 ′ are provided for latching current CRC remainder (cycle j) and the CRC remainder (cycle j-1), respectively, that are fed back to the CRC byte calculators. 
         [0049]      FIG. 3B  illustrates the CRC calculator block  20  of  FIG. 3A . The data from data latch  12 ′ is connected to a 192 bit input, 32 bit output data XOR tree  22 . The XOR logic in data XOR tree  22  is understood to be constructed to implement the data-related specific type of CRC calculation desired for CRC calculator block  20 . The CRC remainder input to CRC calculator block  20  is connected to a 32 bit input, 32 bit output remainder XOR tree  21 . The XOR logic in remainder XOR tree  21  is understood to be constructed to implement the remainder-related specific type of CRC calculation desired for CRC calculator block  20 . The outputs of XOR trees  21  and  22  are connected to a 32×2 input XOR function block  152 . 
         [0050]    Referring now to  FIG. 4A , the calculation of the leftmost output  14   a  of  FIG. 3A  is depicted as comprising a cascaded CRC32 — 32 block  15  preceded by a CRC192 — 32 block  20  and the previous latched cycle data  12 ′ (cycle j-1).  FIG. 4A  thus depicts one solution, however, the combinatorial logic path from the previous latched cycle data  12 ′ to the output of CRC calculator block  15  is excessively long. As depicted in  FIG. 4B , the X_in latch  12 ′ is thus removed, and a new latch  12 ″ is added to the output. It is noted that the deletion of latch  12 ′ and addition of latch  12 ″ does not change the functionality of the circuit. It is additionally noted that the arrangement of the XOR logic blocks ( 150 ,  152 ) has been changed, and understood that this also does not change the functionality of the circuit. 
         [0051]    Referring now to  FIG. 4C , a CRC calculator  30  is depicted. Remainder XOR trees  151  and  21  have combined to form remainder XOR tree  31 . XOR logic blocks  150  are combined to form XOR logic block  33 . It is noted that when combining cascaded CRC blocks, the size of the XOR tree for the CRC inputs is bounded; it stays roughly the same size no matter the amount of data processed. It is further understood that latch  12 ″ results in the CRC calculator  30  having approximately the same critical path as in the prior solutions, e.g., embodiment  100  depicted in  FIG. 3 . That is, rolling the latched X_in value into the first block of the CRC calculator yields a pipelined computation of the CRC value. The current data in is XOR&#39;d according to the CRC requirements and latched which preserves the critical timing path. That is, as shown in  FIG. 4C , this configuration disregards the large XOR block before the latch, however, it results in about the same length as the overall critical path in the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 4A . If it is not, it can be easily added at another stage. 
         [0052]      FIG. 5  depicts a CRC solution  200  as in the circuit implementation  100  of  FIG. 3A , however implementing the cascaded coupling of 32 byte calculators having the same critical path length but with an extra pipeline stage embodied as the CRC224 — 32 block  30 . In this embodiment, however, the critical timing path from CRC224 — 32 block  30  to output  14   n  remains unsatisfactorily long. With the presence of latch  16 ′ connected directly the output of latch  16 , there is a pipeline stage comprising no logic. These two pipeline stages are unbalanced. 
         [0053]    Referring thus to  FIG. 6 , a CRC calculator solution  300  is depicted whereby latch  16  has been removed, and new latches  16 ″ and  17  are added. Latch  16 ″ is inserted between CRC32 — 32 block  15   c  and CRC32 — 32 block  15   d . Latches  17  are added before the data inputs to CRC32 — 32 blocks  15   d,    15   e,  and  15   n.  The placement of the latch  16 ″ in the critical path is selected as to provide balance in the two pipelined cycles. The first pipeline stage now comprises of CRC224 — 32 block  30  and CRC32 — 32 blocks  15   b  and  15   c . The second pipeline stage now comprises CRC32 — 32 blocks  15   d,    15   e,  and  15   n.  It is understood that the deletion of latch  16  and the addition of latches  16 ″ and latches  17  do not change the functionality of the circuit. Thus the cascaded path is now broken in half due to the insertion of latch  16 ″, and consequently the critical timing path length is likewise significantly reduced. Thus, the circuit solution  300  depicted in  FIG. 6  operates with increased speed as only three CRC32 — 32 (combinatorial) blocks are processed before encountering the latch. The only extra logic is the added XOR tree in the CRC224 — 32 block  30  such as shown in  FIG. 4C . 
         [0054]    One solution for initializing the circuit  300  when the first piece of a packet arrives is now described. Traditionally, the CRC remainder is initialized to an all 1&#39;s value at the start of the packet. However, with the circuit of the present invention, the current CRC value is calculated on the previous cycle of data and remainder as well as the current cycle of data. Since at the start of a packet there is no previous cycle of packet data, the solution is to assume values for the “negative” cycle of data, and compute the CRC remainder value that, when computed with the assumed negative packet data, results in the normal initial value of data. Thus, referring for example, to the CRC solution as depicted in the circuit  100  of  FIG. 3 , now shown in  FIG. 7 , initial latch values (for the latch  16 ,  16 ′) are obtained by determining the “negative” CRC values for the packet. Since the CRC calculations are based on the previous two cycles, there is needed a CRC latch value for the cycle- 1  (latch  16 ′). Note, the CRC remainder value latched for Cycle  0  is assumed to be 0xFFFF_FFFF at latch  16 . The initial value for latch  16 ′ is calculated by “rewinding” the CRC circuit, and assuming “negative” values of packet data (i.e., all 0&#39;s), and then finding the CRC value that would result in the next cycle CRC value to be the cycle  0  value, given the all zeroes of packet data. 
         [0055]    Given the initial values previously calculated, these initial values can be pushed as the latches are rolled back (pushed) through the circuit as shown in the embodiment of the CRC redundancy circuit  300  depicted in  FIG. 6 . Using the assumption that all initial x_in latch values are zero, the value for the middle latch  16 ″ in the cascade is uniquely determined. The latch values  17  on the upper three x_in lines are zero, as is the latch inside of the CRC224 — 32 block (XOR&#39;s of all zero is still zero). 
         [0056]      FIG. 8  is a diagram of a circuit  300  circuit implementing generic parameters including circuitry for initializing packet data input for the “negative” cycles. In  FIG. 8 , the parameters include: v=number of stages; y=smallest granularity of data on which CRC is calculated; m=number of bits in data processed per cycle; z=number of outputs (y*z=m) and w=bit-width of CRC calculation. m-bits of packet data are latched into x_in latch  812 . Latch  816  represents the CRC remainder from the previous v cycles. The outputs of latches  816  and  812  are coupled to the inputs of a CRC((v*m)+y)_(w) block  830 . This block is constructed in a similar fashion as block  30  in  FIGS. 4A ,  4 B, and  4 C. For each stage “v” in CRC calculator  800 , the steps depicted in  FIGS. 4A ,  4 B, and  4 C are repeated. Thus, as block  30  calculates the data portion of the CRC remainder for the current cycle of data, the previous cycle of data and the previous cycle CRC remainder, block  830  calculates the data portion of the CRC remainder for the current cycle of data, the v previous cycles of data, and the previous v cycle CRC remainder. The output of CRC calculator block  830  is connected to a cascade of CRC(y)_(w) calculator blocks  815 . There are z- 1  total calculator blocks  815  in the cascade. Evenly distributed along the cascade are v number of latches  816 ′, whose inputs are selectively coupled to either the output of the previous CRC calculator block  815 , or to an initial value calculated in the same fashion as described for  FIG. 7 . This selection is controlled by PKT_START input  850 . It is noted that for every latch  816  that is removed from the end of the cascade and inserted into the middle of the cascade, that an addition level of latches  817  are added to the appropriate outputs of x_in latch  12 . Latches  817  are inserted before the inputs to those CRC calculator blocks  850  that are not in the first stage of the cascade (i.e. those block  815  cascaded after the first  816 ′ latch. For each successive stage after a latch  816  in the cascade, an additional set of latches  817  are inserted, such that the data inputs to the last stage of calculator blocks  815  have v number of latches  817  inserted. Each of the latches  817  are connected such that their inputs are selectively controlled by PKT_START input  850 . When input  850  is asserted, all latches  817  are set to all 0s. Additionally, when input  850  is asserted, all latches  816  and  816 ′ are driven to the calculated initial values. With even distribution of latches  816 , the cascaded chain of CRC calculators are cut into v number of pieces, thus reducing the critical cycle time by a factor of v. 
         [0057]      FIG. 9  shows a block diagram of an example design flow  900 . Design flow  900  may vary depending on the type of IC being designed. For example, a design flow  900  for building an application specific IC (ASIC) may differ from a design flow  900  for designating a standard component. Design structure  920  is preferably an input to a design process  910  and may come from an IP provider, core developer, or other design company, or may be generated by the operator of the design flow, or from other sources. Design structure  920  comprises a CRC solution  100  (e.g.,  FIGS. 3A ,  5  and  7 ) in the form of schematics or HDL, a hardware-description language (e.g., Verilog, VHDL, C, etc.). Design structure  920  may be a text file or a graphical representation of the CRC solution  100 . Design process  910  preferably synthesizes (or translates) the CRC solution  100  into a netlist  980 , where netlist  980  is, for example, a list of wires, transistors, logic gates, control circuits, I/O, models, etc. that describes the connections to other elements and circuits in an integrated circuit design and recorded on at least one of machine readable medium. This may be an iterative process in which netlist  980  is resynthesized one or more times depending on design specifications and parameters for the circuit. 
         [0058]    Design process  910  may include using a variety of inputs; for example, inputs from library elements  930  which may house a set of commonly used elements, circuits, and devices, including models, layouts, and symbolic representations for a given manufacturing technology (e.g., different technology nodes, 32 nm, 45 nm, 90 nm, etc.), design specifications  940 , characterization data  950 , verification data  960 , design specifications  970 , and test data files  985  (which may include test patterns and other testing information). Design process  910  may further include, for example, standard circuit design processes such as timing analysis, verification, design rule checking, place and route operations, etc. One of ordinary skill in the art of IC design can appreciate the extent of possible electronic design automation tools and applications used in design process  910  without deviating from the scope and spirit of the invention. The design structure of the invention is not limited to any specific design flow. 
         [0059]    Design process  910  preferably translates embodiments of the invention, as shown in  FIGS. 1-8 , along with any additional integrated circuit design or data into a second design structure  990 . Design structure  990  resides on a storage medium in a data format used for the exchange of layout data of integrated circuits (e.g., information stored in a GDSII (GDS2), GL1, OASIS, or any other suitable format for storing such design structures). Design structure  990  may comprise information such as, for example, test data files, design content files, manufacturing data, layout parameters, wires, levels of metal, vias, shapes, data for routing through the manufacturing line, and any other data required by a semiconductor manufacturer to produce embodiments of the invention, as shown in  FIGS. 1-8 . Design structure  990  may then proceed to a stage  995  where, for example, design structure  990 : proceeds to tape-out, is released to manufacturing, is released to a mask house, is sent to another design house, is sent back to the customer, etc. 
         [0060]    While there has been shown and described what is considered to be preferred embodiments of the invention, it will, of course, be understood that various modifications and changes in form or detail could readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the invention be not limited to the exact forms described and illustrated, but should be constructed to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.