Patent ID: 7257783

Claim:
A method for migrating an integrated circuit (IC) design layout from a source technology without radical design restrictions (RDR) to a target technology with RDR, the method comprising the steps of: inserting a designator shape within the design layout prior to migration to reserve space for a feature; migrating the design layout from the source technology without RDR to the target technology with RDR while reserving space for the feature according to the designator shape, wherein the migrating step includes legalizing the design layout to meet an RDR grid constraint and fix any ground rule violation in a first direction; inserting required dummy shapes; and running a minimum perturbation analysis in order to address an edge coverage requirement of at least one critical shape and fix any ground rule violation in a second direction; and wherein the designator shape includes instructions for the migrating step about how the designator shape changes the design layout adjacent to the designator shape, and wherein the instructions include at least one instruction regarding splitting a diffusion, adding space between features, and an amount of space to be reserved for the feature.