Patent ID: 7571408

Claim:
An integrated circuit (“IC”) layout comprising a plurality of layers, each layer having a preferred routing direction and a set of routing tracks that are in the direction of the preferred routing direction, the layout comprising: a set of elements; a set of routes for connecting the set of elements, each route comprising one or more route segments, at least one particular route segment has endpoints and bend points all located on one or more routing tracks; and a set of shield segments for shielding the set of routes, each shield segment representative of an IC shield segment formed by a conductive material, each shield segment being adjacent to a route segment, wherein an angle between two shield segments on a particular layer of the layout is neither collinear nor orthogonal, a particular set of shield segments being adjacent to the particular route segment, each of which has endpoints and bend points all located on one or more routing tracks, wherein said layout is stored on a computer readable storage device.