Patent ID: 8209643

Claim:
A computer implemented method for identifying connectivity for an object in a hierarchical configuration of objects representing an integrated circuit design, comprising: using at least one processor to perform a process, the process comprising: identifying a seed object for which information about connectivity to other objects is desired, in which the seed object represents a shape in the integrated circuit design; flattening a portion of the hierarchical configuration, the portion including one or more instances of at least one of one or more objects that are connected to the seed object, wherein one or more other portions of the hierarchical configuration are not flattened, and the action flattening the portion of the hierarchical configuration comprises searching a shadow data structure, which is used to track boundaries of a shape at least one hierarchical level of multiple hierarchical levels, for at least one object or at least one area at the multiple hierarchical levels; and identifying the one or more objects connected to the seed object based at least in part upon a result of flattening the portion of the hierarchical design.