Patent ID: 8464191

Claim:
A method for identifying circuit components of an integrated circuit comprising: identifying, by at least one server computer, geometric characteristics of the integrated circuit; sorting, by the at least one server computer, the geometric characteristics by order of occurrence; identifying, by the at least one server computer, a set of the geometric characteristics that occurs more than once and in a same arrangement; determining, by the at least one server computer, a cell boundary based on the set of the geometric characteristics; computing, by the at least one server computer, a numerical key for the geometric characteristics; looking up in a database, by the at least one server computer, a known cell having geometric characteristics corresponding to the numerical key; aligning, by the at least one server computer, the geometric characteristics within the cell boundary with the geometric characteristics of the known cell; comparing, by the at least one server computer, each electrically significant geometric characteristic corresponding to an electrically active device within the cell boundary with each electrically significant geometric characteristic corresponding to an electrically active device of the known cell; and determining, by the at least one server computer, whether the known cell matches the geometric characteristics within the cell boundary.