Patent ID: 8375349

Claim:
A method for manufacturing an integrated circuit, the method comprising: computing at least one fixed scaling factor for the integrated circuit, wherein the at least one fixed scaling factor indicate a ratio of a feature of the integrated circuit fabricated according to a first fabrication process to a feature of the integrated circuit fabricated according to a second fabrication process, wherein the fixed scaling factors are dictated by the fabrication processes, the first fabrication process based on the second fabrication process, wherein the first fabrication process creates devices having a smaller device dimension than the second fabrication process; computing at least one settable scaling factor for the integrated circuit to be fabricated using the first fabrication process, wherein the at least one settable scaling factor indicate an operating characteristic of a feature of the integrated circuit fabricated according to a first fabrication process, and wherein the settable scaling factors are computed based on the at least one fixed scaling factor and to cause specified performance parameters of the integrated circuit fabricated according to a first fabrication process to fall within a predetermined range while a power density of the integrated circuit remains substantially constant or decreasing; determining parameters, by using a computer, of the integrated circuit based on the at least one settable scaling factor; and manufacturing the integrated circuit using the determined parameters; wherein the at least one fixed scaling factor comprises at least a delay scaling factor based on the delay of an integrated circuit fabricated according to the first and second fabrication processes.