to the placement constraints, it is more desirable to consider
routing during placement because a bad routing may induce
unwanted effects and deteriorate layout quality. Since routing
is greatly affected by placement results, layout quality can be
enhanced if routing effects are considered in advance during
the placement phase.
Due to the continuous scaling of process technologies,
more and more circuits can be integrated into a single chip.
This increases functionality in modem chips; however, the
routing and power consumption become more serious
problems. The increasing complexity in routing not only raises
the chance of signal coupling but also make routing
congestion more severe. Since analog circuits are very
sensitive to noisy signals, we have better to place them away
from the noisy signals to reduce coupling effects. However,
routing is greatly affected by placement results. The better
way to eliminate congestion is to consider routability during
placement. Besides, resistors are gradually replaced by
switched-capacitors in modem analog integrated circuits for
lower power consumption. To achieve correct analog
functions, the capacitors must follow predefined capacitance
ratios. Capacitors should be placed in common-centroid layout
structure and distributed uniformly throughout the layout to
guarantee accurate capacitance ratios after integrated-circuit
fabrication. However, this placement style for capacitors may
result in large routing area. Therefore, the issue of routing area
needs to be considered during capacitor placement.
Above illustrations show several routing effects should be
considered during placement to enhance layout quality. The
following sections give an overview of the solutions for these
issues. In Section II, we show how to eliminate undesirable
coupling effect induced from specific nets during placement.
Then, the congestion elimination by placement expansion is
discussed in Section III. Section IV describes how to handle
common-centroid placements with the consideration of routing
area for capacitor arrays. Finally, Section V summarizes the
main conclusions of this paper.
II. SYMMETRY ISLAND CONSIDERING BOUNDARY
CONSTRAINT
In this section, we first demonstrate the situation that
analog devices in a symmetry group are affected by noisy
signals, and then show how to avoid this condition during
placement.
In analog and mixed-signal design, circuit performances
are sensitive to the parasitic mismatches caused by process
variation or thermal gradient. To reduce unwanted parasitic
mismatches and improve circuit performances, designers
usually place matched devices symmetrically in a layout [10,
11]. In order to obtain better matching, they also place the
matched devices belonging to the same sub-circuit close to
each other, in which a symmetry group is formed. Thus, Lin
and Lin [5] introduced the concept of symmetry islands for
symmetry groups and presented ASF-B*-trees [5] to ensure
to the placement constraints, it is more desirable to considerrouting during placement because a bad routing may induceunwanted effects and deteriorate layout quality. Since routingis greatly affected by placement results, layout quality can beenhanced if routing effects are considered in advance duringthe placement phase.Due to the continuous scaling of process technologies,more and more circuits can be integrated into a single chip.This increases functionality in modem chips; however, therouting and power consumption become more seriousproblems. The increasing complexity in routing not only raisesthe chance of signal coupling but also make routingcongestion more severe. Since analog circuits are verysensitive to noisy signals, we have better to place them awayfrom the noisy signals to reduce coupling effects. However,routing is greatly affected by placement results. The betterway to eliminate congestion is to consider routability duringplacement. Besides, resistors are gradually replaced byswitched-capacitors in modem analog integrated circuits forlower power consumption. To achieve correct analogfunctions, the capacitors must follow predefined capacitanceratios. Capacitors should be placed in common-centroid layoutstructure and distributed uniformly throughout the layout toguarantee accurate capacitance ratios after integrated-circuitfabrication. However, this placement style for capacitors mayresult in large routing area. Therefore, the issue of routing areaneeds to be considered during capacitor placement.Above illustrations show several routing effects should beconsidered during placement to enhance layout quality. Thefollowing sections give an overview of the solutions for theseissues. In Section II, we show how to eliminate undesirablecoupling effect induced from specific nets during placement.Then, the congestion elimination by placement expansion isdiscussed in Section III. Section IV describes how to handlecommon-centroid placements with the consideration of routingarea for capacitor arrays. Finally, Section V summarizes themain conclusions of this paper.II. SYMMETRY ISLAND CONSIDERING BOUNDARYCONSTRAINTIn this section, we first demonstrate the situation thatanalog devices in a symmetry group are affected by noisysignals, and then show how to avoid this condition duringplacement.In analog and mixed-signal design, circuit performancesare sensitive to the parasitic mismatches caused by processvariation or thermal gradient. To reduce unwanted parasiticmismatches and improve circuit performances, designersusually place matched devices symmetrically in a layout [10,11]. In order to obtain better matching, they also place thematched devices belonging to the same sub-circuit close toeach other, in which a symmetry group is formed. Thus, Linand Lin [5] introduced the concept of symmetry islands forsymmetry groups and presented ASF-B*-trees [5] to ensure
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