Netlist consistency checking

Details Netlist consistency checking Netlist consistency checking

2002-03-27

2003-12-16

Smith, Matthew (Department: 2825)

Computer-aided design and analysis of circuits and semiconductor

Nanotechnology related integrated circuit design

C716S030000, C716S030000, C716S030000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06665853

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and computer system for checking a netlist for consistency with input/output connectivity lists.
2. Related Art
A customer may provide input/output connectivity lists for a Controlled Collapse Chip Connection (C4) chip and for a ball grid array (BGA) circuit card, for use in developing an input netlist file to a design software package. Unfortunately, the input netlist file for the design software package may have formatting constraints that result in errors when the data in the aforementioned input/output connectivity lists are utilized for developing said input file. Said errors constitute a quality assurance concern. Thus there is a need to effectively mitigate said errors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In first embodiments, the present invention provides a method for checking a netlist L, comprising:
providing an I/O connectivity list I
1
for a first electrical package P
1
, wherein I
1
includes I/O locations on a surface S
1
of the first electrical package P
1
;
providing an I/O connectivity list I
2
for a second electrical package P
2
, wherein I
2
includes I/O locations on a surface S
2
of the second electrical package P
2
;
providing the netlist L that describes electrical nets between I/O locations on S
1
and I/O locations on S
2
, wherein I denotes I
1
and I
2
collectively, wherein a relationship exists between L and I, wherein the relationship is selected from the group consisting of a mutually consistent relationship and a mutually inconsistent relationship, and wherein a first necessary condition for the relationship to be a mutually consistent relationship is that the I/O locations in L and the I/O locations in I are mutually consistent; and
determining whether the relationship is the mutually consistent relationship.
In second embodiments, the present invention provides a computer system for checking a netlist L, comprising an algorithm adapted to:
access an I/O connectivity list I
1
for a first electrical package P
1
, wherein I
1
includes I/O locations on a surface S
1
of the first electrical package P
1
;
access an I/O connectivity list I
2
for a second electrical package P
2
, wherein I
2
includes I/O locations on a surface S
2
of the second electrical package P
2
;
access the netlist L that describes electrical nets between I/O locations on S
1
and I/O locations on S
2
, wherein I denotes I
1
and I
2
collectively, wherein a relationship exists between L and I, wherein the relationship is selected from the group consisting of a mutually consistent relationship and a mutually inconsistent relationship, and wherein a first necessary condition for the relationship to be a mutually consistent relationship is that the I/O locations in L and the I/O locations in I are mutually consistent; and
determine whether the relationship is the mutually consistent relationship.
The present invention effectively mitigates errors in an input netlist file to a design software package, wherein said errors relate to a utilization of C4 and BGA input/output connectivity lists.


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