公开(公告)号：US09805158B1

公开(公告)日：2017-10-31

申请号：US14942956

申请日：2015-11-16

Applicant: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

Inventor： Hongzhou Liu ,  Stephan Weber ,  Wangyang Zhang

IPC: G06F17/00 ,  G06F17/50

CPC classification number: G06F17/5081 ,  G06F17/5009

Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product for efficiently finding the best Monte Carlo simulation samples for use as design corners for all design specifications to substitute for a full circuit design verification. Embodiments calculate a corner target value matching an input variation level by modeling the circuit performance with verified accuracy, estimate the corner based on a response surface model such that the corner has the highest probability density (or extrapolation from the worst sample if the model is inaccurate), and verify and/or adjust the corner by performing a small number of additional simulations. Embodiments also estimate the probability that a design already meets the design specifications at a specified variation level. Composite multimodal and non-Gaussian probability distribution functions enhance model accuracy. The extracted design corners may be of particular utility during circuit design iterations. A potential twenty-fold reduction in overall design specification verification time may be achieved.