Simultaneous driver sizing and buffer insertion using a delay penalty estimation technique Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • To achieve timing closure in a placed design, buffer insertion and driver sizing are two of the most effective transforms that can be applied. Since the driver sizing solution and the buffer insertion solution affect each other, sub-optimal solutions may result if these techniques are applied sequentially instead of simultaneously. We show how to simply extend van Ginneken's buffer insertion algorithm to simultaneously incorporate driver sizing and introduce the idea of a delay penalty to encapsulate the effect of driver sizing on the previous stage. The delay penalty can be pre-computed efficiently via dynamic programming. Experimental results show that using driver sizing with a delay penalty function obtains designs with superior timing and area characteristics.

published proceedings

  • Proceedings of the International Symposium on Physical Design

author list (cited authors)

  • Alpert, C., Chu, C., Gandham, G., Hrkic, M., Hu, J., Kashyap, C., & Quay, S.

complete list of authors

  • Alpert, C||Chu, C||Gandham, G||Hrkic, M||Hu, J||Kashyap, C||Quay, S

publication date

  • January 2002