A Layout-to-Generator Conversion Framework With Graphical User Interface for Visual Programming of Analog Layout Generators

We propose a visual programming framework that helps a designer easily convert an existing analog layout into the layout generator. Using a graphical user interface (GUI), designers can easily load an existing layout, convert it into the layout generator, and visually verify the generated layout result. A GUI-supported visual programming method enables intuitive and straightforward programming to significantly reduce the required programming skills and coding workload. Through program blocks, designers can easily describe and compile a layout generator. Layout-code synchronization updates the program blocks automatically when layout elements are created, edited, or deleted via GUI. Expression assistance semi-automatically completes parameterized expressions of layout geometry through simple GUI manipulation. These methods greatly reduce the time and workload for development of the analog layout generator. Using the framework, a complex 20 Gb/s high-speed wireline receiver was converted to the generator in 20 hours, which is just 45% of the time required for manual coding of the layout generator. Other high-speed analog blocks including DCDL, and DCC circuits were also converted to generators. The generators created hundreds of different layout designs, all of them passed design rule verification. The generated layouts achieved almost the same performance in post-layout simulation as the reference layouts.