A semiconductor product includes a substrate having a self-assembly (SA) pattern. An initial SA pattern is created using a block copolymer (BCP) which has been annealed on the substrate. The initial SA pattern and/or an enlarged SA pattern derived from the initial SA pattern is incorporated into the semiconductor product. The SA pattern is an information carrying security mark having a set of features with corresponding locations within the information carrying security mark which uniquely identify the semiconductor product. In other embodiments of the invention a method and system for creating the semiconductor product are described.

The present disclosure provides a hybrid timing analysis method. The method includes: receiving a pre-layout netlist, a post-layout netlist and a configuration file associated with an integrated circuit design; generating a first measurement script and an input stimulus waveform file according to the configuration file; performing a first dynamic timing analysis upon the pre-layout netlist by using the first measurement script and the input stimulus waveform file to generate a pre-layout simulation result; identifying at least one data path and at least one clock path according to the pre-layout simulation result; generating a second measurement script according to the at least on data path and at least one clock path; and performing a second dynamic timing analysis upon the post-layout netlist by using the second measurement script and the input stimulus waveform file to generate a first post-layout simulation result. Associated system and non-transitory computer readable medium are also provided.

Programmable integrated circuits may be used to perform hardware emulation of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design. The ASIC design may be loaded onto the programmable integrated circuit. During hardware emulation operations, an emulation host may be used to coordinate testing of the DUT on the programmable device. Circuit design tools may be used to extract parasitics from the ASIC design, compute low-level interconnect delays, convert the interconnect delays to higher-level port-to-port delays, convert the port-to-port delays to timing constraints, and generate corresponding configuration data for programming the programmable integrated circuit to emulate the ASIC design. The programmable integrated circuit may then be tested for functional and performance integrity.

A method for designing a system on a target device includes identifying an exclusive-OR (XOR) network in a design for the system that matches an XOR network in a library. The XOR network in the design is replaced with a preferred XOR network in the library.

The invention is suited for use by a hardware designer for the purpose of logic synthesis and/or logic simulation. It can be used in the design of integrated circuits (ASICs) and programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The invention also relates to the field of hardware description languages (HDLs). Embodiments of the invention provide a computer-implemented system and method for facilitating the design of a digital circuit which comprises a plurality of logical constructs. The system is configured such that each time each logical construct is executed during a software simulation pass it is associated with a unique tag, wherein each tag can correspond to a physical aspect of a hardware representation of the design. The simulation is performed by repeated execution passes through code which implements the design, preferably wherein the same tags are associated with corresponding executions of the logical constructs during different simulation passes. A simulator object is able to store and/or maintain simulation state by retrieving it from a sole manager object, and a logical construct object is able to retrieve its initial state from the simulator object on construction and save its state on destruction. Furthermore, logical constructs can only occur within portions of code which are not conditional upon the state of any input signal.

An IC includes a first IC portion and a second IC portion. The IC includes a first set of standard cells in the first IC portion. The IC includes a plurality of memory cells and a second set of standard cells in the second IC portion. The second set of standard cells is located in channels between the memory cells. The IC further includes a plurality of GDHS cells in the first IC portion. The GDHS cells are configured to switch power on and to switch power off to the first set of standard cells. The IC further includes a plurality of CHS cells in the first IC portion. The CHS cells are configured to switch power on and to switch power off to the second set of standard cells in the second IC portion.

A multi-bit flip-flop includes a first flip-flop and a second flip-flop. The first flip-flop has a first driving capability. The first flip-flop includes a first set pin configured to receive a first set signal. The second flip-flop has a second driving capability different from the first driving capability. The second flip-flop includes a second set pin configured to receive the first set signal, and the first set pin and the second set pin are coupled together. The first flip-flop and the second flip-flop are configured to share at least a first clock pin.

Systems and methods for application specific integrated circuit design using Chronos Links are disclosed. A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows interfaces to transmit and receive information. The protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer and a consumer allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly. A method includes inserting gaskets and channel repeaters connected to interfaces of multiple intellectual property (IP) blocks in order to replace traditional links with Chronos Links; performing simplified floorplanning; performing simplified placement; performing simplified clock tree synthesis (CTS) and routing; and performing simplified timing closure.

A method of configuring an integrated circuit including multiple hardware tiles, includes: establishing a data forwarding path through the multiple hardware tiles by configuring each hardware tile, except for a last hardware tile, of the multiple hardware tiles to be in a data forwarding state, in which configuring each hardware tile, except for the last hardware tile, to be in a forwarding state includes installing a respective forwarding state counter specifying a corresponding predefined length of time that the hardware tile is in the data forwarding state; supplying, along the data forwarding path, each hardware tile of the plurality of hardware tiles with a respective program data packet comprising program data for the hardware tile; and installing, for each hardware tile of the multiple hardware tiles, the respective program data.

A specification editing unit edits a hardware specification file in order to replace a plurality of arrays used in a plurality of processes with a shared array. If a post-edit hardware specification file does not satisfy constraint, a specification transforming unit transforms the hardware specification file so that the plurality of processes are executed in a parallel manner. An architecture generating unit generates an architecture file expressing an architecture of an SoC (System On Chip) having hardware corresponding to the hardware specification file.