A partitioning method for partitioning a group of power-ground (PG) cells is disclosed. The method includes: placing at least one out-boundary PG cell on a substrate, wherein power strips of the at least one out-boundary PG cell are aligned with corresponding power rails on the substrate; and placing at least one in-boundary PG cell on the substrate, wherein power strips of the at least one in-boundary PG cell are aligned with corresponding power rails on the substrate.

A method and system for generating a clock distribution circuit for each macro circuit in an ASIC design are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a method for generating a clock distribution circuit receives the ASIC design specified in a hardware description language (HDL), places each macro circuit in allocated locations on a semiconductor substrate, generates a custom clock skew information for each macro circuit based on a macro clock delay model, generates a clock distribution circuit for each macro circuit placed on the semiconductor substrate based on the generated custom clock skew information, modifies the clock distribution circuit if the generated clock distribution circuit does not meet timing requirements of the ASIC design, and outputs a physical layout of the ASIC design for manufacturing under a semiconductor fabrication process.

A method and system for generating a clock distribution circuit for each macro circuit in an ASIC design are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a method for generating a clock distribution circuit receives the ASIC design specified in a hardware description language (HDL), places each macro circuit in allocated locations on a semiconductor substrate, generates a custom clock skew information for each macro circuit based on a macro clock delay model, generates a clock distribution circuit for each macro circuit placed on the semiconductor substrate based on the generated custom clock skew information, modifies the clock distribution circuit if the generated clock distribution circuit does not meet timing requirements of the ASIC design, and outputs a physical layout of the ASIC design for manufacturing under a semiconductor fabrication process.

A configurable semiconductor device (“CSD”) is organized in four (4) quadrants able to perform user-defined logic functions via a clock fabric. The first quadrant, in one embodiment, includes a first serializer and deserializer (“SerDes”) region and a bank0 region for data processing. The second quadrant includes a second SerDes region and a bank5 region and the third quadrant contains a bank3 region and a bank4 region. The fourth quadrant includes a bank1 region and a bank2 region. The clock fabric is configured to provide a set of programmable or selectable clock signals with different clock speeds to various regions within the CSD.

A configurable semiconductor device (“CSD”) is organized in four (4) quadrants able to perform user-defined logic functions via a clock fabric. The first quadrant, in one embodiment, includes a first serializer and deserializer (“SerDes”) region and a bank0 region for data processing. The second quadrant includes a second SerDes region and a bank5 region and the third quadrant contains a bank3 region and a bank4 region. The fourth quadrant includes a bank1 region and a bank2 region. The clock fabric is configured to provide a set of programmable or selectable clock signals with different clock speeds to various regions within the CSD.

Circuit designs are emulated to verify the functionality of the circuit design. Emulating the circuit design includes obtaining a circuit design. The circuit design includes clock signals. Each of the clock signals is a data path clock signal. Further, a first clock signal of the clock signals is determined to be faster than a second clock signal of the clock signals. Rising edges and falling edges of the second clock signal are aligned with rising edges of the first clock signal to generate a realigned clock signal based on determining that the first clock signal is faster than the second clock signal. The circuit design is emulated using the realigned clock signal.

A circuit and method are provided to monitor a clock for a data processor. The method includes receiving a clock signal and producing a first voltage proportional to a frequency of the clock signal. The first voltage is converted to a digital signal. During an initialization mode, the method ensures the clock signal is at a desired frequency and scales the digital signal using a first configurable ratio to produce a high threshold value. When changing from the initialization mode to an operating mode, the method ceases to scale the digital signal and maintains the high threshold value. During the operating mode, the method compares the digital signal to the high threshold value to determine if the clock signal has been increased in frequency beyond a desired level, and if so, triggers an overclock alert to a system management circuit of the data processor.

A circuit and method are provided to monitor a clock for a data processor. The method includes receiving a clock signal and producing a first voltage proportional to a frequency of the clock signal. The first voltage is converted to a digital signal. During an initialization mode, the method ensures the clock signal is at a desired frequency and scales the digital signal using a first configurable ratio to produce a high threshold value. When changing from the initialization mode to an operating mode, the method ceases to scale the digital signal and maintains the high threshold value. During the operating mode, the method compares the digital signal to the high threshold value to determine if the clock signal has been increased in frequency beyond a desired level, and if so, triggers an overclock alert to a system management circuit of the data processor.

A semiconductor circuit device includes a first clock gating circuit that outputs a first gated clock signal generated from a clock signal and a first enable signal, a non-volatile first flip-flop that operates in response to a clock pulse of the first gated clock signal, an acquisition circuit that acquires data inputted from the first flip-flop according to a second enable signal that enables or disables the acquisition of the data from the first flip-flop, and a power gating circuit that supplies electric power to the first flip-flop and receives the first and second enable signals as power source control signals. The power gating circuit includes a power switch, and supplies the electric power to the first flip-flop by turning ON the power switch when the power source control signals have logical values that enable the clock signal or the acquisition of the data in the acquisition circuit.

A semiconductor circuit device includes a first clock gating circuit that outputs a first gated clock signal generated from a clock signal and a first enable signal, a non-volatile first flip-flop that operates in response to a clock pulse of the first gated clock signal, an acquisition circuit that acquires data inputted from the first flip-flop according to a second enable signal that enables or disables the acquisition of the data from the first flip-flop, and a power gating circuit that supplies electric power to the first flip-flop and receives the first and second enable signals as power source control signals. The power gating circuit includes a power switch, and supplies the electric power to the first flip-flop by turning ON the power switch when the power source control signals have logical values that enable the clock signal or the acquisition of the data in the acquisition circuit.