Using Mentor Graphics Automated Routing Tools in an Analog Layout Flow

Analog layout practices, whether CMOS or bipolar, have gone generally unchanged for many years. Now, Mentor Graphics' ICFlow tools, including the SDL flow along with the ARoute and IRoute tools, enable analog layout designers to better utilize their skills while shifting some of the more mundane layout tasks to the tools. With the steady increase of analog content in ASIC designs and the increased analog functionality of silicon, the time interval to production is shortening and the need for a more efficient and expedient tool-based solution is apparent.

For these reasons, today's analog design environment would benefit greatly from even incremental adoption of automation. This paper describes a methodology for using a mixture of schematic, manually created and assigned layout along with viewpoint properties to allow the IRoute and ARoute tools to perform in a more analog-friendly mode.