A parallel hierarchical design rule checker

Abstract

The halo algorithm, a novel and efficient algorithm for hierarchical design-rule checking (DRC) has been modified for parallel processing. Like the sequential halo algorithm, the parallel version identifies repeated subcell interactions and checks them only once thereby improving performance substantially. Inverse layout trees are used to handle interacting primitives hierarchically. The algorithm has been implemented on workstations connected by a local area network and on a shared memory multicomputer.<>