What are Floorplan Module Constraints in VLSI?#
There are basically five different type of module constraint. They are as follows:
None#
A module has the attribute None, if it is not preplaced in the core design area. A module can be preplaced by moving it to the core area or by loading in a floorplan file where the module’s placement is defined.
Soft Guide#
This module constraint is similar to a guide constraint, except there are no fixed locations. This provides stronger grouping for the instances under the same soft guide. Instances within a soft guide are grouped better than those without a soft guide.
Guide#
A module is preplaced in the core design area. The placement program honors the preplacement.
Region#
A region constraint forces all module instances to be placed within the region, but allows instances from other modules as well.
Fence#
A fence constraint forces all instances of the module to be placed within the fence and does not allow any instances from other modules to be placed inside the fence. A module becomes a fence when the module is specified as a partition.
Written by
Swasti Pujari
Associate Director, Backend Engineering at CoreIC Technologies, with 15+ years in VLSI Physical Design and backend engineering. Previously Practice Head at UST Global, leading Physical Design, STA, EMIR, DFT, and Physical Verification. Delivered 3nm, 6nm and 7nm projects for AMD, Intel, and Microchip, and published IEEE research on hybrid AI-EDA floorplanning.
