SPACE: An Accurate Layout-to-Circuit Extractor for High-Speed MOS and Bipolar Circuits

In this paper, we describe the latest version of the layout-to-circuit extractor Space. Space can be used to accurately extract circuits, which is increasingly important for high-speed circuits. The program recognizes MOS devices as well as bipolar devices. It computes (Spice) simulation models for bipolar devices based on layout parameters like emitter area, emitter perimeter and base width. For fast and accurate resistance extraction, the program incorporates a finite-element method. The resistances are merged with capacitances to provide so-called ”weighted” lumped RC models that accurately reflect the transmissionbehavior of the interconnects. A boundary-element method can be used to compute accurate 3D capacitances in a time that is linear with the size of the circuit and with a memory complexity that is practically independent on the size of the circuit. Back-annotation information is provided via highlighting of extracted nets in a layout editor.