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 enables analog layout designers to better utilize their skills while shifting some of the more mundane layout tasks to the tools. With analog content in ASIC designs increasing and more analog functionality being put into silicon all of the time, the time interval to production is shortening and the need for a more efficient and expedient tool-based solution becomes apparent.

Most analog / mixed signal physical design flows fail to take advantage of current tool suite offerings with respect to automation. Whether due to inexperience or analog design reticence to pursue more modern techniques, today's analog design environment would greatly benefit 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. The mixture of techniques described can be implemented in whole as part of a comprehensive SDL / ECO analog design and layout flow, or more likely in piecemeal fashion as part of an incremental technique adoption.