Exploiting a Deep Learning Toolbox for Human-Machine Feedback towards Analog Integrated Circuit Placement Automation

António Gusmão, Rafael Vieira, Nuno Horta, Nuno Lourenço, Ricardo Martins

The layout design of analog integrated circuits has been defying all automation attempts, and it is still primarily a handcrafting process carried by circuit designers on traditional layout editing frameworks. This paper presents a toolbox based on deep learning techniques and a sturdy graphical user interface to assist designers during that process. The underlying mechanism of this toolbox relies on a simple pairwise device interaction circuit description, i.e., the circuits’ topological constraints, to propose valid floorplan solutions for block-level structures, including topologies and deep nanometer technology nodes not used for its training, at push-button speed. Despite its automatic functionalities, the toolbox is focused on explainable artificial intelligence, involving the designer in the synthesis flow via filtering and editing options over the candidate floorplan solutions. This constant state of human-machine feedback environment turns the designer aware of the impact of each device’s position change and inherent tradeoffs while suggesting subsequent moves, ultimately increasing the designers’ productivity in this time-consuming and iterative task. Finally, the toolbox is shown to instantly generate floorplans with similar or better constraint fulfilment than human designed solutions for state-of-the-art analog circuit blocks.