Return path selection for loop RL extraction

This paper proposes a systematic method to select power/ground wires that should be considered in interconnect RL extraction. The return current distribution affects loop characteristic of interconnects. To extract exact RL value, all of return paths have to be considered. However it is impossible because there are huge numbers of P/G wires in LSIs. As more wires are considered, the extraction accuracy improves but the extraction cost increases undesirably. The proposed method focuses the energy dissipated at P/G wires and utilizes it for screening return paths. Experimental results reveal that our method enables accurate and computationally efficient RL extraction with considering return current distribution.