Planar CMOS to multi-gate layout conversion for maximal fin utilization

•Presenting cell-level hard-IP reuse algorithm converting planar transistors to multi-gate ones.•Proposingtime-efficient geometric manipulations for fin generation.•Obtaining maximal fin utilization.•Obtaining manually drawn layout quality.

Multi-gate transistors enable the pace of Moore's Law for another decade. In its 22 nm technology node Intel switched to multi-gate transistors called TriGate, whereas IBM, TSMC, Samsung and others will do so in their 20 nm and 14 nm nodes with multi-gate transistors called FinFET. Several recent publications studied the drawing of multi-gate transistors layout. Designing new VLSI cell libraries and blocks requires massive re-drawing of layout. Hard-IP reuse is an alternative method taking advantage of existing source layout by automatically mapping it into new target technology, which was used in Intel's Tick-Tock marketing strategy for several product generations. This paper presents a cell-level hard-IP reuse algorithm, converting planar transistors to multi-gate ones. We show an automatic, robust transformation of bulk diffusion polygons into fins, while addressing the key requirements of cell libraries, as maximizing performance and interface compatibility across a variety of driving strength. We present a layout conversion flow comprising time-efficient geometric manipulations and discrete optimization algorithms, while generating manually drawn layout quality. Those can easily be used in composing larger functional blocks.