<\/p>\n If I say \u201cpattern matching,\u201d an IC designer would probably respond with \u201clitho hotspot.\u201d True, finding lithographic hotspots in layouts is one of the earliest and still more common uses of pattern matching, but pattern matching is increasingly being used in a wide range of early design phase checks, DRC flows, layout retargeting and fixing and DFM checks.<\/p>\n So, what are some of the typical uses?<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to know more about the wide range of uses this combination enables in design enhancement and optimization, download our white paper, Integrating Pattern Matching with DFM Properties to Enhance and Optimize Layouts<\/a>. Not only will you get a more detailed look at these processes, but you\u2019ll understand exactly how integrating pattern matching with your DFM operations can help you more quickly and precisely optimize your designs for reliability, performance, and manufacturing.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2017\/12\/SH_improved-design_banner.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>In these flows at advanced nodes, designers are combining pattern matching with DFM properties to better achieve a variety of design optimization and enhancement goals. DFM properties are one form of design metadata associated with layout objects (such as polygons and edges) that are used for calculating DFM scores and filtering data. Pattern matching has two stages: capture and match. In the capture stage, where designers select areas of interest in a design, input can be filtered by selecting locations and polygons that have certain DFM properties. In the matching stage, the derived layers (pre-filtered) are passed as input, and the matched locations undergo post-processing by inspecting the output.<\/p>\n\n