Lightweight DRC Rule Deck

Rule Deck

The Rule Deck is an ASCII file that specifies one of the available rules, followed by the layers to process and the rule parameters.

Available Test Types

The DRC engine supports the following test types. Each rule must refer to one of these types:

TYPE=SPACING

This rule checks for minimum spacing between two boundaries on the same layer.

TYPE=MIN_LINE_WIDTH

This rule checks for minimum width of "lines" (traces) on a given layer.

TYPE=ENCLOSURE

This rule checks for minimum spacing between an enclosing layer (the parent) and a second layer (the child).

TYPE=SPACING_AND_ENCLOSURE

This rule checks for minimum gap between boundaries on an enclosing layer and the enclosed layer. It simultaneously checks for

TYPE=VIA1_OPENING

This rule is normally used to check a VIA1 opening layer and compute the average opening size (using a bounding box around the polygons.) It then reports

TYPE=VIA2_OPENING

This rule is normally used to check the VIA2 opening layer (the one that exposes the RDL to the bump connection) and .

TYPE=CAPTURE_PAD_SIZE

This rule is normally used to check the RDL layer (parent) against the VIA2 layer. It computes and reports the size of the "captured pads" on the VIA2 layer.

Rule Deck Syntax

The beginning of each new rule is defined by the keyword RULE in square brackets

[RULE]

The next line defines the type of rule: SPACING, MIN_LINE_WIDTH, ENCLOSURE ....

TYPE=ENCLOSURE

The next line is a user assigned "name" for the rule (since the same rule might be used to check different combinations of layers

NAME= USER DEFINED NAME

The next line (or two lines depending on the rule) define the layers to work on. If the rule works only on a single layer at a time then the keyword is LAYER.

LAYER=10:20

Some rules compare data on two separate layers. In that case one of the layers is called the "parent" layer and the other layer is called the "child" layer. In such case one will have two lines.

PARENT_LAYER=30:20
CHILD_LAYER=50:20

The rules that have two layers are: ENCLOSURE, SPACING_AND_ENCLOSURE, CAPTURE_PAD_SIZE.

The next line (or two) sets the parameter for the rule. Some rules have 0 parameters, some have 1 parameter and some have 2 parameters.

0 Parameter Rules: VIA1_OPENING, VIA2_OPENING, CAPTURE_PADSIZE

1 Parameter Rules: SPACING, MIN_LINE_WIDTH, ENCLOSURE

2 Parameter Rules: SPACING_AND_ENCLOSURE

For one parameter rules the syntax is:

PARAMETER=15

For the SPACING_AND_ENCLOSURE rule the parameters keywords are:

S_PARAM=10
E_PARAM=7.5

To end the rule use the keyword END_RULE in square brackets.

[END_RULE]

Sample Rules

[RULE] TYPE= SPACING NAME= RDL MIN SPACING LAYER=74:20 PARAMETER=15 [END_RULE]	[RULE] TYPE= MIN_LINE_WIDTH NAME=RDL MIN LINE WIDTH LAYER=74 PARAMETER=14.9 [END_RULE]	[RULE] TYPE= ENCLOSURE NAME= RDL ENCLOSING VIA1 PARENT_LAYER=74 CHILD_LAYER=127:20 PARAMETER=8 [END_RULE]
[RULE] TYPE=SPACING_AND_ENCLOSURE NAME=RDL ENCLOSING UBM PARENT_LAYER=29:20 CHILD_LAYER=100:20 S_PARAM=10 E_PARAM=8 [END_RULE]	[RULE] TYPE=VIA1_OPENING NAME=RDL VIA1 OPENING LAYER=10:20 [END_RULE]	[RULE] TYPE=VIA2_OPENING NAME=RDL VIA2 OPENING LAYER=80:20 [END_RULE]
[RULE] TYPE= CAPTURE_PADSIZE NAME= RDL CAPTURE PADSIZE PARENT_LAYER= 30:20 CHILD_LAYER= 60:20 [END_RULE]

More Information
Rule Deck	Output Syntax	Example

Rule Deck

Available Test Types

Rule Deck Syntax

Sample Rules

More Information