DETERMINING A DESIGN ATTRIBUTE BY ESTIMATION AND BY CALIBRATION OF ESTIMATED VALUE

A computer-implemented method of determining an attribute of a circuit includes using a computationally expensive technique to simulate the attribute (such as timing delay or slew) of a portion of the circuit, at predetermined values of various parameters (e.g. nominal values of channel length or metal width), to obtain at least a first value of the attribute. The method also uses a computationally inexpensive technique to estimate the same attribute, thereby to obtain at least a second value which is less accurate than the first value. Then the computationally inexpensive technique is repeatedly used on other values of the parameter(s), to obtain a number of additional second values of the attribute. Applying to the additional second values, a function obtained by calibrating the at least one second value to the at least one first value, can yield calibrated estimates very quickly, which represent the attribute's variation relatively accurately.