Analog ic device detection improves with dual evidence queries
DEQ-Det: Dual Evidence Queries for Few-Shot Analog IC Device Detection
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Summary
Detecting parts of analog integrated circuits in their layout images is hard because devices can look very different and often resemble other nearby structures. The authors propose a new method called DEQ-Det that uses two kinds of clues from a few example images: one focuses on the device itself and the other on the surrounding area. Combining these clues helps tell real devices apart from similar but irrelevant patterns. Their approach works better than previous methods when tested on several device types with limited training examples.
What this means in practice
- •For integrated circuit designers: Improve accuracy when inspecting analog IC designs by detecting devices with limited annotated samples.
- •For electronic manufacturing teams: Enhance circuit analysis workflows by reducing false alarms during analog IC layout inspection with dual evidence verification.
Authors
Zidong Zhao, Rong Huang, Chengxing Fan, Jie Hu, Malik Haris, Ghazal A. Fahmy, Morteza Mousazadeh, Guoqiang Zhang
Abstract
Detecting analog integrated circuit (IC) devices in layout images supports circuit analysis and inspection. With only a few annotated examples, variation in device geometry and visual similarity to dummy or routing structures make reliable detection difficult. Foreground similarity alone can highlight plausible targets without distinguishing them from competing layout patterns. We propose Dual Evidence Queries for Detection (DEQ-Det), which constructs complementary foreground and background references from the same support images without additional annotations. Foreground references capture target morphology, while selected background references characterize surrounding layout patterns. Both sources guide query selection and region verification, combining target appearance with layout context. Across five held-out device categories and three random seeds, DEQ-Det achieves macro AP50 of 39.41 and 53.03 at 10 and 30 shots, exceeding the strongest listed baselines by 3.97 and 9.71 points, respectively. A matched 30-shot ablation further shows that RoI background evidence reduces pooled false positives at comparable recall, supporting its role in interference suppression.