Impact of unrealistic worst case modeling on the performance of VLSI circuits in deep submicron CMOS technologies

Author

Nardi, Alessandra ; Neviani, Andrea ; Zanoni, Enrico ; Quarantelli, Michele ; Guardiani, Carlo

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Elettronica e Inf., Padova Univ., Italy

Volume

12

Issue

4

fYear

1999

fDate

11/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

396

Lastpage

402

Abstract

The impact of process fluctuations on the variability of deep submicron (DSM) very large scale integration (VLSI) circuit performances is investigated in this paper. In particular, we show that as process dimensions stale down in the subhalfmicron region, the relative weight of process variability tends to increase, thus wearing down a non negligible portion of the benefits that are expected from minimum feature size scaling. We still show that in order to better exploit the advance of process technology, it is essential to adopt a realistic approach to worst case modeling [assigned probability technique (APT)]. The application of the APT technique to different test circuits designed in 0.35, 0.25, and 0.18 μm CMOS technologies with a power supply ranging from 3.3 V down to 1 V will demonstrate how the manufacturability of DSM designs is going to be a vital factor for the successful implementation of high-performance or low-power systems in 0.18 μm and lesser technologies

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; VLSI; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit modelling; low-power electronics; 0.18 micron; 0.25 micron; 0.35 micron; 1 to 3.3 V; VLSI circuit; assigned probability technique; deep submicron CMOS technology; low-power system; performance spread; process fluctuations; process variability; scaling; statistical design; worst case model; CMOS process; CMOS technology; Circuit testing; Computer aided software engineering; Fabrication; Fluctuations; Power supplies; Semiconductor device modeling; Stochastic processes; Very large scale integration;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Semiconductor Manufacturing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0894-6507

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/66.806116

Filename

806116