Title :
Fast, Non-Monte-Carlo Estimation of Transient Performance Variation Due to Device Mismatch
Author :
Kim, Jaeha ; Jones, Kevin D. ; Horowitz, Mark A.
Author_Institution :
Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA, USA
fDate :
7/1/2010 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
This paper describes an efficient way of simulating the effects of device random mismatch on circuit transient characteristics, such as variations in delay or in frequency. The proposed method models DC random offsets as equivalent AC pseudo-noises and leverages the fast, linear periodically time-varying (LPTV) noise analysis available from RF circuit simulators. Therefore, the method can be considered as an extension to DCMATCH analysis and offers a large speed-up compared to the traditional Monte Carlo analysis. Although the assumed linear perturbation model is valid only for small variations, it enables easy ways to estimate correlations among variations and identify the most sensitive design parameters to mismatch, all at no additional simulation cost. Three benchmarks measuring the variations in the input offset voltage of a clocked comparator, the delay of a logic path, and the frequency of an oscillator demonstrate the speed improvement of about 100-1000× compared to a 1000-point Monte Carlo method.
Keywords :
Monte Carlo methods; circuit simulation; clocks; comparators (circuits); oscillators; time-varying networks; transient analysis; AC pseudonoise; DC random offset; DCMATCH analysis; LPTV noise analysis; RF circuit simulator; circuit transient characteristics; clocked comparator; design parameter; device random mismatch; linear periodically time-varying noise; linear perturbation model; logic path delay; non-Monte-Carlo estimation; oscillator; transient performance variation; Circuit simulation; Monte-Carlo analysis; mismatch; sensitivity analysis; variability; yield;
Journal_Title :
Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TCSI.2009.2035418