Pathfinding for 22nm CMOS designs using Predictive Technology Models

Traditional IC scaling is becoming increasingly difficult at the 22 nm node and beyond. Dealing with these challenges increase product development cycle time. For continued CMOS scaling, it is essential to start design explorations in new process nodes as early as possible. Such an effort requires having Predictive Technology Models, which bridge technological and design practices, in order to assess the performance impact of future key modules. In this paper we propose a strategy that enables simultaneous investigation of advanced process and design concepts. Based on a customized predictive methodology and silicon data at 90-45 nm nodes, compact transistor and interconnect models are developed for the next generation CMOS technology. We capture the heuristic device behavior during the scaling, which helps us to gain key insights that allow us to make tradeoffs of circuit performance metrics for next technology node.