Variability, margins, and unpredictability: Dealing with uncertainty in SRAM design

As process technology continues to advance, SRAM design is becoming increasingly critical. Not only does memory occupy a large portion of the design, but memory structures are increasingly susceptible to yield and variability issues than. Classical design validation and margining methods must be extended to cope with new challenges, including low power operation, accurate modeling, blurring lines between defects and variability, and limits of classical scaling. This talk addresses these issues and discusses new approaches they require.