An integrated-circuit reliability optimization simulator - XDRS

A new global optimization algorithm is presented in IC reliability simulator XDRS. Its dominant factor is introduction of NTM (number-theoretic method) and combination of the weighted centroid, the weighted reflection and the quadratic approximation. Two current degradation models - substrate current degradation model and gate current degradation model - have been implemented in XDRS. These simulation schemes are implemented in XDRS to evaluation circuit performance. The improved algorithm has been applied to the two-stage sense amplifier to minimize hot-carrier induced devices degradation. The results show that the proposed approach can decrease HCE (hot-carrier effects) and increase circuit lifetime.