Title :
Circuit and Physical Design Implementation of the Microprocessor Chip for the zEnterprise System
Author :
Warnock, James ; Chan, Yiu-Hing ; Carey, Sean ; Wen, Huajun ; Meaney, Pat ; Gerwig, Guenter ; Smith, Howard H. ; Chan, Yuen ; Davis, John ; Bunce, Paul ; Pelella, Antonio ; Rodko, Dan ; Patel, Pradip ; Strach, Thomas ; Malone, Doug ; Malgioglio, Frank ; N
Author_Institution :
IBM Syst. & Technol. Group, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA
Abstract :
This paper describes the circuit and physical design features of the z196 processor chip, implemented in a 45 nm SOI technology. The chip contains 4 super-scalar, out-of-order processor cores, running at 5.2 GHz, on a die with an area of 512 mm2 containing an estimated 1.4 billion transistors. The core and chip design methodology and specific design features are presented, focusing on techniques used to enable high-frequency operation. In addition, chip power, IR drop, and supply noise are discussed, being key design focus areas. The chip´s ground-breaking RAS features are also described, engineered for maximum reliability and system stability.
Keywords :
integrated circuit design; integrated circuit noise; integrated circuit reliability; microprocessor chips; silicon-on-insulator; transistors; IR drop; SOI technology; chip design methodology; chip power; core design methodology; design features; frequency 5.2 GHz; ground-breaking RAS features; high-frequency operation; key design focus areas; maximum reliability; microprocessor chip; out-of-order processor cores; physical design implementation; size 45 nm; super-scalar processor cores; supply noise; system stability; transistors; z196 processor chip; zEnterprise system; Arrays; Clocks; Logic gates; Random access memory; Timing; Tuning; Wires; 45 nm SOI; CMOS digital integrated circuits; Cache set predict; RAIM; RAS; SRAM; VLSI design; chip IR drop; chip integration; chip supply noise; circuit design methodology; clock distribution; clock grid; design for reliability; design for test; digital circuits; high-frequency CMOS design; microprocessor test; microprocessors; power efficiency; reliability; system z; z196; zEnterprise; zEnterprise 196;
Journal_Title :
Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JSSC.2011.2169308
