A novel moment-based methodology for accurate and efficient static timing analysis

A novel methodology for accurate and efficient static timing analysis is presented in this paper. The methodology is based on finding a frequency domain model for the gates which allows uniform treatment of the gates and interconnects. It is shown that despite the highly nonlinear overall gate model, a frequency domain model of the gate with the model parameters, gate moments, as functions of the load is very accurate. A gate and input capacitance characterization is proposed which provides for accuracy, efficiency and flexibility in the path performance calculation. To illustrate the concept and prove its merits, multiple examples are presented. The method is an order to two orders of magnitude faster than current source based one, while it maintains accuracy within 5% of SPICE.