Assessing model adequacy and selecting model complexity in integrated-circuit simulation

A method is described that selects, for each transistor in a circuit, the model of least complexity that will give acceptable accuracy. The capability to assess model adequacy derives from a self-consistency test in which the values of currents and voltages computed in a simulation of the circuit behavior are compared with onset parameters, to determine whether these computed values are consistent with the approximations underlying the device models used in the simulation. The onset parameters for a model are the terminal currents and voltages above or below which the model fails to give a satisfactory representation of device behavior. The authors set forth the onset parameters for the Ebers-Moll model and discuss their determination by terminal measurement and by calculation based on the transistor makeup. The paper limits consideration to the static behavior of transistors operating in the forward-active mode.