Arch|tect|ng ASIC L|brar|es and

I|ows |n Nanometer Lra

Cllve 8lLLlesLone
AnLhony Plll
vlshal Slnghal
Arvlnd nv
1exas lnsLrumenLs lnc uallas
1exas 73243
lnsLrucLor rof !lng ang
1eam Members Subba 8eddy
Mehul armar
uarvln Plrapara
krlshna Shah
@h|s paper |s |n response to the quest|on 'ASIC Des|gn the nm
era dead or a||ve' from an ASIC ||brary arch|tecture and ||brary
f|ow po|nt of v|ew
W lL ls cerLalnly slgnlflcanLly harder Lo deslgn ln Lhe nm era buL ASlC deslgn ls noL
dead 1he ASlC deslgn ls challenglng ln nanomeLer era
W arameLers Lo be kepL ln mlnd whlle deslgn processes are
1 LxpecLed performance
2 ower (sLaLlc and acLlve)
3 Area
4 ueslgn cycle Llme
3 ManufacLurablllLy
6 CosL scallng
W Above menLloned parameLers affecLs several aspecLs of deslgn llke
1 rocess
2 Modellng
3 LxLracLlon
4 Llbrary archlLecLure
3 ClrculL deslgn
6 SynLhesls 2
9CLSS LIILC@S
9rocess effects |nc|ude severa| factors wh|ch has to be contro||ed
for the arch|tecture of ASIC ||brary |n d|fferent nanometer era
1 non Llnear 8eslsLance (nL8)
2 SelecLlve rocess 8las (S8)
3 LengLh ConLrol
4 narrow WldLh LffecLs (nLW)
3
Non L|near es|stance (NL%
W nL8 ls a funcLlon of wldLh whlch was flrsL observed ln a local denslLy based
Lhlckness ad[usLmenL
W ln earller processes eg ln 230nm llbrary Lhe lmpacL was prlmarlly wlde wlres
Wlre sloLLlng and guard bandlng was Lhe generlc soluLlon used WlLh Lhe
lnLroducLlon of copper ln 130nm nonllnear reslsLance due Lo llners dlshlng and
sldewall scaLLerlng became slgnlflcanL for all lnLerconnecLs
Note @h|s has requ|red paras|t|c extract|on too| upgrades
Se|ect|ve 9rocess 8|as (S98%
W Slmple modellng of wldLh varlaLlon wlLh global wldLh reducLlon became lnaccuraLe
ln 130nm wlLh local denslLy effecLs
W Slngle ad[acency ad[usLmenL became usable ln 130nm llbrary
Ior sub90nm processes a s|ng|e ad[acency ad[ustment |s |nsuff|c|ent
Length Contro|
W 1ranslsLor lengLh varlaLlon on dle can cause slgnlflcanL leakage
W Powever wlLhln dle varlaLlon of leakage ls more dlfflculL Lo deslgn wlLh
and manage across Lhe full range of process seen ln hlgh volume
devlces
Narrow W|dth Lffects (NWL%
W 1ranslsLors wlLh near mlnlmum wldLhs need Lo be used wlLh care aL
90nm Lechnology node
W 1he mlnwldLh varlaLlon ln 90nm (poly and dlffuslon) ls almosL 40
hlgher Lhan lL was ln 130nm
W narrow wldLh LranslsLors have poor drlve sLrengLh and are more
suscepLlble Lo anLenna charglng and SL8 evenLs (ln sequenLlal loglc
elemenLs parLlcularly ln reduced volLage scenarlos)
3
Lk@AC@IN
W LxLracLlon Lechnology ls one of Lhe baslc componenLs needed Lo
galn an accuraLe measuremenL of power Llmlng and slgnal lnLegrlLy
WlLh conLlnued scallng oLher effecLs have had Lo be lnLroduced Lo
exLracLlon Lo malnLaln cell level Llmlng accuracy
W 1he maln aspecLs for exLracLlon are
1 8eslsLance
2 CapaclLance
3 lleld Solver
4 ConLexL LmulaLlon
6
SIMULA@IN
Stat|st|ca| s|mu|at|on
W 1here are some mlscorrelaLlon larger lnpuL loads more capaclLance
and seLup/hold changes(caused by lnLernal mlsmaLch)
W 1he resulLs of characLerlzaLlon musL be checked agalnsL sLaLlsLlcal
slmulaLlons Lo ensure robusL funcLlonallLy across Lhe enLlre process
spread
W 1he resulLs are also used Lo gulde Lop level deslgn marglns Some
clrculLs may need redeslgn Lo avold problems
W 1hls analysls ls of parLlcular lnLeresL across exLreme ranges of volLage
operaLlon
W 8elow ls a flgure showlng vl characLerlsLlcs (varlaLlons of Lhe MCS
draln currenL ln response Lo Lhe MCS gaLe Lo source volLage assumlng
consLanL vds) of a LranslsLor
7

8
SIMULA@IN
W 1hls shows Lhe varlaLlon of Lhe MCS draln currenL wlLh gaLeLo
source volLage(vgs) aL Lwo dlfferenL LemperaLures (assumlng
consLanL vds)
W AL hlgh values of vgs Lhe LranslsLor has hlgher drlve currenL aL 1hls
can cause Lhe Llmlng aL lower LemperaLure Lo be worse Lhan hlgher
LemperaLure
W 1hls means LhaL Lhe seLup vlolaLlons need Lo be checked aL two
corners sLrong lowvolLage hlghLemp and sLrong lowvolLage
lowLemp
W Slmllarly hold vlolaLlons need Lo be checked aL Lwo corners sLrong
lowvolLage hlghLemp and sLrong lowvolLage lowLemp
9SICAL ACI@LC@UL
W hyslcal archlLecLure selecLlon has also been lmpacLed by scallng
Lhe LranslsLor slze
W 1he channel helghL ls baslcally more lmpacLed by scallng
W CaLe crosssecLlons and conLacL cross secLlons all conLlnue Lo
decrease
W 1he end resulL ls LhaL lnLracell reslsLances have become much more
slgnlflcanL
W Cne consequence of lncreased lnLracell 8 effecLs ls LhaL cell helghL
sLarLs Lo lmpacL opLlmal delay
W lncreaslng Channel helghLs reduces LoLal reslsLance and lmproves
performance
9ower a|| Se|ect|on
W ConLlnual scallng of meLal cross secLlons has also lmpacLed deslgn
of power supplles ln sLandard cells
W CfLen Lhere are now two or more power ra||s |n ||brar|es eg one
#always on' power supply for sLaLe reLenLlon and anoLher #acLlve on'
supply for Lhe remalnder of loglc whlch can be powered down
CLLL SLLLC@IN AND DLSIGN
Cell selecLlon ls heavlly lnfluenced by Lhe lnLended Lool sLream
W ower ManagemenL
W Leakage and MulLlvL
W Clock CaLlng
W Cells for Supply volLage varlaLlon
W Cells lor Plgh erfomance
W Cells lor uenslLy
W Cells lor Low CosL
9ower management
W ln 90nm Lechnology Lhe CaLe leakage ls of Lhe same order as Lhe
subLhreshold draln currenL and occurs ln Cn LranslsLors as well as
Cll LranslsLors AL Lhe same Llme dynamlc power ls lncreaslng Lhe
effecLlve power denslLy and drlvlng power managemenL for
LradlLlonal #power no lssue' hlgh performance deslgners
W Coupled wlLh demands for hlgh performance supplyvolLage scallng
ls screechlng Lo a near halL aL abouL 1v
Leakage and Mu|t|Vt
W Cne very common feaLure found ln recenL llbrarles ls hlghLhreshold
(Pv1) LranslsLors
W PlghvL LranslsLors reduce leakage currenLs aL Lhe sacrlflce of
performance uependlng on process deslgn rules cells can be
deslgned whlch lnLermlx Pv1 and lowvL (Lv1) LranslsLors or cells
may be elLher Pv1 or Lv1 As a consequence of dual and mulLlvL
processes llbrary slzes have also lncreased Lyplcally doubllng or
more ln slze
W ln Lechnologles where mulLlplevL ls noL feaslble one posslblllLy ls
Lo use dlfferenL gaLe lengLhs 1hls ls concepLually slmllar Lo mulLlple
vL Lhough lL can be compllcaLed and Lhe resulLs may be less
opLlmal
C|ock gat|ng
W Slnce volLage scallng has slowed oLher mechanlsms are used Lo
brlng down Lhe acLlve swlLchlng power Clock gaLlng ls almosL
mandaLory ln all powerconsclous deslgns ln 90nm 1hls requlres
several clock gaLlng cells 1yplcally Lhese cells need Lo have equal
rlse and fall delays Lo malnLaln clock duLy cycle
Ce||s for supp|y vo|tage var|at|on
W MulLlple volLages can be used ln dlfferenL ways Lo reduce leakage
whlle maxlmlzlng performance Cne way ls Lo creaLe dlfferenL
deslgn blocks worklng aL dlfferenL volLages based on Lhe
performance requlremenLs of each block AnoLher ls Lo have
W sLorage elemenLs LhaL reLaln daLa uslng an auxlllary supply whlle
Lhe maln supply ls Lurned off whenever Lhe clrculL ls ln sLandby
mode ?eL anoLher approach ls Lo lower Lhe power supply when Lhe
clrculL ls noL acLlve
Ce||s for h|gh performance
W 1o sLay on Lhe expecLed performance curve ASlC llbrarles wlll have
Lo lnclude fasLer buL hlgher rlsk cells LhaL have noL normally been
used ln ASlC deslgns Lxamples are unbuffered Lransmlsslon gaLes
1hoL muxes alLernaLe flop sLyles llke pulsed flop and dynamlc
flop
W Speclal characLerlzaLlon and enhancemenL Lo deslgn flows Lo
conLrol and check use of Lhese cells ls crlLlcal Lo avold problems
Ce||s for Dens|ty
W AL 90nm deslgners are forced Lo Lhlnk of new layouL archlLecLures
Lo regaln denslLy 1hls lncludes dlfferenL cellhelghLs power bus
archlLecLures use of hlgherlevel meLal ln cells and power ralls
poslLlonlng of Lhe subsLraLe connecLlons eLc Llbrary composlLlon
has also changed
Ce||s for |ow cost
W CosLs ln Lerms of masks cycle Llme have drlven Lhe use of CaLe
Array sLyle cells for some Llme
W Some markeL segmenLs may be able Lo use slllcon plaLform sLyle
deslgn Lo furLher reduce cosLs
CI9 LLVLL ISSULS
W lnLegraLlon
W uaLa
W CrossLalk
W LlecLromlgraLlon(LM)
CNCLUSIN
W CreaLlng a 90nm llbrary was more dlfflculL Lhan
130nm by an order of magnlLude
W 1here are new and exclLlng challenges for 63nm LhaL
wlll also be overcome by creaLlve englneers and new
Lools
W 90 nm ASlC ls noL dead 1hls sLaLemenL would noL be
posslble wlLhouL exLenslve changes ln almosL every
aspecL of process deslgn layouL exLracLlon
characLerlzaLlon modellng marglns and of course
chlp deslgn