Interconnects In Vlsi Design

This book presents an updated selection of the most representative contributions to the 2nd and 3rd IEEE Workshops on Signal Propagation on Interconnects (SPI) which were held in Travemtinde (Baltic See Side), Germany, May 13-15, 1998, and in Titisee-Neustadt (Black Forest), Germany, May 19-21, 1999. This publication addresses the need of developers and researchers in the field of VLSI chip and package design. It offers a survey of current problems regarding the influence of interconnect effects on the electrical performance of electronic circuits and suggests innovative solutions. In this sense the present book represents a continua tion and a supplement to the first book "Signal Propagation on Interconnects", Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998. The papers in this book cover a wide area of research directions: Beneath the des cription of general trends they deal with the solution of signal integrity problems, the modeling of interconnects, parameter extraction using calculations and measurements and last but not least actual problems in the field of optical interconnects.

This Second Edition focuses on emerging topics and advances in the field of VLSI interconnections In the decade since High-Speed VLSI Interconnections was first published, several major developments have taken place in the field. Now, updated to reflect these advancements, this Second Edition includes new information on copper interconnections, nanotechnology circuit interconnects, electromigration in the copper interconnections, parasitic inductances, and RLC models for comprehensive analysis of interconnection delays and crosstalk. Each chapter is designed to exist independently or as a part of one coherent unit, and several appropriate exercises are provided at the end of each chapter, challenging the reader to gain further insight into the contents being discussed. Chapter subjects include: * Preliminary Concepts * Parasitic Resistances, Capacitances, and Inductances * Interconnection Delays * Crosstalk Analysis * Electromigration-Induced Failure Analysis * Future Interconnections High-Speed VLSI Interconnections, Second Edition is an indispensable reference for high-speed VLSI designers, RF circuit designers, and advanced students of electrical engineering.

This book is jointly authored by leading academic and industry researchers. The material is unique in that it spans IC interconnect topics ranging from IBM's revolutionary copper process to an in-depth exploration into interconnect-aware computer architectures.

In Interconnect-centric Design for Advanced SoC and NoC, we have tried to create a comprehensive understanding about on-chip interconnect characteristics, design methodologies, layered views on different abstraction levels and finally about applying the interconnect-centric design in system-on-chip design. Traditionally, on-chip communication design has been done using rather ad-hoc and informal approaches that fail to meet some of the challenges posed by next-generation SOC designs, such as performance and throughput, power and energy, reliability, predictability, synchronization, and management of concurrency. To address these challenges, it is critical to take a global view of the communication problem, and decompose it along lines that make it more tractable. We believe that a layered approach similar to that defined by the communication networks community should also be used for on-chip communication design. The design issues are handled on physical and circuit layer, logic and architecture layer, and from system design methodology and tools point of view. Formal communication modeling and refinement is used to bridge the communication layers, and network-centric modeling of multiprocessor on-chip networks and socket-based design will serve the development of platforms for SoC and NoC integration. Interconnect-centric Design for Advanced SoC and NoC is concluded by two application examples: interconnect and memory organization in SoCs for advanced set-top boxes and TV, and a case study in NoC platform design for more generic applications.

This book provides practical solutions for delay and power reduction for on-chip interconnects and buses. It provides an in depth description of the problem of signal delay and extra power consumption, possible solutions for delay and glitch removal, while considering the power reduction of the total system. Coverage focuses on use of the Schmitt Trigger as an alternative approach to buffer insertion for delay and power reduction in VLSI interconnects. In the last section of the book, various bus coding techniques are discussed to minimize delay and power in address and data buses.

With recent advancements in electronics, specifically nanoscale devices, new technologies are being implemented to improve the properties of automated systems. However, conventional materials are failing due to limited mobility, high leakage currents, and power dissipation. To mitigate these challenges, alternative resources are required to advance electronics further into the nanoscale domain. Carbon nanotube field-effect transistors are a potential solution yet lack the information and research to be properly utilized. Major Applications of Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors (CNTFET) is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of converting semiconductor devices from micron technology to nanotechnology. The book provides readers with an updated status on existing CNTs, CNTFETs, and their applications and examines practical applications to minimize short channel effects and power dissipation in nanoscale devices and circuits. While highlighting topics including interconnects, digital circuits, and single-wall CNTs, this book is ideally designed for electrical engineers, electronics engineers, students, researchers, academicians, industry professionals, and practitioners working in nanoscience, nanotechnology, applied physics, and electrical and electronics engineering.

This book covers layout design and layout migration methodologies for optimizing multi-net wire structures in advanced VLSI interconnects. Scaling-dependent models for interconnect power, interconnect delay and crosstalk noise are covered in depth, and several design optimization problems are addressed, such as minimization of interconnect power under delay constraints, or design for minimal delay in wire bundles within a given routing area. A handy reference or a guide for design methodologies and layout automation techniques, this book provides a foundation for physical design challenges of interconnect in advanced integrated circuits.

The book provides a detailed analysis of issues related to sub-threshold interconnect performance from the perspective of analytical approach and design techniques. Particular emphasis is laid on the performance analysis of coupling noise and variability issues in sub-threshold domain to develop efficient compact models. The proposed analytical approach gives physical insight of the parameters affecting the transient behavior of coupled interconnects. Remedial design techniques are also suggested to mitigate the effect of coupling noise. The effects of wire width, spacing between the wires, wire length are thoroughly investigated. In addition, the effect of parameters like driver strength on peak coupling noise has also been analyzed. Process, voltage and temperature variations are prominent factors affecting sub-threshold design and have also been investigated. The process variability analysis has been carried out using parametric analysis, process corner analysis and Monte Carlo technique. The book also provides a qualitative summary of the work reported in the literature by various researchers in the design of digital sub-threshold circuits. This book should be of interest for researchers and graduate students with deeper insights into sub-threshold interconnect models in particular. In this sense, this book will best fit as a text book and/or a reference book for students who are initiated in the area of research and advanced courses in nanotechnology, interconnect design and modeling.

On Optimal Interconnections for VLSI describes, from a geometric perspective, algorithms for high-performance, high-density interconnections during the global and detailed routing phases of circuit layout. First, the book addresses area minimization, with a focus on near-optimal approximation algorithms for minimum-cost Steiner routing. In addition to practical implementations of recent methods, the implications of recent results on spanning tree degree bounds and the method of Zelikovsky are discussed. Second, the book addresses delay minimization, starting with a discussion of accurate, yet algorithmically tractable, delay models. Recent minimum-delay constructions are highlighted, including provably good cost-radius tradeoffs, critical-sink routing algorithms, Elmore delay-optimal routing, graph Steiner arborescences, non-tree routing, and wiresizing. Third, the book addresses skew minimization for clock routing and prescribed-delay routing formulations. The discussion starts with early matching-based constructions and goes on to treat zero-skew routing with provably minimum wirelength, as well as planar clock routing. Finally, the book concludes with a discussion of multiple (competing) objectives, i.e., how to optimize area, delay, skew, and other objectives simultaneously. These techniques are useful when the routing instance has heterogeneous resources or is highly congested, as in FPGA routing, multi-chip packaging, and very dense layouts. Throughout the book, the emphasis is on practical algorithms and a complete self-contained development. On Optimal Interconnections for VLSI will be of use to both circuit designers (CAD tool users) as well as researchers and developers in the area of performance-driven physical design.