Synchronous Die-to-Die Signaling Using Aeonic Connect


This paper presents a system providing accurate clock alignment for on-die and die-to-die synchronous circuits. A low-frequency reference clock provides an accurate timing reference with low power consumption, while distributed delay lines align the endpoints of loosely constrained clock trees. For on-die clocks, this synchronization strategy severs the traditional relationship between power an... » read more

Cutting Clock Costs On The Bleeding Edge Of Process Nodes


In a recent study done by McKinsey and IDC, we see that physical design and verification costs are increasing exponentially with shrinking transistor sizes. As figure 1 shows, physical design (PD) and pre-silicon verification costs are doubling each process leap. As companies leap from node to leading node, a natural question arises. Why is it becoming harder and more expensive to tapeout a chi... » read more

Another Tool In The Bag


Clocks can account for 25% to 40% of total dynamic power consumption in a complex chip, so when looking for areas to reduce power, the clock tree network is a good place to start. Structurally, it is certainly possible to have single-bit flip flops with a clock that connects to every one of the flip flops, and the power in general is proportional to the number of buffers in the clock tree on... » read more