Variability Becoming More Problematic, More Diverse


Process variability is becoming more problematic as transistor density increases, both in planar chips and in heterogeneous advanced packages. On the basis of sheer numbers, there are many more things that can wrong. “If you have a chip with 50 billion transistors, then there are 50 places where a one-in-a-billion event can happen,” said Rob Aitken, a Synopsys fellow. And if Intel’s... » read more

Adding Circuit Aging To Variability


Moving to a smaller node usually means another factor becomes important. The industry has become accustomed to doing process, temperature, voltage (PVT) corner analysis, but now it has to add aging into that mix. The problem is that planning for circuit aging is no longer a purely statistical process. Aging is dependent on activity over the lifetime of the device. Tools need to be modified a... » read more

Low Power Meets Variability At 7/5nm


Power-related issues are beginning to clash with process variation at 7/5nm, making timing closure more difficult and resulting in re-spins caused by unexpected errors and poor functional yield. Variability is becoming particularly troublesome at advanced nodes, and there are multiple causes of that variability. One of the key ones is the manufacturing process, which can be affected by every... » read more

Prediction of SRAM Reliability Under Mechanical Stress Induced by Harsh Environments


On the example of a 28nm SRAM array, this work presents a novel reliability study which takes into account the effect of externally applied mechanical stress in circuit simulations. This method is able to predict the bit failures caused by the stress via the piezoresistive effect. The stability of each single SRAM cell is simulated using static noise margin. Finally, the whole array’s behavio... » read more

Tech Talk: Applying Machine Learning


Norman Chang, chief technologist at ANSYS, talks about real applications of machine learning for mechanical, fluid dynamics and chip-package-system design. https://youtu.be/MqYX0wbwSfE » read more

Custom Chip Verification Issues Grow


With the transition to finFETs, design conditions have grown more intense. They now include a wider PVT range and less headroom. As a result, electronic systems for applications such as mobile, consumer, and automotive increasingly are becoming more difficult to design due to the exacting performance requirements of these applications. This is particularly evident in custom design, including... » read more

Synopsys Buys Gold Standard Simulations


[getentity id="22035" e_name="Synopsys"] has made another quiet acquisition, this time in the TCAD space. [getentity id="22272" comment="Gold Standard Simulations (GSS)"] offers a suite of solutions for design technology co-optimization (DTCO), PDK development and exploration and screening of future technology options. Their tool chain integrates predictive Monte Carlo and statistical TCAD s... » read more

Transistor-Level Verification Returns


A few decades ago, all designers did transistor-level verification, but they were quite happy to say goodbye to it when standard cells provided isolation at the gate-level and libraries provided all of the detailed information required, such as timing. A few dedicated people continued to use the technology to provide those models and libraries and the most aggressive designs that wanted to stri... » read more

Why DSA Is Cost Effective For 7nm And Below


The upcoming 7nm process node presents tough challenges both for printability and cost. At 7nm and below, multi-patterning is required, which makes the manufacturing process more expensive by requiring more masks. To control costs, any alternative technology that provides equivalent yields with fewer patterning steps should be explored. One promising option is to use directed self-assembly (... » read more

Moore Memory Problems


The six-transistor static memory cell (SRAM) has been the mainstay of on-chip memory for several decades and has stood the test of time. Today, many advanced SoCs have 50% of the chip area covered with these memories and so they are critical to continued scaling. “The SRAM being used in modern systems is similar to the SRAM they were using in the 1970s and 1980s,” says Duncan Bremner, ch... » read more

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