A Design Methodology for Addressing Crosstalk in Integrated Circuits

Download or read book A Design Methodology for Addressing Crosstalk in Integrated Circuits written by Phiroze N. Parakh and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation focuses on a design methodology for addressing capacitive crosstalk. Crosstalk is a severe problem in the field of VLSI design where aggressive scaling of interconnect pitch has led to increased capacitance between adjacent traces, causing non-linear interactions evidenced as timing violations and erroneous circuit activity. New process technologies will achieve tighter metallization, increased clock frequencies, smaller voltage swings and longer interconnect. Estimates show these trends will double the impact of crosstalk during the next decade. A physical design methodology that accounts for crosstalk with accurate and consistent estimates of wiring constraints throughout the design flow is presented. By maintaining a consistent view across the design flow, violations due to crosstalk become predictable, and therefore, avoidable. A case is made for estimating crosstalk using an empirical model, avoiding crosstalk using congestion-driven placement, and reducing crosstalk via a global-route embedder. Accurate models for crosstalk interactions are required to achieve timing convergence. A computationally efficient empirical model for crosstalk impact that captures noise and delay-changes on coupled conductors is presented. It permits a performance-driven approach that is superior to the popular method of minimizing.