Fitted Elmore delay: a simple and accurate interconnect delay model

In this brief, we present a new interconnect delay model called fitted Elmore delay (FED). FED is generated by approximating HSPICE delay data using a curve fitting technique. The functional form used in curve fitting is derived based on the Elmore delay (ED) model. Thus, our model has all the advantages of the ED model. It has a closed-form expression as simple as the ED model and is extremely efficient to compute. Interconnect optimization with respect to design parameters can also be done as easily as in the ED model. In fact, most previous algorithms and programs based on ED model can use our model without much change. Most importantly, FED is significantly more accurate than the ED model. The maximum error in delay estimation is at most 2% for our model, compared to 8.5% for the scaled ED model. The average error is less than 0.8%. We also show that FED can be more than 10 times more accurate than the ED model when applied to wire sizing.     

Power estimation for large sequential circuits

A power estimation approach is presented in which blocks of consecutive vectors are selected at random from a user-supplied realistic input vector set and the circuit is simulated for each block starting from an unknown state. This leads to two (upper and lower) bounds on the desired power value which can be quite tight (under 10% difference between the two in many cases). As a result, the power dissipation is obtained by simulating only a fraction of the potentially very large vector set     

Duet: an accurate leakage estimation and optimization tool fordual-Vt circuits

Presents a new approach for the estimation and optimization of standby power dissipation in large MOS digital circuits. We introduce a new approach for accurate and efficient calculation of the average standby or leakage current in large digital circuits by introducing the concepts of "dominant leakage states" and the use of state probabilities. Combined with graph reduction techniques and simplified nonlinear simulation, the method achieves speedups of three to four orders of magnitude over exhaustive SPICE simulations while maintaining very good accuracy. The leakage current calculation is then utilized in a new leakage and performance optimization algorithm for circuits using dual V_t processes. The approach is the first to consider the assignment of both the V_t and the width of a transistor, simultaneously. The optimization approach uses incremental calculation of leakage and performance sensitivities and can take into account a partially defined circuit state constraint for the standby mode of the device     

Power estimation of cell-based CMOS circuits

PPP is a Web-based simulation and synthesis environment for low-power design. In this paper we describe the gate-level simulation engine of PPP, that achieves accuracy always within 6% from SPICE, while keeping performance competitive with traditional gate-level simulation. This is done by using advanced symbolic models of the basic library cells, that exploit the physical understanding of the main power-consuming phenomena. VERILOG-XL is used as simulation platform to maintain compatibility with design environments. The Web-based interface allows the user to remotely access and execute the simulator using his/her own Web-browser (without the need of any software installation)     

Power estimation methods for sequential logic circuits

Recently developed methods for power estimation have primarily focused on combinational logic. We present a framework for the efficient and accurate estimation of average power dissipation in sequential circuits. Switching activity is the primary cause of power dissipation in CMOS circuits. Accurate switching activity estimation for sequential circuits is considerably more difficult than that for combinational circuits, because the probability of the circuit being in each of its possible states has to be calculated. The Chapman-Kolmogorov equations can be used to compute the exact state probabilities in steady state. However, this method requires the solution of a linear system of equations of size 2^N where N is the number of flip-flops in the machine. We describe a comprehensive framework for exact and approximate switching activity estimation in a sequential circuit. The basic computation step is the solution of a nonlinear system of equations which is derived directly from a logic realization of the sequential machine. Increasing the number of variables or the number of equations in the system results in increased accuracy. For a wide variety of examples, we show that the approximation scheme is within 1-3% of the exact method, but is orders of magnitude faster for large circuits. Previous sequential switching activity estimation methods can have significantly greater inaccuracies     

Simple model for positive-feedback adiabatic logic powerconsumption estimation

A model based on constant R-C elements for the calculation of the energy dissipated in adiabatic circuits with positive feedback is presented. The model can be used to estimate the energy dissipated as a function of both the load capacitance and operating frequency with an error of <8 and 18%, respectively     

Low-power interface circuits between adiabatic and standard CMOS circuits

The clocking schemes and signal waveforms of adiabatic circuits are different from those of standard CMOS circuits. This paper investigates the design approaches of low-power interface circuits in terms of energy dissipation. Several low-power interface circuits that convert signals between adiabatic logic and standard CMOS circuits are presented. All interface circuits and their layouts are implemented using TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The function verifications and energy loss tests for all interfaces are carried out using the net-list extracted from the layout. Full parasitic extraction is done. An adiabatic 8-bit carry look-ahead adder embedded in a static CMOS circuits is used to verify the proposed interfaces. The proposed interface circuits attain large energy savings over a wide range of frequencies, as compared with the previously reported circuits.     

An accurate analytical propagation delay model for high-speed CMLbipolar circuits

A new analytical delay model for high-speed CML circuits is presented. It is applicable to high-speed/low-voltage-swing silicon and HBT CML circuits operating at medium or high current densities. The model is based on bipolar SPICE parameters file, and can be used to estimate the propagation delay time of CML circuits under different operating conditions. The detailed transient analysis accounts for delay components due to each element in the complete SPICE bipolar transistor model. The comparison to SPICE circuit simulation results show excellent agreement for a wide range of state-of-the-art technologies and circuit parameters. The new model predicts the delay time with less than 5% error in most cases. The influence of the finite slopes (slewing rate) of the input signal and the device dimensions is also investigated. The delay model determined the optimum current i₀ (or load resistor R_L) for a transistor of a certain emitter area when driven by a source of a voltage swing (ΔV) and slew time (t_r ). At a specified power dissipation, the delay model is used to optimally size the transistor emitter area for maximum switching speed. The model provides circuit and device guidelines to minimize the propagation delay time and improve the performance of high-speed CML circuits     

Power consumption of analog circuits: a tutorial

A systematic approach to the power consumption of analog circuits is presented. The power consumption is related to basic circuit requirements, as dynamic range, bandwidth, noise figure and sampling speed and is considering basic device and device scaling behavior. Several kinds of circuits are treated, as samplers, amplifiers, filters and oscillators. The objective is to derive lower bounds to power consumption in analog circuits, to be used as design targets when designing power-constrained analog systems.     

Power estimation methods for analog circuits for architecturalexploration of integrated systems

This paper describes methods for analog-power estimation and applies them practically to two different classes of analog circuits. Such power estimators, which return a power estimate given only a block's specification values without knowing its detailed circuit implementation, are valuable components for architectural exploration tools and hence interesting for high-level system designers. As an illustration, two estimators are presented: one for high-speed analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and one for analog-continuous time filters. The ADC power estimator is a technology scalable closed formula and yields first-order results within an accuracy factor of about 2.2 for the whole class of high-speed Nyquist-rate ADCs. The filter-power estimator is of a more complex nature. It uses a crude filter synthesis, in combination with operational transconductor amplifier behavioral models to generate accurate results as well, but restricted to certain filter implementations     

A simple and accurate model for microstrip structures with slotted ground plane

A simple and accurate circuit model for microstrip filtering structures with slotted ground plane is presented. The unit cell model consists of a series inductance and shunt capacitance for the microstrip line, an ideal transmission line characterized by its impedance and electrical length for the slot, and an ideal transformer to model coupling to the slot. The coupling mechanism to the slots resonances and subsequent emergence of transmission gaps is explained for different positions of the microstrip line. Excellent agreement with measurement is demonstrated over the broad bandwidth of dc to 20 GHz.     

A simple and accurate model for microstrip structures with slotted ground plane

A simple and accurate circuit model for microstrip filtering structures with slotted ground plane is presented. The unit cell model consists of a series inductance and shunt capacitance for the microstrip line, an ideal transmission line characterized by its impedance and electrical length for the slot, and an ideal transformer to model coupling to the slot. The coupling mechanism to the slots resonances and subsequent emergence of transmission gaps is explained for different positions of the microstrip line. Excellent agreement with measurement is demonstrated over the broad bandwidth of dc to 20 GHz.     

A simple formula for the estimation of the capacitance of two-dimensional interconnects in VLSI circuits

A simple formula for the estimation of the capacitance of a single interconnection line in VLSI circuits is presented. It is shown that the approximation agrees favorably with the results obtained from much more costly two-dimensional simulations. The approximation is also simpler and more accurate than other approximations that have been proposed.     

Power supply noise in accurate delay model for the sub-threshold domain

Ultra-Low-Power circuits demand has dramatically increased in the last few years. One of the main challenges in designing these circuits is that transistors often run in the sub-threshold regime and their on current is exponentially dependent on the gate-to-source voltage, thus making sub-threshold gates extremely susceptible to power and ground noise phenomena. This paper provides a complete mathematical model in closed form for the delay of sub-threshold CMOS inverters. The novel model can predict the behavior of inverters output signal and therefore it can be extremely useful in the design phase to analyze the variations caused by noise on the output over/undershoot and the gate delay. The proposed model has a general validity since it considers the ground and supply noises completely uncorrelated both in frequency and in amplitude. When a commercial CMOS 45 nm process technology is referenced, the proposed model exhibits a maximum error of only ~16% under different conditions in terms of output load capacitance, input signal rising/falling time, noise phase and frequency.     

A simple and accurate model analysis of strip-loaded opticalwaveguides with various index profiles

A simple first-order perturbation approach has been developed to study the propagation characteristics of strip-loaded diffused waveguides with various refractive index profiles. Propagation constants of the guided modes of rib waveguides and strip-loaded waveguides with exponential and Gaussian refractive index profiles are obtained. The results are in good agreement with those reported in the literature that were obtained by variational and numerical techniques. The presented technique provides analytical expressions for the modal field profile that should be useful in the design of various integrated optical devices     

A pre-placement individual net length estimation model and an application for modern circuits

With the advances in integrated circuit (IC) technology, managing the individual and total interconnect is becoming one of the main challenges facing designers. An individual a-priori length estimation model can be a useful tool in helping designers obtain lower net lengths and congestion of interconnect. In this paper, the main characteristics that need to be considered while designing an individual a-priori length estimation technique for today's integrated circuits are discussed. A model that includes some of the most prevalent characteristics is designed and tested using the most current benchmark circuits released by IBM. In addition, one application of the length estimation is proposed in which a predictor-corrector framework for clustering that can be used to improve the results of placement is implemented. This model shows that the corrector step can improve the final placement results by up to 33% for special cases.     

绝热电路三要素理论及其应用

本文在研究多值电路三要素理论基础上提出绝热电路通用理论，即绝热电路三要素（信号、网络、负载）理论。应用此理论，设计了三种典型的绝热电路（逐级级联收缩结构、可逆逻辑结构和交叉存贮结构），验证了该理论的正确性；然后进一步依此理论设计了一种新颖的采用二相功率时钟的交叉存贮型绝热电路一钟控传输门绝热逻辑（Clocked Transmission Gate Adiabatic Logic，CTGAL）电路。最后用计算机验证了根据绝热电路三要素理论设计的CTGAL电路具有正确的逻辑功能和明显的低功耗特性。     

An accurate model for soft error rate estimation considering dynamic voltage and frequency scaling effects

Due to shrinking feature size and higher transistor count in a single chip in modern fabrication technologies, power consumption and soft error reliability have become two critical challenges which chip designers are facing in new silicon integrated circuits. Recent studies have shown that these issues have compromising effects on each other. Besides, power consumption and reliability significantly vary across workloads and among pieces of a single application which can be exploited to design adaptive runtime fault tolerant and low power systems. These attractions have been exploited in prior studies to design online reconfigurable fault tolerant systems with power management schemes. However, those attempts are driven by complicated simulations and hardly deliver a sense of direction to the designers. To achieve maximum efficiency in terms of power, performance, and reliability in dynamic scaling of voltage and frequency, it is critical to have a simple and accurate reliability model which estimates the value of fault rate considering supply voltage and operating frequency of a circuit. In this paper, we propose an accurate formula for analytic modeling of the soft error rate of a system which can be used to precisely track the reliability of the system under dynamic voltage and frequency adjustments. The experimental results of this paper prove that our proposed model offers precise estimates of reliability in accordance with the results of accurate soft error rate (SER) estimation algorithm for ISCAS85’s benchmark circuits.