Thermal‐Aware Floorplanning with Min‐cut Die Partition for 3D ICs

Three‐dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs) implement heterogeneous systems in the same platform by stacking several planar chips vertically with through‐silicon via (TSV) technology. 3D ICs have some advantages, including shorter interconnect lengths, higher integration density, and improved performance. Thermal‐aware design would enhance the reliability and performance of the interconnects and devices. In this paper, we propose thermal‐aware floorplanning with min‐cut die partitioning for 3D ICs. The proposed min‐cut die partition methodology minimizes the number of connections between partitions based on the min‐cut theorem and minimizes the number of TSVs by considering a complementary set from the set of connections between two partitions when assigning the partitions to dies. Also, thermal‐aware floorplanning methodology ensures a more even power distribution in the dies and reduces the peak temperature of the chip. The simulation results show that the proposed methodologies reduced the number of TSVs and the peak temperature effectively while also reducing the run‐time.     

Through-silicon-via insertion for performance optimization in three-dimensional integrated circuits

Through-silicon-via (TSV) interconnect is one of the main technologies for three-dimensional integrated circuits production (3-D ICs). Based on a parasitic parameters extraction model, first order expressions for the TSV resistances, inductances, and capacitance as functions of physical dimension and material characteristic are derived. Analyzing the impact of TSV size and placement on the interconnect timing performance and signal integrity, this paper presents an approach for TSV insertion in 3D ICs to minimize the propagation delay with consideration to signal reflection. Simulation results in multiple heterogeneous 3D architectures demonstrate that our approach in generally can result in a 49.96% improvement in average delay, a 62.28% decrease in the reflection coefficient, and the optimization for delay can be more effective for higher non-uniform inter-plane interconnects. The proposed approach can be integrated into the TSV-aware design and optimization tools for 3-D circuits to enhance system performance.     

Simulation of electrical overstress thermal failures in integratedcircuits

Electrical overstress (EOS) and electrostatic discharge (ESD) pose the most dominant threats to integrated circuits (ICs) reliability. As a measure for EOS/ESD reliability, the power-to-failure versus time-to-failure relationship (power profile) has been recently proposed to determine the EOS failure thresholds of integrated circuits. This paper presents a nonlinear mixed 2D-1D thermal simulator, iTSIM, for ESD/EOS failure studies in ICs. iTSIM's computational efficiency to handle large-scale EOS thermal problems in ICs derives from the special set of boundary conditions introduced in this paper. Simulated power profiles for various combinations of major thermal parameters of the IC die-package structure are shown to agree with experimental data     

基于人工神经网络的IC互连可靠性研究

鉴于有限元分析耗时耗资源的缺点,为了加速集成电路的互连可靠性分析,提出将传统的有限元建模和人工神经网络(ANN)建模技术结合来实现IC的建模和仿真分析.采用有限元ANSYS参数化设计语言(APDL)实现IC三维模型的自动构建和原子通量散度(AFD)计算,之后通过对计算所得的可靠性数据进行训练和测试,采用神经网络技术对模型的输入输出关系进行建模,使模型达到足够高的精度.神经网络模型构建好之后,可以在短时间产生一个可靠性数据库.通过对数据的统计分析可以得到电路在不同条件下的互连可靠性,进而分析各因素对电路互连可靠性的影响,为集成电路的互连可靠性分析和设计提供重要指导.     

Layout-Specific Circuit Evaluation in 3-D Integrated Circuits

In this paper, we describe a comprehensive layout methodology for bonded three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs). In bonded 3D integration technology, parts of a circuit are fabricated on different wafers, and then, the wafers are bonded with a glue layer of Cu or polymer based adhesive. Using our layout methodology, designers can layout such 3D circuits with necessary information on inter-wafer via/contact and orientation of each wafer embedded in the layout. We have implemented the layout methodology in 3DMagic. Availability of 3DMagic has led to interesting research with a wide range of layout-specific circuit evaluation, from performance comparison of 2D and 3D circuits to layout-specific reliability analyses in 3D circuits. Using 3DMagic, researchers have designed and simulated an 8-bit encryption processor mapped into 2D and 3D FPGA layouts. Moreover, the layout methodology is an essential element of our ongoing research for the framework of a novel Reliability Computer Aided Design tool, ERNI-3D.     

Si-SiGe材料三维CMOS集成电路技术研究

根据SiGe材料的物理特性,提出了一种新有源层材料的三维CMOS集成电路.该三维CMOS集成电路前序有源层仍采用Si材料,制作nMOS器件;后序有源层则采用SiGe材料,以制作pMOS器件.这样,电路的本征性能将由Si nMOS决定.使用MEDICI软件对Si-SiGe材料三维CMOS器件及Si-SiGe三维CMOS反相器的电学特性分别进行了模拟分析.模拟结果表明,与Si-Si三维CMOS结构相比,文中提出的Si-SiGe材料三维CMOS集成电路结构具有明显的速度优势.     

Si-SiGe材料三维CMOS集成电路技术研究

根据SiGe材料的物理特性,提出了一种新有源层材料的三维CMOS集成电路.该三维CMOS集成电路前序有源层仍采用Si材料,制作nMOS器件;后序有源层则采用SiGe材料,以制作pMOS器件.这样,电路的本征性能将由Si nMOS决定.使用MEDICI软件对Si-SiGe材料三维CMOS器件及Si-SiGe三维CMOS反相器的电学特性分别进行了模拟分析.模拟结果表明,与Si-Si三维CMOS结构相比,文中提出的Si-SiGe材料三维CMOS集成电路结构具有明显的速度优势.     

Integrated modeling of Self-heating of confined geometry (FinFET,NWFET, and NSHFET) transistors and its implications for the reliability of sub-20 nm modern integrated circuits

The evolution of transistor topology from planar to confined geometry transistors (i.e., FinFET, Nanowire FET, Nanosheet FET) has met the desired performance specification of sub-20 nm integrated circuits (ICs), but only at the expense of increased power density and thermal resistance. Thus, self-heating effect (SHE) has become a critical issue for performance/reliability of ICs. Indeed, temperature is one of the most important factors determining ICs reliability, such as Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI), Hot Carrier Injection (HCI), and Electromigration (EM). Therefore, an accurate SHE model is essential for predictive, reliability-aware ICs design. Although SHE is collectively determined by the thermal resistances/capacitances associated with various layers of an IC, most researchers focus on isolated components within the hierarchy (i.e., a single transistor, few specific circuit configurations, or specialized package type). This fragmented approach makes it difficult to verify the implications of SHE on performance and reliability of ICs based on confined geometry transistors. In this paper, we combine theoretical modeling and systematic transistor characterization to extract thermal parameters at the transistor level to demonstrate the importance of multi-time constant thermal circuits to predict the spatio-temporal SHE in modern sub-20 nm transistors. Based on the refined Berkeley Short-channel IGFET Model Common Multi-Gate (BSIM-CMG) model, we examine SHE in typical digital circuits (e.g., ring oscillator) and analog circuits (e.g., two-stage operational amplifier) by Verilog-A based HSPICE simulation. Similarly, we develop a physics-based thermal compact model for packaged ICs using an effective media approximation for the Back End Of Line (BEOL) interconnects and ICs packaging. We integrate these components to investigate SHE behavior implication on ICs reliability and explain why one must adopt various (biomimetic) strategies to improve the lifetime of self-heated ICs.     

Fast thermal analysis for fixed-outline 3D floorplanning

Three dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs) can alleviate the problem of interconnection, a critical problem in the nanoscale era, and are also promising for heterogeneous integration. However, the thermal challenge in industry is one of key obstacles to adopt the 3D ICs technology. Various thermal analysis models for 3D IC have been proposed in literature. However, the long simulation cycle makes runtime of thermal management inefficient during floorplanning phase. In this paper, we propose a fast thermal analysis method for fixed-outline 3D floorplanning. Before floorplanning, we simulate the thermal distribution of each block placed on different positions. Based on the simulated thermal profiles, bilinear interpolation is adopted to quickly estimate temperature during floorplanning. After the block planning, a heuristic method, which combines the shortest path and min-cost-max-flow, is presented for TSV allocation with minimization of chip temperature and wirelength. Compared with the superposition of thermal profiles method, the proposed thermal analysis method can reduce the peak temperature by 6.7% on average with short runtime for 3D fixed-outline floorplanning, which demonstrates the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed thermal analysis method.     

塑封器件的外部目检方法与判据研究

目前,塑封器件由于其在尺寸、重量、成本、可用性和性能,以及工艺和设计方面的先进性,使得其在高可靠性领域中的应用越来越广泛,国内已有相当数量的塑封器件应用于国防领域。但是,其外部目检试验项目所依据的方法与判据仍然沿用气密性封装器件外部目检的方法与判据,已经不能满足日益增多的塑封器件的外部目检筛选要求。结合GJB 548B-2005的方法 2009.1外部目检要求,开展塑封器件外部目检试验方法与判据的研究。     

CBGA、CCGA植球植柱焊接返工可靠性研究

多功能、高性能、高可靠及小型化、轻量化是集成电路发展的趋势。以航空航天为代表的高可靠应用中,CBGA和CCGA形式的封装需求在快速增长。CLGA外壳/基板植球或植柱及二次组装之后的使用过程中,常出现焊接不良或其他损伤而导致电路失效,因此需要进行植球植柱焊接返工。在返工过程中,除对焊接外观、焊接层孔隙等进行控制,研究返工过程对植球植柱焊盘镀层的影响也是保证焊接可靠性的重要工作。一次返工后焊盘表面镀金层已不存在,镀镍层也存在被熔蚀等问题,这都对返工工艺及返工后的电路可靠性提出了挑战。文章主要研究返工中镀镍层熔蚀变化趋势以及随返工次数增加焊球/焊柱拉脱强度和剪切强度的变化趋势,并分析返工后电路植球植柱的可靠性。     

3-D ICs: a novel chip design for improving deep-submicrometerinterconnect performance and systems-on-chip integration

Performance of deep-submicrometer very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits is being increasingly dominated by the interconnects due to decreasing wire pitch and increasing die size. Additionally, heterogeneous integration of different technologies in one single chip is becoming increasingly desirable, for which planar (two-dimensional) ICs may not be suitable. This paper analyzes the limitations of the existing interconnect technologies and design methodologies and presents a novel three-dimensional (3-D) chip design strategy that exploits the vertical dimension to alleviate the interconnect related problems and to facilitate heterogeneous integration of technologies to realize a system-on-a-chip (SoC) design. A comprehensive analytical treatment of these 3-D ICs has been presented and it has been shown that by simply dividing a planar chip into separate blocks, each occurring a separate physical level interconnected by short and vertical interlayer interconnects (VILICs), significant improvement in performance and reduction in wire-limited chip area can be achieved, without the aid of any other circuit or design innovations. A scheme to optimize the interconnect distribution among different interconnect tiers is presented and the effect of transferring the repeaters to upper Si layers has been quantified in this analysis for a two-layer 3-D chip. Furthermore, one of the major concerns in 3-D ICs arising due to power dissipation problems has been analyzed and an analytical model has been presented to estimate the temperatures of the different active layers. It is demonstrated that advancement in heat sinking technology will be necessary in order to extract maximum performance from these chips. Implications of 3-D device architecture on several design issues have also been discussed with special attention to SoC design strategies. Finally some of the promising technologies for manufacturing 3-D ICs have been outlined     

三维集成电路中TSV-TSV的耦合分析与优化

TSV-TSV耦合会对三维集成电路的性能造成影响,主要的负面效应就是引入了耦合噪声。为了能够在初期设计阶段准确的估计TSV间的耦合强度,本文首先提出了存在于TSV间的基于二端口网络的阻抗级耦合通道模型,然后推导出了TSV间的耦合强度公式用来描述TSV-TSV耦合效应。通过与三维全波仿真结果的对比,公式的准确度得到了验证。另外,本文提出了一种减小TSV间耦合强度的设计方法。通过SPICE仿真,所提出设计方法不仅可以应用在简单TSV-TSV的电路结构中,还可以应用在含有多个TSV的复杂电路结构中,从而体现了所提出设计方法的可行性,并且为设计者提供了改善三维集成电路电学性能的可能性。     

Performance-Optimized Design for Parametric Reliability

Process variations have a significant impact on behavior of integrated circuits (ICs) designed in deep sub-micron (DSM) technologies, and it has been estimated that in some cases up to a generation of performance can be lost due to process variations (Bowman et al., IEEE J Solid State Circuits 37:183–190, 2002), making it a significant problem for design and manufacture of DSM ICs. Adaptive design techniques are fast evolving as a potential solution to this problem. Such techniques facilitate reconfiguration of an IC to enable its operation across process corners, thus ensuring parametric reliability in such ICs, and also improving manufacturing yield. In this paper, adaptive design techniques with a focus on timing of ICs, i.e., performance-optimized adaptive design, are explored. The focus of such performance-optimized adaptive design techniques is to ensure that adaptation does not cause an IC to violate timing specifications, thus giving priority to performance, which remains one of the most important parameters of an IC.     

考虑温度因素的3D芯片TSV容错结构设计

相比于2D芯片,3D芯片具有更高的功率密度和更低的热导率。针对散热问题,多层3D芯片一般采用具有较高热导率的铜填充硅通孔(TSV)。为提高3D芯片的成品率,在温度条件限制下,对3D芯片进行TSV的容错结构设计非常重要。分析了带有TSV的3D芯片温度模型,提出了3D芯片温度模型的TSV修复方法。根据温度要求设计总的TSV数,将这些TSV分为若干个组,每组由m个信号TSV和n个冗余TSV组成,实现了组内和组间信号的TSV修复。实验结果表明,该TSV容错结构不仅有较高修复效率,而且具有较好散热效果。     

Moving average filter for spur reduction in subsampling fractional PLLs

A mono-bit digital receiver circuit for instantaneous frequency measurement is presented. The circuit is co-designed with Indium Phosphide Double Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices. The chip is fabricated by InP/CMOS three-dimensional (3D) heterogeneous integration using the wafer-level bonding technique. The measurable signal frequency within?+?15 to???25 dBm power is up to 7.5 GHz with a 14-GHz clock. Compared to an integrated circuit (IC) with a traditional InP or CMOS technologies, the proposed chip could benefit from both InP and CMOS technology. In the heterogeneous integration, InP devices provide high operating frequency, broad signal bandwidth, and large input signal dynamic range, while CMOS devices achieve complex function with low power consumption. In this way, the system FoM is improved for a mono-bit digital receiver while the system power consumption is kept the same. This work also shows the great potential of the 3D heterogeneous integration for the high-performance mixed-signal and multifunction radio-frequency ICs.

     

Optimization of Test Wrapper for TSV Based 3D SOCs

Manufacturing of core based three-dimensional (3D) integrated circuit (IC) is an emerging field of semiconductor industry that promises greater number of devices on chip, increased performance and reduced power consumption. But due to scaling in technology features these chips are more complex. Hence testing of these 3D ICs is a challenging task and designing the test wrapper of core is also an important issue in this respect. This paper follows a IEEE 1500-style wrapper design for 3D ICs using Through Silicon Vias (TSVs) for testing purpose. It is assumed that the core elements are distributed over several layers of the ICs. As the number of available TSVs are limited due to small chip area, this work is intended to design balanced wrapper chains using minimum number of TSVs so that testing time of a core is reduced. In this work we have proposed a polynomial time algorithm of O(N) to design the test wrapper. The results are presented based on the ITC’02 SOC test benchmarks and compared with prior works. Obtained results show that our algorithm provides better utilization of TSVs compared to the work presented in Noia et al. (2011).     

Reliability analysis of 3D heterogeneous microsystem module by simplified finite element model

Analyzing the structural reliability of 3D heterogeneous microsystem modules is an important step in their development. The finite element models of such modules are simplified by simulating the complicated structure of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) devices integrated into a single interposer. In this study, thermal stress and cycling analyses for different finite element models of 3D heterogeneous microsystem modules are investigated. The results of the thermal stress analysis reveal the values of the maximum von Mises stress in the finite element models, at the interface between the interposer and the microgyroscope, and in the microgyroscope spring. They also illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of the different fabrication models. Module reliability assessments are also obtained through a thermal cycling analysis, the results of which show that properly simplified models designed to reduce computation time benefit the reliability analysis. This study provides useful suggestions for manufacturing and reliability assessments of 3D heterogeneous microsystem modules embedded using the through-silicon via technique.     

纳米级CMOS集成电路的单粒子效应及其加固技术

空间应用的集成电路受到辐射效应的影响,会出现瞬态干扰、数据翻转、性能退化、功能失效甚至彻底毁坏等问题.随着器件特征尺寸进入到100nm以下（以下简称纳米级）,这些问题的多样性和复杂性进一步增加,单粒子效应成为集成电路在空间可靠性应用的主要问题,给集成电路的辐射效应评估和抗辐射加固带来了诸多挑战.本文以纳米级CMOS集成电路为研究对象,结合近年来国内外的主要技术进展,介绍研究团队在65nm集成电路单粒子效应和加固技术方面的研究成果,包括首次提出的单粒子时域测试和分析方法、单粒子多节点翻转加固方法和单粒子瞬态加固方法等.     

Maximising energy efficiency in 3D multicore systems: a formalised approach

Three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs) present an intriguing challenge for both circuit and system engineers due to their diverse cooling efficiency among the stacked dies. Several recent proposals advocate multiple techniques for thermal management of 3D ICs at different levels of the design, while operating within the confines of thermal heterogeneity. In this article, we analyse for the first time, the role of thermal heterogeneity on the energy efficiency of the system by incorporating temperature dependent leakage power. We develop a novel convex optimisation framework to optimise the energy efficiency in 3D ICs incorporating: (a) leakage aware thermal provisioning using temperature dependent full-chip leakage model, (b) heat flow in vertically stacked systems using a grid based compact thermal model and (c) a concrete application for workload provisioning in 3D multicore systems. Detailed simulation-based experiments with our proposed optimisation framework shows 5–17% improvement in the energy efficiency of a typical multicore system organised as 3D stacked dies.