Estimation of maximum power supply noise for deep sub-micron designs

ABSTRACT

We propose a new technique for generating a small set of patterns to estimate the maximum power supply noise of deep sub-micron designs. We first build the charge/discharge current and output voltage waveform libraries for each cell, taking power and ground pin characteristics, the power net RC and other input characteristics as parameters. Based on the cells' current and voltage libraries, the power supply noise of a 2-vector sequence can be estimated efficiently by a cell-level waveform simulator. We then apply the Genetic Algorithm based on the efficient waveform simulator to generate a small set of patterns producing high power supply noise. Finally, the results are validated by simulating the obtained patterns using a transistor level simulator. Our experimental results show that the patterns generated by our approach produce a tight lower bound on the maximum power supply noise.

REFERENCES

• 1: Yi-Shing Chang , Sandeep K. Gupta , Melvin A. Breuer, Analysis of Ground Bounce in Deep Sub-Micron Circuits, Proceedings of the 15th IEEE VLSI Test Symposium (VTS'97), p.110, April 27-May 01, 1997
• 2: Howard H. Chen , David D. Ling, Power supply noise analysis methodology for deep-submicron VLSI chip design, Proceedings of the 34th annual conference on Design automation, p.638-643, June 09-13, 1997, Anaheim, California, United States [doi>10.1145/266021.266307]
• 3: A.-C. Deng, Y.-C. Shiau, and K.-H. Loh, "Time Domain Current Waveform Simulation of CMOS Circuits," Proceedings of ICCAD, pp. 208-211, November 1988.
• 4: David E. Goldberg, Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization and Machine Learning, Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, 1989
• 5: GARDS, "Command Reference Manual," Volume 1-4, Silicon Valley Research, September 1996.
• 6: Michael S. Hsiao , Elizabeth M. Rudnick , Janak H. Patel, K2: an estimator for peak sustainable power of VLSI circuits, Proceedings of the 1997 international symposium on Low power electronics and design, p.178-183, August 18-20, 1997, Monterey, California, United States [doi>10.1145/263272.263321]
• 7: Y.-M. Jiang, K.-T. Cheng, and A. Krstic, "Estimation of Maximum Power and Instantaneous Current Using a Genetic Algorithm," Proc. of IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, pp. 135-138, May 1997.
• 8: H. Kriplani, E N. Najm, and I. N. Hajj, "Pattern Independent Maximum Current Estimation in Power and Ground Buses of CMOS VLSI Circuits: Algorithms, Signal Correlations, and Their Resolution," IEEE Transactions on CAD, pp. 998-1012, August 1995.
• 9: Angela Krstić , Kwang-Ting Cheng, Vector generation for maximum instantaneous current through supply lines for CMOS circuits, Proceedings of the 34th annual conference on Design automation, p.383-388, June 09-13, 1997, Anaheim, California, United States [doi>10.1145/266021.266176]
• 10: R. Senthinathan and J. L. Prince, Simultaneous Switching Noise of CMOS Devices and Systems, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994.
• 11: SYNOPSYS, "PowerMill Reference Manual", August 1997.
• 12: Ultima Interconnect Technology, Inc., "Ultima-PR User's Guide 2.2.6", 1997.
• 13: Estimation of maximum power for sequential circuits considering spurious transitions, Proceedings of the 1997 International Conference on Computer Design (ICCD '97), p.746, October 12-15, 1997

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
      I.2.8 Problem Solving, Control Methods, and Search
          Subjects: Heuristic methods

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.3 SPECIAL-PURPOSE AND APPLICATION-BASED SYSTEMS
      Subjects: Signal processing systems

  G. Mathematics of Computing
  G.4 MATHEMATICAL SOFTWARE
      Subjects: Algorithm design and analysis

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.5 PATTERN RECOGNITION
      I.5.4 Applications
          Subjects: Waveform analysis; Signal processing

  J. Computer Applications
  J.2 PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING
      Subjects: Electronics

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design, Experimentation, Measurement, Performance, Theory