Analysis and optimization of thermal issues in high-performance VLSI

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an overview of various thermal issues in high-performance VLSI with especial attention to their implications for performance and reliability. More specifically, it examines the impact of thermal effects on both interconnect design and electromigration reliability and discusses their impact on the allowable current density limits. Furthermore, it also discusses how thermal and reliability constrained current density limits may conflict with those obtained through purely performance based criterion. Additionally, it is shown that chip level thermal effects can have a significant impact on large-scale circuit optimization techniques, including the clock-skew minimization scheme, and can influence other physical design problem formulations. Finally, high-current interconnect design rules for ESD and I/O circuits are also examined.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  B. Hardware
  B.7 INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
      B.7.1 Types and Design Styles
          Subjects: VLSI (very large scale integration)

Additional Classification:
  B. Hardware
  B.6 LOGIC DESIGN

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation, Performance, Theory