Thermal-ADI: a linear-time chip-level dynamic thermal simulation algorithm based on alternating-direction-implicit (ADI) method

ABSTRACT

Due to the dramatic increase of clock frequency and integration density, power density and on-chip temperature in high-end VLSI circuits rise significantly. To ensure the timing correctness and the reliability of high-end VLSI design, efficient and accurate chip-level transient thermal simulations are of crucial importance.In this paper, we develop and present an efficient transient thermal simulation algorithm based on the alternating-direction-implicit method. Our algorithm, Thermal-ADI, not only hasa linear runtime and memory requirement, but also isunconditionally stablewhich ensures that time-step is not limited by any stability requirement. Extensive experimental results show that our algorithm is not only orders of magnitude faster than the traditional thermal simulation algorithms but also highly accurate, and efficient in memory usage.

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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:
  J. Computer Applications

General Terms:
Design, Management, Theory