ECEN 751

Advanced Computational Methods for

Integrated System Design

Introduction

Prof. Peng Li
pli@tamu.edu

P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 1

 A plethora of VLSI CAD problems

Ci1
Ci2

Cs1
Vin
Cs2
clk1 clk2
y1 Comparator
clk2 clk1 clk1 clk2 y2
clk2 clk1 d

Cf1 Cf2
d1 d2
clk1 clk2 clk1 clk2
clk2 clk1 clk2 clk1

D flip-flop

Q
_
Q

CLK1

Devices, interconnects, circuits, systems,

signal, power, analog, digital …..

P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 2

 Where are we in the Specifications

design flow?
System-level Design

RTL-level Design

Top-down Gate-level Design

Bottom-up
Design Verification

Transistor/Circuit
Level
Electrical &
Thermal Properties,
Delays, Waveforms, Layout
Parasitics Effects,
Coupling Noise … Final Verification

P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 3

 Selected Topics
Classical circuit simulation methods (SPICE)
 LU factorization, Newton’s method

 (Modified) nodal formulation (MNA)

 Nonlinear DC analysis

 AC analysis

 Linear/nonlinear transient analyses

 SPICE device models

P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 4

 Many problems are modeled by some form of coupled (nonlinear)
first-order differential equations

 For circuit problems this is usually done using MNA formulation

v 2 i  f(v) v1 R v4
l l l
 v C
l v3

P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 5

■ Write KCL (Kirchoff’s Current Law) at node 1:

d ( v1  v3 ) ( v1  v4 )
C   f ( v2  v1 )  0
dt R
■ If we do this for all N nodes:

    
F ( x(t ), x(t ), u (t ))  0 x(0)  X


x (t )  N dimensional vector of unknown
node voltages

u (t )  vector of independent sources
F nonlinear operator
P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 6
 Selected Topics
 Elmore delay
 Timing analysis
 Intend to evaluate the circuit timing quickly
 Crucial for large VLSI circuit synthesis/optimization
 Provide delay estimation or waveform approximation using
easy-to-compute metrics or (approximated) timing simulation
R4
R1 R2 R3
C4
C1 C2 C3
TD 4  R1C1  C 2  C 3  C 4 
 R 2 ( C 2  C 3  C 4 )  R 4C 4

P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 7

 Selected Topics: timing/noise analysis & variability
Variability

Process
Characterization

Interconnect
Gate Models

Delay
Calculators

SSTA
Statistical Opt.

P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 8

 Selected Topics
 Model order reduction

 Key drivers for achieving feasible simulation

 IC interconnect analysis
 Whole system verification
 Design space exploration

Full Macromodeling
System Model

P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 9

  Selected topics: IC Power Delivery Networks/Power Management
Distributed Place. Size: 3M nodes in total
Off-chip Switching Switching
Energy Converter Converter
Source

Switch-Cap Converter Switch-Cap Converter

Linear Regulators Linear Regulators V4: 1V
Vin:1.2V I4: 0.1A
V3: 1V
C4: 10nF
I3: 0.2A
#LDO: 4
C3: 10nF
#LDO: 4
Analog/
RF I/O
Block
V1: 1V V2: 1V
I1: 0.4A T transition :0.5ns I2: 0.3A
Processor Cores
C1: 10nF C2: 10nF
#LDO: 4 #LDO: 4

1.02
without LDOs
1 with 16 LDOs 1
0.98
1
0.96
Voltage (V)

0.94
0.95 0.95
0.92

0.9
0.9
0.88 200
200
100 100 150
0.86 50 0.9
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time (s) x 10
-8

P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 10

 Selected topics
 Parallel CAD

Courtesy Intel Courtesy AMD Courtesy TI

P. Li ECEN 751 Texas A&M University 11

 Analog/Mixed-signal Modeling, Optimization and Verification

Charge Loop
PFD VCO
Pump Filter

System level
optimization
up Vcontrol
Fref Fout
Frequency Charge Loop
VCO
detector pump filter
down

Ffb Frequency
divider

Phase locked loop

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 Computational Neuroscience

Brain Inspired Circuits

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 Brain-Inspired Circuits and Systems

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 What is this course about?

Understand design/system properties

Design implementation
Design verification/optimization

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