Restrictive Design Rules and Their Impact on 22 nm Design and Physical Verification

Process variability is posing considerable challenge to the capability of lithography and manufacturing techniques, and thus impacts both performance and yield of advanced node chips. To ensure the manufacturability and performance of chips at 22 nm, one approach the industry is considering is restrictive design-limiting the type and placement of features used in designs. Gridding of critical layers significantly reduces the total physical design space available and makes restrictive design possible. This paper will examine the basics of gridding, the requirements for restrictive gridded design, and the automated methods for accurate checking of Restrictive Design Rules (RDRs). Resolving the debug challenges associated with the implementation of checking restrictive design and grid rules will also be discussed.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a form of digital modulation used in a wide array of communications systems. This paper will explain what OFDM is, why it's important, where it's used, and what test instrumentation is required to maintain it.

Build versus Buy - Understanding the Total Cost of Embedded Design

When developing an embedded system, deciding which technology to implement as the system's primary controller is one of the first key engineering milestones. In addition to considering processor architectures, operating system capabilities, and other components, you must decide which portion of the system to design and which portion to buy off the shelf. By designing and building a custom controller, you can completely customize the end solution and optimize costs, but any design specification changes or oversights can cause lengthy and expensive delays. Alternatively, using an off-the-shelf platform increases the cost of goods sold (COGS), and you may pay for features that are not necessary for your design. Nevertheless, off-the-shelf systems typically offer a faster validation cycle and, therefore, shorter time to market. This tutorial outlines two options for developing a new controller - build or buy - and discusses the technical and financial risks associated with both.

Equalization of Multiple Interleaved Anaglog-to-Digital Converter (ADCs)

Multiple ADCs are a popular war to increase a system's sampling rate. This document discusses how to implement digital equalizers to improve performance.

Selecting an Industry-Standard Metric for Data Center Efficiency

The development of standards for the measurement and specification of data center efficiency is an essential step in the global effort to reduce the environmental impact of data centers. This paper explains some of the metrics that have been used to describe the efficiency of data center physical infrastructure and suggests which metric is the most effective.

Equation-Based DRC: A Novel Approach to Resolving Complex Nanometer Design Issues

Traditional physical verification uses single-dimensional design rule checks (DRC) to identify sensitive layout features likely to fail during manufacturing. Checks that require coding large tables of measurement thresholds are extremely difficult to implement using traditional DRC approaches. A new technique, known as Equation-Based DRC (eqDRC), extends traditional DRC to define grouped multi-dimensional feature measurements using flexible mathematical expressions, providing a customizable physical modeling tool and enabling the analysis of complex interactions that could not previously be verified. This paper will examine the implementation and demonstrate the benefits of eqDRC through a variety of examples comparing traditional DRC with eqDRC approaches.

Electrical Characterizaion of Photovoltaic Materials and Solar Cells with the Model 4200-SCS Semiconductor Characterization System

The increasing demand for clean energy and the largely untapped potential of the sun as an energy source is making solar energy conversion technology increasingly important. As a result, the demand for solar cells, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, is growing. Solar or photovoltaic (PV) cells are made up of semiconductor materials that absorb photons from sunlight and then release electrons, causing an electric currentto flow when the cell is connected to a load.

Go Beyond Compliance for Profitability and Environmental Sustainability

Forward thinking Fortune 500 CEOs find that environmental sustainability strategies are delivering significant benefits to their bottom line. Analyst reports confirm that pro-green policies and practices, coupled with a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) strategy, are competitive differentiators. Eco-design is based on a strategy that considers the environmental impact of a product's design throughout its lifecycle, combining environmental sustainability and profitability. The financial and environmental benefit of eco-design reaches its full potential when used in conjunction with product development processes implemented through PLM. PLM enables companies to manage information about their products within a single information environment.

This whitepaper addresses how a PLM strategy helps companies achieve profitability targets while meeting global compliance regulations and helping the environment.

Smarter System Development: A systems engineering study to support green initiatives with model driven development

Smarter system development: a systems engineering trade study to support green initiatives with model-driven development. They're essential parts of the systems engineering process. Trade studies help us fully explore the design space to ensure that a proposed solution best meets conflicting performance and cost requirements. But many of us don't know that you can analytically and objectively conduct your trade studies well before you engineer anything. Using a model-driven approach with IBM Rational(r) Rhapsody(r) software, you can determine which solution will best capture stakeholder requirements while also justifying your engineering decisions. This paper describes a multivariable decision problem based upon the selection of a power source for an environmentally conscious but cost-effective family-size vehicle for the European/United Kingdom (U.K.) marketplace.

Protecting RS-485 Interfaces Against Lethal Electrical

This article provides an overview of the three most commonly applied transient immunity tests, and provides recommendations on how to protect network nodes against real world transients.

Multiphysics Simulation Software

Simulation in engineering and science aims for results that closely predict real-world behavior. In this paper, we trace the development of simulation technology in conjunction with advances in computer hardware and algorithms. Of particular interest is how the coupling of multiple physics models, that is, "multiphysics", as the next step in the evolution of simulation, is becoming standard practice. Three case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the multiphysics approach in producing more reliable and realistic models. A benchmark study is also reviewed, providing metrics that emphasize verification and validation of varying multiphysics platforms.

Designing & Optimizing Battery Systems for Mission-Critical Portable Applications

This white paper outlines electrical engineering guidelines for both battery packs and portable devices. Topics include battery chemistry options (alkaline, lead acid, nickel and lithium), cell configurations, battery pack characteristics, "smart" battery management, fuel gauges, battery pack authentication, charging options, and safety considerations. This paper also provides insight into power management considerations for the portable device. In summary, this white paper lays out all the parameters and options one should consider before designing a portable device or battery pack.

Reducing Physical Verification Cycle Time

Sign-off for IC tape-out has undergone dramatic changes over the past several years. The size and complexity of nanometer IC design and the volume of geometric content for related layouts all skyrocketed. Additionally, extensive changes occurred in the processing requirements for nanometer design processes. Physical impacts that we once could ignore now have measurable electrical effects.

As a result, ensuring that the original design intent is maintained is increasingly difficult. Identifying these new defect mechanisms puts a new burden on physical verification runtimes. Worse still, due to the complexity of these effects, debugging a problem through layout modifications without generating some new problem is more challenging, requiring more verification iterations than ever before. Given these impacts, the time required to iterate from design to a physically- and electrically-clean layout in these designs can rapidly overrun production schedules and delivery dates.

Clearly, new verification strategies are needed. All aspects of the physical verification cycle, from physical verification run times to the time required to identify, understand and debug design violations, must be re-evaluated. Engineers must be able to identify new complex physical interactions and characterize all physical, topological and electrical failure mechanisms associated with new process. Maintaining real-world production schedules, however, means increasing the number of iterations required to validate fixes while decreasing the total runtimes for each component. Design violations must be presented as clearly and efficiently as possible, to reduce debugging time, and approaches that reduce the time required to re-verify the impact of changes to a design must be implemented.

Delivering during the Downturn- Engineering Management Execution Strategies at top IC Companies

An Interview w/ Ron Collett, Numetrics CEO

Synchronization and Debugging of Distributed Systems - Two Problems Solved at Once

Using the World's Smallest SYN1588® Fully Integrated Clock Synchronization Solution as a Building Block for a Radically New Approach to Coordinated Test, Debug, Trace and Replay in Distributed Systems