A Framework for the Detection of Crosstalk Noise in FPGAs

In recent years, crosstalk noise has emerged a serious problem because more and more devices and wires have been packed on electronic chips. As integrated circuits are migrated to more advanced technologies, it has become clear that crosstalk noise is the important phenomenon that must be taken into account. Despite of being more immune to crosstalk noise than their ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) counterparts, the dense interconnected structures of FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) invite more vulnerabilities with crosstalk noise. Due to the lack of electrical detail concerning FPGA devices it is quite difficult to test the faults affected by crosstalk noise. This paper proposes a new approach for detecting the effects such as glitches and delays in transition that are due to crosstalk noise in FPGAs. This approach is similar to the BIST (built-in self test) technique in that it incorporates the test pattern generator to generate the test vectors and the analyzer to analyze the crosstalk faults without any overhead for testing

Implementation of Static and Semi-Static Versions of a 24+8x8 Quad-rail NULL Convention Multiply and Accumulate Unit

This paper focuses on implementing a 2s complement 8x8 dual-rail bit-wise pipelined multiplier using the asynchronous null convention logic (NCL) paradigm. The design utilizes a Wallace tree for partial product summation, and is implemented and simulated in VHDL, the transistor level, and the physical level, using a 1.8V 0.18mum TSMC CMOS process. The multiplier is realized using both static and semi-static versions of the NCL gates; and these two implementations are compared in terms of area, power, and speed

Multi-Granular Optical Cross-Connect: Design, Analysis, and Demonstration

A fundamental issue in all-optical switching is to offer efficient and cost-effective transport services for a wide range of bandwidth granularities. This paper presents multi-granular optical cross-connect (MG-OXC) architectures that combine slow (ms regime) and fast (ns regime) switch elements, in order to support optical circuit switching (OCS), optical burst switching (OBS), and even optical packet switching (OPS). The MG-OXC architectures are designed to provide a cost-effective approach, while offering the flexibility and reconfigurability to deal with dynamic requirements of different applications. All proposed MG-OXC designs are analyzed and compared in terms of dimensionality, flexibility/reconfigurability, and scalability. Furthermore, node level simulations are conducted to evaluate the performance of MG-OXCs under different traffic regimes. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed architectures is demonstrated on an application-aware, multi-bit-rate (10 and 40 Gbps), end-to-end OBS testbed

Crosstalk minimization of local channel routing algorithms in VLSI CAD

The greedy and left edge algorithms, as applied to local routing in VLSI CAD, were modified to decrease crosstalk between neighboring wires. The modifications on the algorithms use spacing, and segregation to improve the routing of wires in a channel. The modified greedy and left edge algorithms use a grid, but the minimum distance between two wires can be varied depending on the crosstalk between them. Crosstalk information must be obtained separately and is part of the required set of inputs to the algorithms. The improved algorithms route all the channel problems tested in less tracks than the original algorithms, if crosstalk constraints exist, and in the same number of tracks, if no crosstalk constraints exist

Improved Physical Design for Manufacturing Awareness and Advanced VLSI

Increasing challenges arise with each new semiconductor technology node, especially in advanced nodes, where the industry tries to extract every ounce of benefit as it approaches the limits of physics, through manufacturing-aware design technology co-optimization and design-based equivalent scaling. The increasing complexity of design and process technologies, and ever-more complex design rules, also become hurdles for academic researchers, separating academic researchers from the most up-to-date technical issues.This thesis presents innovative methodologies and optimizations to address the above challenges. There are three directions in this thesis: (i) manufacturing-aware design technology co-optimization; (ii) advanced node design-based equivalent scaling; and (iii) an open source academic detailed routing flow.To realize manufacturing-aware design technology co-optimization, this thesis presents two works: (i) a multi-row detailed placement optimization for neighbor diffusion effect mitigation between neighboring standard cells; and (ii) a post-routing optimization to generate 2D block mask layout for dummy segment removal in self-aligned multiple patterning.To achieve advanced node design-based equivalent scaling, this thesis presents two improved physical design methodologies: (i) a post-placement flop tray generation approach for clock power reduction; and (ii) a detailed placement approach to exploit inter-row M1 routing for congestion and wirelength reduction.To address the increasing gap between academia and industry, this thesis presents two works toward an open source academic detailed routing flow: (i) a complete, robust, scalable and design ruleaware dynamic programming-based pin access analysis framework; and (ii) TritonRoute – the open source detailed router that is capable of delivering DRC-clean detailed routing solutions in advanced nodes.This thesis concludes with a summary of its contributions and open directions for future research

An FPGA Architecture and CAD Flow Supporting Dynamically Controlled Power Gating

© 2015 IEEE.Leakage power is an important component of the total power consumption in field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) built using 90-nm and smaller technology nodes. Power gating was shown to be effective at reducing the leakage power. Previous techniques focus on turning OFF unused FPGA resources at configuration time; the benefit of this approach depends on resource utilization. In this paper, we present an FPGA architecture that enables dynamically controlled power gating, in which FPGA resources can be selectively powered down at run-time. This could lead to significant overall energy savings for applications having modules with long idle times. We also present a CAD flow that can be used to map applications to the proposed architecture. We study the area and power tradeoffs by varying the different FPGA architecture parameters and power gating granularity. The proposed CAD flow is used to map a set of benchmark circuits that have multiple power-gated modules to the proposed architecture. Power savings of up to 83% are achievable for these circuits. Finally, we study a control system of a robot that is used in endoscopy. Using the proposed architecture combined with clock gating results in up to 19% energy savings in this application

Advanced routing in changing technology landscape

As process technology continue to advance, the operating en-vironment for routing tools has changed significantly. While the general concept of routing and techniques employed re-main the same, the complexities and challenges that modern-day routers face are not well understood or addressed by the research community. In this paper, we will examine a handful of interesting nanometer effects that have significant impact on the behavior of routers, and discuss several op-portunities in which routers can play a more important role in improving the manufacturability of nanometer designs