11,687 research outputs found
On signalling over through-silicon via (TSV) interconnects in 3-D integrated circuits.
This paper discusses signal integrity (SI) issues and signalling techniques for Through Silicon Via (TSV) interconnects in 3-D Integrated Circuits (ICs). Field-solver extracted parasitics of TSVs have been employed in Spice simulations to investigate the effect of each parasitic component on performance metrics such as delay and crosstalk and identify a reduced-order electrical model that captures all relevant effects. We show that in dense TSV structures voltage-mode (VM) signalling does not lend itself to achieving high data-rates, and that current-mode (CM) signalling is more effective for high throughput signalling as well as jitter reduction. Data rates, energy consumption and coupled noise for the different signalling modes are extracted
Channel Characterization for Chip-scale Wireless Communications within Computing Packages
Wireless Network-on-Chip (WNoC) appears as a promising alternative to
conventional interconnect fabrics for chip-scale communications. WNoC takes
advantage of an overlaid network composed by a set of millimeter-wave antennas
to reduce latency and increase throughput in the communication between cores.
Similarly, wireless inter-chip communication has been also proposed to improve
the information transfer between processors, memory, and accelerators in
multi-chip settings. However, the wireless channel remains largely unknown in
both scenarios, especially in the presence of realistic chip packages. This
work addresses the issue by accurately modeling flip-chip packages and
investigating the propagation both its interior and its surroundings. Through
parametric studies, package configurations that minimize path loss are obtained
and the trade-offs observed when applying such optimizations are discussed.
Single-chip and multi-chip architectures are compared in terms of the path loss
exponent, confirming that the amount of bulk silicon found in the pathway
between transmitter and receiver is the main determinant of losses.Comment: To be presented 12th IEEE/ACM International Symposium on
Networks-on-Chip (NOCS 2018); Torino, Italy; October 201
The application of encapsulation material stability data to photovoltaic module life assessment
For any piece of hardware that degrades when subject to environmental and application stresses, the route or sequence that describes the degradation process may be summarized in terms of six key words: LOADS, RESPONSE, CHANGE, DAMAGE, FAILURE, and PENALTY. Applied to photovoltaic modules, these six factors form the core outline of an expanded failure analysis matrix for unifying and integrating relevant material degradation data and analyses. An important feature of this approach is the deliberate differentiation between factors such as CHANGE, DAMAGE, and FAILURE. The application of this outline to materials degradation research facilitates the distinction between quantifying material property changes and quantifying module damage or power loss with their economic consequences. The approach recommended for relating material stability data to photovoltaic module life is to use the degree of DAMAGE to (1) optical coupling, (2) encapsulant package integrity, (3) PV circuit integrity or (4) electrical isolation as the quantitative criterion for assessing module potential service life rather than simply using module power loss
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