Modeling and Analysis of Noise and Interconnects for On-Chip Communication Link Design

This thesis considers modeling and analysis of noise and interconnects in onchip communication. Besides transistor count and speed, the capabilities of a modern design are often limited by on-chip communication links. These links typically consist of multiple interconnects that run parallel to each other for long distances between functional or memory blocks. Due to the scaling of technology, the interconnects have considerable electrical parasitics that affect their performance, power dissipation and signal integrity. Furthermore, because of electromagnetic coupling, the interconnects in the link need to be considered as an interacting group instead of as isolated signal paths. There is a need for accurate and computationally effective models in the early stages of the chip design process to assess or optimize issues affecting these interconnects. For this purpose, a set of analytical models is developed for on-chip data links in this thesis. First, a model is proposed for modeling crosstalk and intersymbol interference. The model takes into account the effects of inductance, initial states and bit sequences. Intersymbol interference is shown to affect crosstalk voltage and propagation delay depending on bus throughput and the amount of inductance. Next, a model is proposed for the switching current of a coupled bus. The model is combined with an existing model to evaluate power supply noise. The model is then applied to reduce both functional crosstalk and power supply noise caused by a bus as a trade-off with time. The proposed reduction method is shown to be effective in reducing long-range crosstalk noise. The effects of process variation on encoded signaling are then modeled. In encoded signaling, the input signals to a bus are encoded using additional signaling circuitry. The proposed model includes variation in both the signaling circuitry and in the wires to calculate the total delay variation of a bus. The model is applied to study level-encoded dual-rail and 1-of-4 signaling. In addition to regular voltage-mode and encoded voltage-mode signaling, current-mode signaling is a promising technique for global communication. A model for energy dissipation in RLC current-mode signaling is proposed in the thesis. The energy is derived separately for the driver, wire and receiver termination.Siirretty Doriast

Cancellation of crosstalk-induced jitter

A novel jitter equalization circuit is presented that addresses crosstalk-induced jitter in high-speed serial links. A simple model of electromagnetic coupling demonstrates the generation of crosstalk-induced jitter. The analysis highlights unique aspects of crosstalk-induced jitter that differ from far-end crosstalk. The model is used to predict the crosstalk-induced jitter in 2-PAM and 4-PAM, which is compared to measurement. Furthermore, the model suggests an equalizer that compensates for the data-induced electromagnetic coupling between adjacent links and is suitable for pre- or post-emphasis schemes. The circuits are implemented using 130-nm MOSFETs and operate at 5-10 Gb/s. The results demonstrate reduced deterministic jitter and lower bit-error rate (BER). At 10 Gb/s, the crosstalk-induced jitter equalizer opens the eye at 10^sup-12 BER from 17 to 45 ps and lowers the rms jitter from 8.7 to 6.3 ps

Delay Extraction Based Equivalent Elmore Model For RLC On-Chip Interconnects

As feature sizes for VLSI technology is shrinking, associated with higher operating frequency, signal integrity analysis of on-chip interconnects has become a real challenge for circuit designers. For this purpose, computer-aided-design (CAD) tools are necessary to simulate signal propagation of on-chip interconnects which has been an active area for research. Although SPICE models exist which can accurately predict signal degradation of interconnects, they are computationally expensive. As a result, more effective and analytic models for interconnects are required to capture the response at the output of high speed VLSI circuits. This thesis contributes to the development of efficient and closed form solution models for signal integrity analysis of on-chip interconnects. The proposed model uses a delay extraction algorithm to improve the accuracy of two-pole Elmore based models used in the analysis of on-chip distributed RLC interconnects. In the proposed scheme, the time of fight signal delay is extracted without increasing the number of poles or affecting the stability of the transfer function. This algorithm is used for both unit step and ramp inputs. From the delay rational approximation of the transfer function, analytic fitted expressions are obtained for the 50% delay and rise time for unit step input. The proposed algorithm is tested on point to point interconnections and tree structure networks. Numerical examples illustrate improved 50% delay and rise time estimates when compared to traditional Elmore based two-pole models

Modelling and analysis of crosstalk in scaled CMOS interconnects

The development of a general coupled RLC interconnect model for simulating scaled bus structures m VLSI is presented. Several different methods for extracting submicron resistance, inductance and capacitance parameters are documented. Realistic scaling dimensions for deep submicron design rules are derived and used within the model. Deep submicron HSPICE device models are derived through the use of constant-voltage scaling theory on existing 0.75µm and 1.0µm models to create accurate interconnect bus drivers. This complete model is then used to analyse crosstalk noise and delay effects on multiple scaling levels to determine the dependence of crosstalk on scaling level. Using this data, layout techniques and processing methods are suggested to reduce crosstalk in system

Carbon Nanotube Interconnect Modeling for Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits

In this research, we have studied and analyzed the physical and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes. Based on the reported models for current transport behavior in non-ballistic CNT-FETs, we have built a dynamic model for non-ballistic CNT-FETs. We have also extended the surface potential model of a non-ballistic CNT-FET to a ballistic CNT-FET and developed a current transport model for ballistic CNT-FETs. We have studied the current transport in metallic carbon nanotubes. By considering the electron-electron interactions, we have modified two-dimensional fluid model for electron transport to build a semi-classical one-dimensional fluid model to describe the electron transport in carbon nanotubes, which is regarded as one-dimensional system. Besides its accuracy compared with two-dimensional fluid model and Lüttinger liquid theory, one-dimensional fluid model is simple in mathematical modeling and easier to extend for electronic transport modeling of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and single-walled carbon nanotube bundles as interconnections. Based on our reported one-dimensional fluid model, we have calculated the parameters of the transmission line model for the interconnection wires made of single-walled carbon nanotube, multi-walled carbon nanotube and single-walled carbon nanotube bundle. The parameters calculated from these models show close agreements with experiments and other proposed models. We have also implemented these models to study carbon nanotube for on-chip wire inductors and it application in design of LC voltage-controlled oscillators. By using these CNT-FET models and CNT interconnects models, we have studied the behavior of CNT based integrated circuits, such as the inverter, ring oscillator, energy recovery logic; and faults in CNT based circuits

A Review on Codec?s for Crosstalk Avoidance in VLSI Interconnects

This paper reviews different encoding and decoding techniques for reducing crosstalk noise, delay and power dissipation using Fibonacci codes. The increasing demand for SOCs lead to several issues like crosstalk, delay, data security, especially area and power consumption. This makes the researchers are tending to resolve all these issues. Here we are concentrating on the crosstalk avoidance in on-chip buses. There are several techniques for crosstalk avoidance that is mainly concentrated on eliminating capacitive crosstalk completely, but not inductance. But due to faster clock speeds, lengthy interconnects and smaller rise and fall times inductive crosstalk?s became significant. This paper reviews all the schemes in order to have a better performance in avoiding inductive and capacitive crosstalk

SPICE Electrical Models and Simulations of Silicon Photomultipliers

We present and discuss a comprehensive electrical model for Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) based on a microcell able to accurately simulate the avalanche current build-up and the self-quenching of its Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) “pixel” with series-connected quenching resistor. The entire SiPM is modeled either as an array of microcells, each one individually triggered by independent incoming photons, or as two macrocells, one with microcells all firing concurrently while the other one with all quiescent microcells; the most suitable approach depends on the light excitation conditions and on the dimension (i.e. number of microcells) of the overall SiPM. We validated both models by studying the behavior of SiPMs in different operating conditions, in order to study the effect of photons pile-up, the deterministic and statistical mismatches between microcells, the impact of the number of firing microcells vs. the total one, and the role of different microcell parameters on the overall SiPM performance. The electrical models were developed in SPICE and can simulate both custom-process and CMOS-compatible SiPMs, with either vertical or horizontal current-flow. The proposed simulation tools can benefit both SiPM users, e.g. for designing the best readout electronics, and SiPM designers, for assessing the impact of each parameter on the overall detection performance and electrical behavior

Design and modelling of variability tolerant on-chip communication structures for future high performance system on chip designs

The incessant technology scaling has enabled the integration of functionally complex System-on-Chip (SoC) designs with a large number of heterogeneous systems on a single chip. The processing elements on these chips are integrated through on-chip communication structures which provide the infrastructure necessary for the exchange of data and control signals, while meeting the strenuous physical and design constraints. The use of vast amounts of on chip communications will be central to future designs where variability is an inherent characteristic. For this reason, in this thesis we investigate the performance and variability tolerance of typical on-chip communication structures. Understanding of the relationship between variability and communication is paramount for the designers; i.e. to devise new methods and techniques for designing performance and power efficient communication circuits in the forefront of challenges presented by deep sub-micron (DSM) technologies. The initial part of this work investigates the impact of device variability due to Random Dopant Fluctuations (RDF) on the timing characteristics of basic communication elements. The characterization data so obtained can be used to estimate the performance and failure probability of simple links through the methodology proposed in this work. For the Statistical Static Timing Analysis (SSTA) of larger circuits, a method for accurate estimation of the probability density functions of different circuit parameters is proposed. Moreover, its significance on pipelined circuits is highlighted. Power and area are one of the most important design metrics for any integrated circuit (IC) design. This thesis emphasises the consideration of communication reliability while optimizing for power and area. A methodology has been proposed for the simultaneous optimization of performance, area, power and delay variability for a repeater inserted interconnect. Similarly for multi-bit parallel links, bandwidth driven optimizations have also been performed. Power and area efficient semi-serial links, less vulnerable to delay variations than the corresponding fully parallel links are introduced. Furthermore, due to technology scaling, the coupling noise between the link lines has become an important issue. With ever decreasing supply voltages, and the corresponding reduction in noise margins, severe challenges are introduced for performing timing verification in the presence of variability. For this reason an accurate model for crosstalk noise in an interconnection as a function of time and skew is introduced in this work. This model can be used for the identification of skew condition that gives maximum delay noise, and also for efficient design verification

SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS

As the technologies scaling down, more transistors can be fabricated into the same area, which enables the integration of many components into the same substrate, referred to as system-on-chip (SoC). The components on SoC are connected by on-chip global interconnects. It has been shown in the recent International Technology Roadmap of Semiconductors (ITRS) that when scaling down, gate delay decreases, but global interconnect delay increases due to crosstalk. The interconnect delay has become a bottleneck of the overall system performance. Many techniques have been proposed to address crosstalk, such as shielding, buffer insertion, and crosstalk avoidance codes (CACs). The CAC is a promising technique due to its good crosstalk reduction, less power consumption and lower area. In this dissertation, I will present analytical delay models for on-chip interconnects with improved accuracy. This enables us to have a more accurate control of delays for transition patterns and lead to a more efficient CAC, whose worst-case delay is 30-40% smaller than the best of previously proposed CACs. As the clock frequency approaches multi-gigahertz, the parasitic inductance of on-chip interconnects has become significant and its detrimental effects, including increased delay, voltage overshoots and undershoots, and increased crosstalk noise, cannot be ignored. We introduce new CACs to address both capacitive and inductive couplings simultaneously.Quantum computers are more powerful in solving some NP problems than the classical computers. However, quantum computers suffer greatly from unwanted interactions with environment. Quantum error correction codes (QECCs) are needed to protect quantum information against noise and decoherence. Given their good error-correcting performance, it is desirable to adapt existing iterative decoding algorithms of LDPC codes to obtain LDPC-based QECCs. Several QECCs based on nonbinary LDPC codes have been proposed with a much better error-correcting performance than existing quantum codes over a qubit channel. In this dissertation, I will present stabilizer codes based on nonbinary QC-LDPC codes for qubit channels. The results will confirm the observation that QECCs based on nonbinary LDPC codes appear to achieve better performance than QECCs based on binary LDPC codes.As the technologies scaling down further to nanoscale, CMOS devices suffer greatly from the quantum mechanical effects. Some emerging nano devices, such as resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs), quantum cellular automata (QCA), and single electron transistors (SETs), have no such issues and are promising candidates to replace the traditional CMOS devices. Threshold gate, which can implement complex Boolean functions within a single gate, can be easily realized with these devices. Several applications dealing with real-valued signals have already been realized using nanotechnology based threshold gates. Unfortunately, the applications using finite fields, such as error correcting coding and cryptography, have not been realized using nanotechnology. The main obstacle is that they require a great number of exclusive-ORs (XORs), which cannot be realized in a single threshold gate. Besides, the fan-in of a threshold gate in RTD nanotechnology needs to be bounded for both reliability and performance purpose. In this dissertation, I will present a majority-class threshold architecture of XORs with bounded fan-in, and compare it with a Boolean-class architecture. I will show an application of the proposed XORs for the finite field multiplications. The analysis results will show that the majority class outperforms the Boolean class architectures in terms of hardware complexity and latency. I will also introduce a sort-and-search algorithm, which can be used for implementations of any symmetric functions. Since XOR is a special symmetric function, it can be implemented via the sort-and-search algorithm. To leverage the power of multi-input threshold functions, I generalize the previously proposed sort-and-search algorithm from a fan-in of two to arbitrary fan-ins, and propose an architecture of multi-input XORs with bounded fan-ins