On Statistical Timing Analysis with Inter- and Intra-die Variations

Abstract

In this paper, we highlight a fast, effective and practical statistical approach that deals with inter and intra-die variations in VLSI chips. Our methodology is applied to a number of random variables while accounting for spatial correlations. Our methodology sorts the Probability Density Functions (PDFs) of the critical paths of a circuit based on a confidence-point. We show the mathematical accuracy of our method as well as implement a typical program to test it on various benchmarks. We find that worst-case analysis overestimates path delays by more than 50 % and that a path’s probabilistic rank with respect to delay is very different from its deterministic rank.