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A fast and accurate per-cell dynamic IR-drop estimation method for at-speed scan test pattern validation

Abstract

ITC : 2012 IEEE International Test Conference , 5-8 Nov. 2012 , Anaheim, CA, USAIn return for increased operating frequency and reduced supply voltage in nano-scale designs, their vulnerability to IR-drop-induced yield loss grew increasingly apparent. Therefore, it is necessary to consider delay increase effect due to IR-drop during at-speed scan testing. However, it consumes significant amounts of time for precise IR-drop analysis. This paper addresses this issue with a novel per-cell dynamic IR-drop estimation method. Instead of performing time-consuming IR-drop analysis for each pattern one by one, the proposed method uses global cycle average power profile for each pattern and dynamic IR-drop profiles for a few representative patterns, thus total computation time is effectively reduced. Experimental results on benchmark circuits demonstrate that the proposed method achieves both high accuracy and high time-efficiency

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