We propose a semi-dynamic timing analysis flow applicable to large-scale circuits that takes into account dynamic power-supply drop. Logic delay is accurately estimated in the presence of power-supply noise through timing correction as a function of power-supply voltage during operation, where a time-dependent power-supply noise waveform is derived by way of a vectorless technique. Measurements and analysis of dynamic supply-noise waveforms and associated delay changes were performed on a sub-100-nm CMOS test circuit with embedded on-chip noise detectors and delay monitors. The proposed analysis technique was extended and applied to a test digital circuit with more than 10 million gates and validated toward a multi-10-million-gate CMOS SoC design.

In the move toward higher clock rates and advanced process technologies, designers of the latest electronic products are finding increasing silicon failure with respect to noise. On the other hand, the minimum dimension of patterns on LSIs is much smaller than the wavelength of exposure, making it difficult for LSI manufacturers to obtain high yield. In this paper, we present a solution to reduce power-supply noise in LSI microchips. The proposed design methodology also considers design for manufacturability (DFM) at the same time as power integrity. The method was successfully applied to the design of a system-on-chip (SOC), achieving a 13.1-13.2% noise reduction in power-supply voltage and uniformity of pattern density for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP).

Dynamic power supply noise measurements with resolutions of 100 ps and 100 µV for 100 ns and 1 V ranges are performed at various operating frequencies up to 400 MHz on multiple points in a low power register file and SRAM for product chips by using on-chip noise detectors. The measurements show that the noises are clearly emphasized in frequency domains by the interaction of circuit operations and bias network's AC transfers. A proposed design methodology that covers a fast SPICE simulator and parasitic extractors can predict dynamic noises from power supplies, ground, well, and substrate interactions to provide robustness to the design of low power body bias control circuitry.