From the Publisher:
This work covers all aspects of physical design. The book is a core reference for graduate students and CAD professionals. For students, concept and algorithms are presented in an intuitive manner. For CAD professionals, the material presents a balance of theory and practice. An extensive bibliography is provided which is useful for finding advanced material on a topic. At the end of each chapter, exercises are provided, which range in complexity from simple to research level.

Algorithms for VLSI Physical Design Automation

IEEE transactions on computer-aided design of integrated circuits and systems : a publication of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society

This survey presents an overview of recent advances in the state of the art for computer-aided design (CAD) tools for analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs). Analog blocks typically constitute only a small fraction of the components on mixed-signal ICs and emerging systems-on-a-chip (SoC) designs. But due to the increasing levels of integration available in silicon technology and the growing requirement for digital systems to communicate with the continuous-valued external world, there is a growing need for CAD tools that increase the design productivity and improve the quality of analog integrated circuits. This paper describes the motivation and evolution of these tools and outlines progress on the various design problems involved: simulation and modeling, symbolic analysis, synthesis and optimization, layout generation, yield analysis and design centering, and test. This paper summarizes the problems for which viable solutions are emerging and those which are still unsolved.

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Computer-aided design of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits

An experimental technique is described for observing the effects of switching transients in digital MOS circuits that perturb analog circuits integrated on the same die by means of coupling through the substrate Various approaches to reducing substrate crosstalk (the use of physical separation of analog and digital circuits, guard rings, and a low-inductance substrate bias) are evaluated experimentally for a CMOS technology with a substrate comprising an epitaxial layer grown on a heavily doped bulk wafer Observations indicate that reducing the inductance in the substrate bias is the most effective Device simulations are used to show how crosstalk propagates via the heavily doped bulk and to predict the nature of substrate crosstalk in CMOS technologies integrated in uniform, lightly doped bulk substrates, showing that in such cases the substrate noise is highly dependent on layout geometry A method of including substrate effects in SPICE simulations for circuits fabricated on epitaxial, heavily doped substrates is developed >

Experimental Results and Modeling Techniques for Substrate Noise in Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits

We describe a new method for determining component values and transistor dimensions for CMOS operational amplifiers (op-amps). We observe that a wide variety of design objectives and constraints have a special form, i.e., they are posynomial functions of the design variables. As a result, the amplifier design problem can be expressed as a special form of optimization problem called geometric programming, for which very efficient global optimization methods have been developed. As a consequence we can efficiently determine globally optimal amplifier designs or globally optimal tradeoffs among competing performance measures such as power, open-loop gain, and bandwidth. Our method, therefore, yields completely automated sizing of (globally) optimal CMOS amplifiers, directly from specifications. In this paper, we apply this method to a specific widely used operational amplifier architecture, showing in detail how to formulate the design problem as a geometric program. We compute globally optimal tradeoff curves relating performance measures such as power dissipation, unity-gain bandwidth, and open-loop gain. We show how the method can he used to size robust designs, i.e., designs guaranteed to meet the specifications for a variety of process conditions and parameters.

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Optimal design of a CMOS op-amp via geometric programming

In this paper we present the architecture of a constraint manager for a custom IC physical design flow The architecture has been designed to accommodate both general purpose constraint transformations and dedicated procedures embedded in the tools used in the flow All architectural components are outlined: constraint transformations, distributed database, interchange constraint format, user interface, and overconstraint detection and reduction We discuss the motivation behind our architectural choices, aimed at modularity and flexibility

A constraint management system for IC physical design

In mixed designs, analog blocks are often the most difficult parts to realize, due to the large number of high-level constraints and the importance of second order effects. In this paper a method is proposed to automatically transform AC constraints from higher to lower levels of hierarchy within a top-down design methodology. The transformation consists of finding a linear approximation for the analytic expression of the transfer function for flat and hierarchical designs. A state-of-the-art filter design example illustrates the capabilities of the method.

AC constraint transformation for top-down analog design

In a constraint-driven layout synthesis environment, parasitic constraints are generated and implemented in each phase of the design process to meet a given set of performance specifications. The success of the synthesis phase depends in great part on the effectiveness and the generality of the constraint generation process. None of the existing approaches to the constraint generation problem however are suitable for a number of parasitic effects in active and passive devices due to non-deterministic process variations. To address this problem a novel methodology is proposed based on the separation of all variables associated with non-deterministic parasitics, thus allowing the translation of the problem into an equivalent one in which conventional constrained optimization techniques can be used. The requirements, of the method are a well-defined set of statistical properties for all parasitics and a reasonable degree of linearity of the performance measures relevant to design.

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Generalized constraint generation in the presence of non-deterministic parasitics

We propose a technique to update dynamically the bounds used during constraint-driven routing. Moderate bound violations are allowed as long as no constraint violations are induced. Adaptive net scheduling is made possible during routing, so that nets requiring an implementation with large parasitics can take advantage of the margin made available to them by other parameters maintained within their own bounds. The user is provided with a quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of the tool in enforcing the set of constraints on the given design.

Dynamic bound generation for constraint-driven routing

Analog circuit design is often the bottleneck when designing mixed analog-digital systems. A Top-Down, Constraint-Driven Design Methodology for Analog Integrated Circuits presents a new methodology based on a top-down, constraint-driven design paradigm that provides a solution to this problem. This methodology has two principal advantages: (1) it provides a high probability for the first silicon which meets all specifications, and (2) it shortens the design cycle. A Top-Down, Constraint-Driven Design Methodology for Analog Integrated Circuits is part of an ongoing research effort at the University of California at Berkeley in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department. Many faculty and students, past and present, are working on this design methodology and its supporting tools. The principal goals are: (1) developing the design methodology, (2) developing and applying new tools, and (3) `proving' the methodology by undertaking `industrial strength' design examples. The work presented here is neither a beginning nor an end in the development of a complete top-down, constraint-driven design methodology, but rather a step in its development. This work is divided into three parts. Chapter 2 presents the design methodology along with foundation material. Chapters 3-8 describe supporting concepts for the methodology, from behavioral simulation and modeling to circuit module generators. Finally, Chapters 9-11 illustrate the methodology in detail by presenting the entire design cycle through three large-scale examples. These include the design of a current source D/A converter, a Sigma-Delta A/D converter, and a video driver system. Chapter 12 presents conclusions and current research topics. A Top-Down, Constraint-Driven Design Methodology for Analog Integrated Circuits will be of interest to analog and mixed-signal designers as well as CAD tool developers.

E. Malavasi

Papers

A constraint management system for IC physical design

AC constraint transformation for top-down analog design

Generalized constraint generation in the presence of non-deterministic parasitics

Dynamic bound generation for constraint-driven routing

A Top-Down, Constraint-Driven Design Methodology for Analog ICs