摘要:
A method for determining the layout of an interconnect line is provided including: providing a required width for the interconnect line; determining a layout of the interconnect line including slotting the interconnect line to provide two or more fingers extending along the interconnect line with an elongate slot separating adjacent fingers; and determining a number of elongate apertures to be arranged across the width of the interconnect line by comparing the required width with a maximal width for a solid metal feature, and a minimal elongate aperture width. The two or more fingers and elongate slot may be of constant width and equally spaced across the interconnect line width. The method may include selecting the number of fingers and the width of the slots to optimize the layout for a given layer technology.
摘要:
An integrated circuit design kit including one or more circuit components topologies, and one or more critical interconnect lines topologies. The interconnect line topologies may be predefined. The kit may further include one or more circuit components models and one or more critical interconnect lines models.
摘要:
A method of modeling capacitance for a structure comprising a pair of long conductors surrounded by a dielectric material and supported by a substrate. In particular, the structure may be on-clip coplanar transmission lines over a conductive substrate operated at very high frequencies, such that the substrate behaves as a perfect dielectric. It is assumed that the surrounding dielectric material is a first dielectric with a first permittivity (∈1) and the substrate is a second dielectric with a second permittivity (∈2). The method models the capacitance (C1) for values of the first and second permittivity (∈1, ∈2) based on known capacitance (C2) computed for a basis structure with the same first permittivity (∈1) and a different second permittivity (∈2). Extrapolation or interpolation formulae are suggested to model the sought capacitance (C1) through one or more known capacitances (C2).
摘要:
An critical interconnect line (300) for an integrated circuit is provided in which the problem of dishing of copper is addressed. An interconnect line (300) is provided for an integrated circuit in the form of a critical interconnect line modelled as a transmission line. The interconnect line (300) is formed of a conductive material having a width (302) and a length (303). The interconnect line (300) comprises at least two fingers (304, 305, 306) extending the length (303) of the interconnect line (300), an elongate aperture (309) in the conductive material separating two adjacent fingers (304, 305, 306), and one or more bridges (308) joining the fingers (304, 305, 306) at intervals along the length (303) of the interconnect line (300). The fingers (303, 304, 305) are kept within a width for which the effect of dishing acceptable width whilst the bridges (307, 308) keep the fingers (304, 305, 306) at the same potential difference.
摘要:
In a system 10 for designing an integrated circuit, a preliminary design of the integrated circuit is defined and critical interconnect lines in the preliminary design are identified. Further, any critical interconnect lines which are affected by crossing lines in the preliminary design are identified, and a transmission line model 35 is defined to represent each critical interconnect line. A layout design of the integrated circuit, comprising circuit components and parameters thereof, is then defined using the preliminary design and the transmission line model 35 for each critical interconnect line. Component parameters are then extracted from the layout design for simulation of the design using the extracted component parameters. During this design process, for each transmission line model 35 representing a critical interconnect line affected by a crossing line, an environment terminal 36 is provided. The environment terminal 36 comprises a connection to the model 35 via at least one circuit component representing the effect of the crossing line on the model. The environment terminal 36 is connected to the appropriate crossing line in the integrated circuit design, whereby crossing line effects are accommodated in the design process.
摘要:
A method for determining the layout of an interconnect line is provided including: providing a required width for the interconnect line; determining a layout of the interconnect line including slotting the interconnect line to provide two or more fingers extending along the interconnect line with an elongate slot separating adjacent fingers; and determining a number of elongate apertures to be arranged across the width of the interconnect line by comparing the required width with a maximal width for a solid metal feature, and a minimal elongate aperture width. The two or more fingers and elongate slot may be of constant width and equally spaced across the interconnect line width. The method may include selecting the number of fingers and the width of the slots to optimize the layout for a given layer technology.
摘要:
A tool for analog and mixed signal circuits includes a unit enabling a user to identify one or more critical interconnect lines in a chip architecture and one or more selectable, predefined topologies for said critical interconnect lines. Each topology includes one or more signal wires and a current return path. A majority of the electric field lines are contained within the boundary of the topology. The invention also includes a method for designing analog and mixed signal (AMS) integrated circuits (IC), including defining a chip architecture and a floor plan, identifying one or more critical interconnect lines and selecting pre-designed transmission line topologies for the critical interconnect lines.
摘要:
A tool for analog and mixed signal circuits includes a unit enabling a user to identify one or more critical interconnect lines in a chip architecture and one or more selectable, predefined topologies for said critical interconnect lines. Each topology includes one or more signal wires and a current return path. A majority of the electric field lines are contained within the boundary of the topology. The invention also includes a method for designing analog and mixed signal (AMS) integrated circuits (IC), including defining a chip architecture and a floor plan, identifying one or more critical interconnect lines and selecting pre-designed transmission line topologies for the critical interconnect lines.
摘要:
A coil inductor and buck voltage regulator incorporating the coil inductor are provided which can be fabricated on a microelectronic element such as a semiconductor chip, or on an interconnection element such as a semiconductor, glass or ceramic interposer element. When energized, the coil inductor has magnetic flux extending in a direction parallel to first and second opposed surfaces of the microelectronic or interconnection element, and whose peak magnetic flux is disposed between the first and second surfaces. In one example, the coil inductor can be formed by first conductive lines extending along the first surface of the microelectronic or interconnection element, second conductive lines extending along the second surface of the microelectronic or interconnection element, and a plurality of conductive vias, e.g., through silicon vias, extending in direction of a thickness of the microelectronic or interconnection element. A method of making the coil inductor is also provided.
摘要:
A distributed active transformer is provided comprising a primary and a secondary winding. The primary winding comprises a first set of conductive vias extending in a direction between a first surface and a second surface of an element, a first set of first electrically conductive lines extending along the first surface, and a first set of second electrically conductive lines extending along the second surface. The secondary winding comprises a second set of conductive vias extending in a direction between the first surface and the second surface, a second set of first electrically conductive lines extending along the first surface, and a second set of second electrically conductive lines extending along the second surface. When energized, the primary winding generates magnetic flux extending in a direction parallel to the first surface and the second surface. The secondary winding receives energy transferred by the magnetic flux generated by the primary winding.