Single kernel electro-thermal IC simulator

Abstract

Electro-thermal effects - both at the micro level of interconnects and devices and at the macro level of circuits and systems - is one of the critical issues for the future development of microprocessors, integrated networks, and other highly integrated circuits and systems. Simulation-based solutions for both design and validation have an important role to play. This paper investigates a new, highly-accurate AND high-performing electro-thermal simulation method and tools. In this paper, we describe the extension of an analog electrical simulator to handle simultaneously the electrical network and the thermal network. These innovations remove the constraint on the time constants and allow accurate validation of the electro-thermal behavior for even the most advanced designs - in all possible conditions of stimuli, temperature, supply voltage, and process corners.