Exploration of technology parameter values of integrated circuit technologies

Abstract

The definition of parameters of integrated circuit technologies is driven by technological constraints as well as by intended applications. In case of the latter, opposing criteria, like design delay, power consumptions and area, have to be considered. Common approaches focus usually on the analysis based on selected and isolated cells. However, this might not represent the exact impact of a technology parameter on actual designs. Hence, this work proposes a flow for the exploration of technology parameter values that considers the application in real designs. Additionally, the proposed approach allows the comparison of different technology generation with a reasonable effort. Results indicate an improvement of the predictions of up to 46 % in comparison to single cell analysis. Further, the applicability of the approach is successfully evaluated using a predictive technology based on Carbon nanotubes.