Rapid IC Performance Yield and distribution prediction using a rotation of the circuit parameter principals components

Abstract Monte-Carlo techniques for prediction of IC yield in the presence of inter-die parameter variations are well established in the literature [Luigi P. Monte-Carlo simulation of semiconductor device and process modelling; critical review. IEEE Trans CAD 1990; CAD-9: 1164--76], but their use in commercial design is limited by their high computational cost. This paper presents a novel technique which shows a great reduction in the simulation cost and sustains the accuracy. It does this by first using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) [Cureton EE et al. Factor analysis: an applied approach. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Laurence Erlbaum Associates, 1983] to identify the significant orthogonal directions of variation in the process space. The next steps involve the development of an accurate approximation of the two dimensional yield boundary. Finally, an analytic integration in the process space provides the yield. The steps involved in the yield calculation also conveniently produce performance distributions and this is described.