Stochastic testing simulator for integrated circuits and MEMS: Hierarchical and sparse techniques

  • Zheng Zhang
  • , Xiu Yang
  • , Giovanni Marucci
  • , Paolo Maffezzoni
  • , Ibrahim M. Elfadel
  • , George Karniadakis
  • , Luca Daniel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

175 Scopus citations

Abstract

Process variations are a major concern in today's chip design since they can significantly degrade chip performance. To predict such degradation, existing circuit and MEMS simulators rely on Monte Carlo algorithms, which are typically too slow. Therefore, novel fast stochastic simulators are highly desired. This paper first reviews our recently developed stochastic testing simulator that can achieve speedup factors of hundreds to thousands over Monte Carlo. Then, we develop a fast hierarchical stochastic spectral simulator to simulate a complex circuit or system consisting of several blocks. We further present a fast simulation approach based on anchored ANOVA (analysis of variance) for some design problems with many process variations. This approach can reduce the simulation cost and can identify which variation sources have strong impacts on the circuit's performance. The simulation results of some circuit and MEMS examples are reported to show the effectiveness of our simulator.

Original languageBritish English
Title of host publicationProceedings of the IEEE 2014 Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, CICC 2014
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ISBN (Electronic)9781479932863
DOIs
StatePublished - 4 Nov 2014
Event36th Annual Custom Integrated Circuits Conference - The Showcase for Integrated Circuit Design in the Heart of Silicon Valley, CICC 2014 - San Jose, United States
Duration: 15 Sep 201417 Sep 2014

Publication series

NameProceedings of the IEEE 2014 Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, CICC 2014

Conference

Conference36th Annual Custom Integrated Circuits Conference - The Showcase for Integrated Circuit Design in the Heart of Silicon Valley, CICC 2014
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Jose
Period15/09/1417/09/14

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