Modeling the Non-Linear Behavior of Library Cells for an Accurate Static Noise Analysis

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new macromodel to accurately simulate the non-linear effects of library cells on signal noise, improving the precision of static noise analysis in integrated circuit design.

Contribution

A novel macromodel that captures non-linear effects in noise analysis, enhancing accuracy over traditional linear superposition methods.

Findings

The new model accurately predicts noise waveform distortions.

Linear superposition methods can be significantly inaccurate.

Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Abstract

In signal integrity analysis, the joint effect of propagated noise through library cells, and of the noise injected on a quiet net by neighboring switching nets through coupling capacitances, must be considered in order to accurately estimate the overall noise impact on design functionality and performances. In this work the impact of the cell non-linearity on the noise glitch waveform is analyzed in detail, and a new macromodel that allows to accurately and efficiently modeling the non-linear effects of the victim driver in noise analysis is presented. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, and confirm that existing noise analysis approaches based on linear superposition of the propagated and crosstalk-injected noise can be highly inaccurate, thus impairing the sign-off functional verification phase.