03-10-2012, 11:34 AM
VLSI System Design
intro (1).ppt (Size: 220 KB / Downloads: 143)
VLSI Design
What is VLSI?
“Very Large Scale Integration”
Defines integration level
1980s hold-over from outdated taxonomy for integration levels
Obviously influenced from frequency bands, i.e. HF, VHF, UHF
Sources disagree on what is measured (gates or transistors?)
SSI – Small-Scale Integration (0-102)
MSI – Medium-Scale Integration (102-103)
LSI – Large-Scale Integration (103-105)
VLSI – Very Large-Scale Integration (105-107)
ULSI – Ultra Large-Scale Integration (>=107)
Integrated Circuits/MEMs
Today, VLSI refers to systems impl. w/integrated circuits
Integrated circuit refers mostly to general manufacturing technique
micro/nano-scale devices on a semiconductor (crystalline) substrate
Formed using chemical/lithography processing
What kind of devices / structures?
transistors (bipolar, MOSFET)
wires (interconnects and passives)
diodes (junction, LEDs, VCSELs, MSM, photoconductor, PiN)
MEMs (piezoelectric integration, accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, micro-mirrors)
For CMOS digital design, we only use MOSFET transistors (used as switches) and wires
Chips
Integrated circuits consist of:
A small square or rectangular “die”, < 1mm thick
Small die: 1.5 mm x 1.5 mm => 2.25 mm2
Large die: 15 mm x 15 mm => 225 mm2
Larger die sizes mean:
More logic, memory
Less volume
Less yield
Dies are made from silicon (substrate)
Substrate provides mechanical support and electrical common point
VLSI Design
Manual layout design is obviously not practical
Design complexity:
Manually drawing layout for a billion transistors would take too long
Even if we could…
How to verify (test) designs for functionality, speed, power, etc.?
Complexity scales faster than actual design
How to reuse designs?
How to create human-readable designs?
How to speed-up design process?
These problems form a great deal of work
Electronic Design Automation (EDA)
a.k.a. CAD
Advancing EDA technology, physical fabrication technology, advanced designs, and IP form bulk of work (and money) in VLSI
intro (1).ppt (Size: 220 KB / Downloads: 143)
VLSI Design
What is VLSI?
“Very Large Scale Integration”
Defines integration level
1980s hold-over from outdated taxonomy for integration levels
Obviously influenced from frequency bands, i.e. HF, VHF, UHF
Sources disagree on what is measured (gates or transistors?)
SSI – Small-Scale Integration (0-102)
MSI – Medium-Scale Integration (102-103)
LSI – Large-Scale Integration (103-105)
VLSI – Very Large-Scale Integration (105-107)
ULSI – Ultra Large-Scale Integration (>=107)
Integrated Circuits/MEMs
Today, VLSI refers to systems impl. w/integrated circuits
Integrated circuit refers mostly to general manufacturing technique
micro/nano-scale devices on a semiconductor (crystalline) substrate
Formed using chemical/lithography processing
What kind of devices / structures?
transistors (bipolar, MOSFET)
wires (interconnects and passives)
diodes (junction, LEDs, VCSELs, MSM, photoconductor, PiN)
MEMs (piezoelectric integration, accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, micro-mirrors)
For CMOS digital design, we only use MOSFET transistors (used as switches) and wires
Chips
Integrated circuits consist of:
A small square or rectangular “die”, < 1mm thick
Small die: 1.5 mm x 1.5 mm => 2.25 mm2
Large die: 15 mm x 15 mm => 225 mm2
Larger die sizes mean:
More logic, memory
Less volume
Less yield
Dies are made from silicon (substrate)
Substrate provides mechanical support and electrical common point
VLSI Design
Manual layout design is obviously not practical
Design complexity:
Manually drawing layout for a billion transistors would take too long
Even if we could…
How to verify (test) designs for functionality, speed, power, etc.?
Complexity scales faster than actual design
How to reuse designs?
How to create human-readable designs?
How to speed-up design process?
These problems form a great deal of work
Electronic Design Automation (EDA)
a.k.a. CAD
Advancing EDA technology, physical fabrication technology, advanced designs, and IP form bulk of work (and money) in VLSI