Download Circuit Delay Performance Estimation

Circuit Delay Performance Estimation
• Most digital designs have multiple signal paths and
the slowest one of these paths is called the critical
path
• Timing analyzers can be used to determine this path.
• The critical path needs to be optimized and this can
be done at any of the following levels:
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Architectural or micro-architectural level
Logic level
Circuit level and
Layout level.
Delay Estimation
• It is ideal to have the ability to estimate circuit delays
without going through extensive simulations.
• Some definitions of importance in delay estimation:
– Rise time is the time the wave-form takes to rise from 10%
to 90% of its steady state value
– Fall time is the time the wave-form takes to fall from 90%
of its steady state value to 10%
– The average delay or edge rate is (tr + tf)/2
– Propagation delay is the maximum time from the input
crossing the 50% to the output crossing the 50%.
RC Delay Model
• Our model will assume minimum device sizes for
delay estimation
– A minimum sized nMOS has resistance R
– Recall that in general the mobility of electrons is twice that
of holes.
– We have thus designed pMOS devices to have twice the
widths of nMOS devices to attain symmetric rise and fall
times.
– This fact allows us to estimate the resistance of a pMOS to
be 2R.
Delay Estimation (RC Models)
• Transistors with increased widths have reduced
resistance i.e. increase a minimum width transistor by
k the resistance reduces to R/k.
• A pMOS device of double width therefore has a
resistance value of 2R/2 = R.
• Parallel and series transistors combine just like
resistors in parallel and resistors in series.
RC Delay Models
• Multiple transistors in series and all conducting have
a higher resistance.
• Capacitance to be considered is intrinsic i.e. it is
internal to the transistor.
• We assume that the gate capacitance Cg is equivalent
to the diffusion capacitance Cdiff of the source or
drain.
• Contacts increase both resistance and capacitance,
thus un-contacted nodes have less capacitance.
The Elmore Delay Model
• Transistors that are conducting must be reviewed as
resistors.
VDD
Vin
R1
R2
C1
R3
C2
RN
C3
CN
• The Elmore delay estimates the delay of an RC ladder
as the sum over each node in the ladder resistance Rn-i
between that node and the source multiplied by C on
the node.
AND Gate Intrinsic Capacitance
Two Input NAND Gate