Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to mitigating voltage droops. An aspect includes outputting, by a clock module coupled to a multiplexor, a first clock signal to the multiplexor, the first clock signal generated by a clock delay component of the clock module, receiving, by the clock module, a second clock signal from a phase-locked loop (PLL), wherein the PLL outputs a third clock signal to a processor coupled to the PLL and the multiplexor, selecting, by the multiplexor, the first clock signal to output to the processor based on detecting a droop in voltage on a power supply, and selecting, by the multiplexor, the third clock signal to output to the processor based on detecting that the droop in the voltage on the power supply has passed, wherein the clock module and the processor are coupled to the power supply.

Abstract: Various aspects include a clock monitoring unit/component that is configured to repeatedly/continuously monitor a clock with the speed required to support automobile automation systems without the use of a reference clock. The clock monitoring unit/component may be configured to identify, report, and/or respond to variations or abnormalities in the monitored clock, and initiate an action to prevent the variation from causing or resulting in a failure or a vulnerability to attack. The clock monitoring unit/component in the various aspects may be configured, organized, or arranged to operate so that the circuit is immune or resistant to manipulation, modification, tampering, hacks, and other attacks.

Abstract: Apparatuses and methods to adjust voltage for thermal mitigation are provided. The apparatus includes a circuit, a plurality of switches configured to provide power of a power domain to the circuit, a plurality of thermal sensors disposed at different locations about the circuit and configured to detect temperatures at the different locations, and a control circuit configured to determine that one of the detected temperatures at one of the locations exceeds a temperature threshold, and in response, adjust one or more of the plurality of switches in proximity with the one location to reduce power provided to the circuit. The method includes providing power of a power domain through a plurality of switches, detecting a temperature at a location exceeding a temperature threshold, and adjusting the plurality of switches in proximity with the location to reduce the power provided, in response to the detecting the temperature exceeding the temperature threshold.

Abstract: An integrated circuit (IC) is disclosed herein for short-resistant output pin circuitry. In an example aspect, an integrated circuit includes a short-resistant pin and an adjacent pin. The integrated circuit also includes a short-resistant pad that is coupled to the short-resistant pin and an adjacent pad that is coupled to the adjacent pin. The integrated circuit further includes short-resistant circuitry that is coupled to the short-resistant pad and the adjacent pad. The short-resistant circuitry is implemented to detect a short-circuit condition between the short-resistant pin and the adjacent pin and to reduce an effect of the short-circuit condition on the short-resistant pin.

Abstract: A circuit design system includes a simulator that determines an average charging current provided by each current insertion point in a cell and an average charging current along a path in the cell between a reference pin position and a candidate pin position. A candidate pin placement tester updates the average charging current along the path by adding the average charging current of each insertion point to the average charging current along the path to produce an updated average charging current along the path and uses the updated average charging current along the path to determine a time to failure for the cell.

Abstract: Apparatuses and methods to adjust a source voltage based on stored information are provided. The apparatus includes a circuit configured to receive power from a power source through a power distribution network, a storage medium storing data specifying one or more electrical characteristics of the circuit, and a control circuit configured to adjust a source voltage at the power source based on the data stored in the storage medium. The method includes receiving power by a circuit from a power source through a power distribution network, reading data specifying one or more electrical characteristics of the circuit from a storage medium, and adjusting a source voltage at the power source based on the data stored in the storage medium.

Abstract: An adaptive clock distribution (ACD) system with a voltage tracking clock generator (VTCG) is disclosed. The ACD system includes a tunable-length delay (TLD) circuit, to generate a TLD clock by adding a preselected delay to a root clock, and a voltage droop detector for detecting a voltage droop in a supply voltage. The VTCG is configured to generate a VTCG clock, wherein a frequency of the VTCG clock is finely tuned to one of two or more values to correspond to a magnitude of the supply voltage during the voltage droop. A clock selector selects the VTCG clock as an ACD clock to be provided to an electronic circuit during the voltage droop and the TLD clock as the ACD clock when there is no voltage droop detected.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for analyzing a system comprising a plurality of components is described herein according to certain aspects. The method comprises simulating the system cascading through a plurality of failures until the system fails to meet a system specification, each of the failures corresponding to a failure of one of the components. The method also comprises estimating a time to failure of the system based on a last one of the plurality of failures.

Abstract: A circuit design system includes a simulator that determines an average charging current provided by each current insertion point in a cell and an average charging current along a path in the cell between a reference pin position and a candidate pin position. A candidate pin placement tester updates the average charging current along the path by adding the average charging current of each insertion point to the average charging current along the path to produce an updated average charging current along the path and uses the updated average charging current along the path to determine a time to failure for the cell.

Abstract: Standard cells that include transistors subject to aging as a result of BTI-related operating conditions are identified and replaced with BTI-resistant standard cells, for example. The BTI-resistant standard cells are typically functionally equivalent circuits (such as circuits included in standard cells in a design library) and are arranged to ensure that critical transistors are protected (e.g., by either extending recovery times and/or turning the transistor off in response to a critical edge transition).

Abstract: An integrated circuit is described. The integrated circuit, comprising: a central processor; a memory; and an electromigration compensation system associated with a plurality of leads within the integrated circuit, wherein the electromigration compensation system causes the plurality of leads to have interlocking, horizontally tapered ends that substantially reduces electromigration divergence and consequently lead resistance and circuit shorting.

Abstract: Integrated circuit dies and methods of making dies are disclosed. An embodiment of a die includes at least one transistor gate, wherein the gate has an area. A conductor is connected to the gate, and wherein the conductor has an area. The area of the conductor is proportional to the area of the gate raised to a power, wherein the power is a function of the failure rate of the gate.

Abstract: Integrated circuit dies and methods of making dies are disclosed. An embodiment of a die includes at least one transistor gate, wherein the gate has an area. A conductor is connected to the gate, and wherein the conductor has an area. The area of the conductor is proportional to the area of the gate raised to a power, wherein the power is a function of the failure rate of the gate.

Abstract: Standard cells that include transistors subject to aging as a result of BTI-related operating conditions are identified and replaced with BTI-resistant standard cells, for example. The BTI-resistant standard cells are typically functionally equivalent circuits (such as circuits included in standard cells in a design library) and are arranged to ensure that critical transistors are protected (e.g., by either extending recovery times and/or turning the transistor off in response to a critical edge transition).

Abstract: A Bias Temperature Instability- (BTI-) resistance circuit is arranged to propagate a received clock signal through a clock tree. The state of the clock signal is inverted at a midpoint of the clock tree that is about the halfway point of the path of the propagated clock signal through the clock tree. The inversion of the clock signal at the midpoint mitigates BTI-aging effects of the BTI-resistant circuit when the clock signal is blocked by a clock gating signal, for example. The clock tree can be used to latch a data signal at an input latch of a logic block using the received clock signal, and to latch a data signal at an output latch of a logic block using a propagated clock signal that is output from the endpoint of the clock tree.

Abstract: A method of designing a semiconductor device includes preparing a first design for a semiconductor device and estimating leakage current for the first design. The method also includes determining a leakage current cumulative distribution function (CDF) for the first design. The method further includes preparing a second design for the semiconductor device based on determination of the leakage current CDF for the first design. Further, the method includes estimating leakage current for the second design. The method also includes determining a leakage current CDF for the second design in accordance to the determination of the leakage current CDF for the first design. Moreover, the method includes selecting one of the first design and the second design based on a comparison of the leakage current CDF for the first design and the leakage CDF for the second design.

Abstract: Coherent analysis of asymmetric aging and statistical process variation. A method of designing a circuit includes preparing an initial netlist of components in the circuit. A plurality of components is selected from the initial netlist by a first statistical process. Further, a process variation netlist is prepared by replacing a plurality of initial operating parameters of the plurality of components with a plurality of process variation operating parameters. A plurality of high stress components is then identified in the process variation netlist and an aged netlist is prepared by replacing a set of operating parameters of the plurality of high stress components with a set of degraded operating parameters. The circuit is simulated using the aged netlist. The method also includes modifying the initial netlist according to a result of simulation and repeating the foregoing steps until a desired circuit performance is obtained.

Abstract: According to an aspect of the present invention, statistical timing analysis is applied with respect to a stress degradation that occurs in fabricated integrated circuits (IC) when used for a long duration. The circuit design may be suitably modified to account for the degradations (e.g., those caused by NBTI and CHC for transistors, those caused due to electromigration in case of interconnects). As a result, the fabricated ICs may be less susceptible to such degradations. The features are extended to model complex circuit blocks and also account for different degrees of stress that different circuit blocks are subjected to, in a same age of operation.

Abstract: Apportioning unequally contributions of different metal paths of a circuit to electromigration (EM) reliability. In an embodiment, a corresponding parameter value representing a magnitude of excess current flowing in a single direction in each metal path is determined. A desired reliability measure for electromigration (EM) is apportioned among the metal paths based on computed parameter values for the corresponding metal path. A reliability analysis for the circuit is performed based on the apportioning. In an embodiment, metal paths which predominantly carry currents with an average value less than a threshold are excluded from being considered as contributors to EM degradation.

Abstract: A method of designing a semiconductor device includes preparing a first design for a semiconductor device and estimating leakage current for the first design. The method also includes determining a leakage current cumulative distribution function (CDF) for the first design. The method further includes preparing a second design for the semiconductor device based on determination of the leakage current CDF for the first design. Further, the method includes estimating leakage current for the second design. The method also includes determining a leakage current CDF for the second design in accordance to the determination of the leakage current CDF for the first design. Moreover, the method includes selecting one of the first design and the second design based on a comparison of the leakage current CDF for the first design and the leakage CDF for the second design.