Industrial approaches for performance evaluation using on-chip monitors | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore

Industrial approaches for performance evaluation using on-chip monitors


Abstract:

To overcome the increasing sensitivity to variability in nanoscale integrated circuits, operation parameters (e.g., supply voltage) are adapted in a customized way exclus...Show More

Abstract:

To overcome the increasing sensitivity to variability in nanoscale integrated circuits, operation parameters (e.g., supply voltage) are adapted in a customized way exclusively to each chip. A standard industrial approach to achieve customized circuit adaptations is the use of on-chip monitors that allow fast performance evaluation during production or lifetime. Such on-chip monitoring approaches estimate operation parameters either based on responses from performance monitors with no interaction with the circuit or by monitoring the actual critical paths of the circuit. In this paper, we discuss a number of well-known performance monitoring methodologies and compare them with each other in term of their advantages and disadvantages. This enables evaluating the suitability of various performance monitoring methodologies for specific applications based on their respective requirements in terms of accuracy, power efficiency and cost. In addition, we discuss the challenges that these monitoring methodologies face with decreasing node sizes, in terms of accuracy and effectiveness. By simulating ISCAS'99 benchmarks using the Nangate 45 nm open cell library, we show that the accuracy of these approaches is design dependent, and requires up to 15% added design margin.
Date of Conference: 18-20 December 2016
Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 06 February 2017
ISBN Information:
Electronic ISSN: 2162-061X
Conference Location: Hammamet, Tunisia

References

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