IEICE Transactions on Fundamentals of Electronics, Communications and Computer Sciences
Online ISSN : 1745-1337
Print ISSN : 0916-8508
Special Section on VLSI Design and CAD Algorithms
Practical Redundant-Via Insertion Method Considering Manufacturing Variability and Reliability
Yuji TAKASHIMAKazuyuki OOYAAtsushi KUROKAWA
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2009 Volume E92.A Issue 12 Pages 2962-2970

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Abstract

As the integrated circuit technology has undergone continuous downscaling to improve the LSI performance and reduce chip size, design for manufacturability (DFM) and design for yield (DFY) have become very important. As one of the DFM/DFY methods, a redundant via insertion technique uses as many vias as possible to connect the metal wires between different layers. In this paper, we focus on redundant vias and propose an effective redundant via insertion method for practical use to address the manufacturing variability and reliability concerns. First, the results of statistical analysis for via resistance and via capacitance in some real physical layouts are shown, and the impact on circuit delay of the resistance variation of vias caused by manufacturing variability is clarified. Then, the valuation functions of delay variation, electro-migration (EM), and stress-migration (SM) are defined and a practical method concerning redundant via insertion is proposed. Experimental results show that LSI with redundant vias inserted by our method robust against manufacturing variability and reliability problems.

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© 2009 The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers
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