In this paper the authors discuss how the problem of substrate-coupled switching noise (dI/dt and dV/dt noise) in mixed signal SOCs can be minimized or resolved by using the combined substrate analysis capabilities of SNA coupled with encounter floorplanning and placement tools. Four aspects: substrate noise modeling and injection, propagation, detection and protection were covered in the paper.

In this paper, we describe a new congestion-driven placement based on cell inflation. In our approach, we have used the method of probability- estimation to evaluate the routing of nets. We also take use of the strategy of cell inflation to eliminate the routing congestion. Further reduction in congestion is obtained by the scheme of cell moving. We have tested our algorithm on a set of sample circuits from American industry and the results obtained have shown great improvement of routability.

With the increase in circuit performance (higher speeds) and density (smaller feature size) in deep submicrometer (DSM) designs, interconnect parasitic effects are increasingly becoming more important. This paper first surveys the state of the art in parasitic extraction for resistance, capacitance, and inductance. The paper then covers other related issues such as interconnect modeling, model order reduction, delay calculation, and signal integrity issues such as crosstalk. Some future trends on parasitic extraction, model reduction and interconnect modeling are discussed and a fairly complete list of references is given.

The problem of designing complex analog circuits is attacked using a hierarchical top-down, constraint-driven design methodology. In this methodology, constraints are propagated automatically from high-level specifications to physical design through a sequence of gradual transformations. Constraint transformation is a critical step in the methodology, since it determines in large part the degree to which specifications are met. In this paper we describe how constraint transformations can be efficiently carried out using hierarchical parameter modeling and constrained optimization techniques. The process supports complex high-level specification handling and accounts for second-order effects, such as interconnect parasitics and mismatches. The suitability of the approach is demonstrated through an 4 th order active filter test case.

In this paper we discuss the capabilities of the MiST PROFIT (Mixed Signal Test Program for Fault Insertion and Testing) software for hierarchical fault modeling, tolerance modeling, fault clustering and fault diagnosis of complex mixed-signal systems. The software is designed to exploit the relationships between high level system specifications and module-level faults in complex and nonlinear mixed signal systems. Hierarchical simulation based methods are used to capture fault effects at different levels of circuit abstraction. The key features of our approach are: (a) the ability to compute tolerance effects from nonlinear behavioral models at different levels of circuit design hierarchy accurately using low-cost simulation based methods, (b) the ability to perform compaction of fault effects while transferring fault effects from the leaf cells to the highest level behavioral models, (c) the ability to capture parametric (soft) failure effects over the entire anticipated range of faulty parameter values and (d) the ability to construct fault dictionaries given a set of least replaceable units to diagnose.

Test development is without doubt the major bottleneck in the product delivery cycle of mixed signal ICs. One of the most time consuming tasks during the test development phase is the design of the DUT board where the IC is to be inserted to run on a mixed signal tester. This paper describes a new methodology of capturing test information for an IC through test module schematics and then using an automatic tool to synthesize the final load board circuitry to be used on mixed signal ATEs.>

This paper describes the algorithms for automatic transistor sizing (determination of device width and length) of CMOS digital circuits. In CMOS circuits, since power dissipation is small and not a limiting factor, the sizing algorithm is geared toward minimizing area. The program XTRAS (Xerox TRAnsistor Sizing Program) which determines transistor sizes as well as calculates path delays is described. Equations for the calculation of gate area, node capacitances, and rise and fall delays are given. Example circuits sized using XTRAS are compared and found to be within 10% of SPICE circuit simulations.