PART A a)Explain overview of IC design. Integrated circuit design, or IC design, is a subset of electrical engineering, encompassing the particularlogic and circuit design techniques required to design integrated circuits, or ICs. ICs consist of miniaturized electronic components built into an electrical networkon a monolithic semiconductor substrate by photolithography. b)Explain, how far you understand how to use L-edit in the exercises. - In the exercises to used L-Edit, I understand the user interface software of L-Edit - Besides that, I able to identify the drawing tools available for drawing - Also, I can understand the use of Design Rile Check in Layout verification - Furthermore, I understand the basic steps in drawing layout in L-Edit c)What is the Moore’s Law?
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PART A
a)Explain overview of IC design.
Integrated circuit design, or IC design, is a subset of electrical engineering,
encompassing the particularlogic and circuit design techniques required to design
integrated circuits, or ICs. ICs consist of miniaturized electronic components built
into an electrical networkon a monolithic semiconductor substrate by
photolithography.
b)Explain, how far you understand how to use L-edit in the exercises.
- In the exercises to used L-Edit, I understand the user interface software of L-Edit
- Besides that, I able to identify the drawing tools available for drawing
- Also, I can understand the use of Design Rile Check in Layout verification
- Furthermore, I understand the basic steps in drawing layout in L-Edit
c)What is the Moore’s Law?
- The maximum number of transistors on a chip doubles every 18 months. As a
result the on-chip transistor count has increased one million times in three decades
and has reached 30 million transistors (in microprocessors).
Sketch the graph for the Moore’s Law.
d)Sketch the cross-section diagram for PMOS and NMOS transistor.
e)Name TWO types of packaging.
1. bare die
2. DIP
3. PGA
4. Small-outline IC
5. Quad flat pack
6. PLCC
7. Leadless carrier
f)What is the definition of the oxidation?
Heating the silicon surface in the presence of oxygen (O2) creates a layer of
Silicon Dioxide SiO2 (oxide for short) which is a very good insulator.
g)Name TWO types of oxidation and write the chemical response reaction for both
types.
h) What is the purpose of deposition?
Deposition is used to create a layer of a conducting material usually on the top of
the silicon dioxide layer. Two conducting materials are used are metal, usually
aluminum and polysilicon which is a polycrystalline silicon modified with some
metal impurities to obtain a relatively good conductance.Two common deposition
methods are Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and Physical Vapor Deposition
i)State the technology (full name) and the number of transistor starting with SSI
until ULSI for the microelectric evolution.
SSI - Small Scale Integration <100 SSI 1963
MSI - Medium Scale Integration 100-3000 MSI 1970
LSI - Large Scale Integration 3000-30,000 LSI 1975
VLSI - Very Large Scale Integration 30,000-1,000000 VLSI 1980
ULSI - Ultra Large Scale Integration >1,000000 ULSI 1990
j) What is layout?
A process where engineering schematics are transposed into graphic symbols that
will be used to make a mask.
k)State FOUR governing rules in CMOS design for all logic gates.
1.For each input node, there must be 2 transistors, one P-MOS and one N-MOS.
The gate nodes of each must be electrically common. Example: Inverter – one
input, two transistor, one P-mos and one N-mos.
2. The Nmos transistors always match the logical function of the gate.
3. The Pmos transistors will always be in a complementary configuration to the
Nmos.
LayoutSchematicSymbol
4. The ordering dot on the logic symbol determine which transistor is placed
closest to the output node.
l)State TWO advantages of node sharing.
1)Minimizes cell area
Diffusion/Node sharing between two devices allows them to be placed closer
together. This plays a critical role in minimizing cell area.
2)Reduces routing congestion
Each instance of diffusion/node sharing eliminates the need for a wire to connect
the two diffusion terminals. Therefore, it plays a role in reducing routing
congestion in a cell.
3) Improves parasitics
As a result of the cell size and routing minimization, there is a parasitic (RC)
reduction. This is beneficial from an electrical standpoint.
m)What is the definition of stick diagram?
A short-hand technique for generating a free form, topological plan of a circuit
layout, without regard to actual geometry sizing or design rules. Graphical symbols
(sticks) are drawn relative to each other and are connected together by symbols
(sticks) representing interconnects mask layers.
PART B
1)Explain the contact guidelines.
There are 2 contact guidelines that is partially covered and fully covered.
Partially covered- cannot carry as much current as fully covered contact. A partially covered
contact has 0.0 metal coverage past the edge of the contact
Fully covered- A fully covered contacts has at least 0.16u coverage on all sides.
2)What are the elements of quality layout?
-meet circuit performance requirements
-efficient area usage
-manufacture-able Layout(FDM)
-Debug-able Layout(DFD)
-Fulfill Reliability guidelines.
3)State TWO rules for good quality layout.
-Poly Guidelines
-Contact Guidelines
-Diffusion guidelines
-Metal and Vias Guideliness
4)State TWO problems that occur in the layout and explain one of them.
The problem is
EM-Electromigration is a problem that occurs when current only moves in one direction and
pulls the atoms of the metal along with it.
SH-Self hear is a problem that occurs when current is alternating or not just flowing in the same
direction all the time.
5)Draw the examples to show multiple cell instances placed with the same orientation, with
flipping and no stepping.
6)State the basic hierarchies planning.
Understand constraints
Basic Wire Planning
Block sizing fundamentals
Block Placement fundamentals
Datapaths definition
Basic Datapath pitch planning
Estimating time
7)What is array and stepped cells
Array - ordered instantiation (placement) of same cell or objects in a design
Object can be a cell, group of cells, or other structure
Objects are related, physically and logically
Array can extend in X and/or Y direction
Stepped cells
-The example below shows multiple cell instances placed with the same orientation (no flipping)
and same distance between neighbors.
The origin of the instantiated cell is determined by the small triangle in the lower left
corner.
Origin at X:0, Y:0 of child cell
8)State THREE methodologies for designing and planning.
Top down
Bottom-up
Middle-out
9)Explain about the bottom up planning.
In bottom-up planning the area of focus is on leaf cells or cell studies (layouts done early
in the project).
This planning is used after the cluster level planning is finished.
Repeated structures such as datapath, memory arrays and decoders are sized to help with
the final sizing of each block.
10)List down the steps for block planning.
1. How does this block fit into the unit relative to other blocks?
2. What direction should metal levels run?
3. Is there a pitch that must be followed? Almost all datapath blocks will have a fixed pitch.
4. Is there a template cell or pin ring from the top level plan available?
5. Is there a pre-determined cell size that is expected to be met?