FULL-CHIP POWER-SUPPLY NOISE: THE EFFECT OF ON-CHIP POWER-RAIL INDUCTANCE

Abstract

The importance of on-chip power-rail inductance in generating delta-I power-supply noise is examined in this paper using systematic circuit simulation of the complete integrated-circuit power net. This source of noise is compared to the resistive IR drop in the net, and to the delta-I noise due to both high-inductance- and low-inductance-bonding packages. Results are presented for a typical on-chip power net in 0.18 μm CMOS technology, and it is demonstrated that the inductance of this on-chip power net is the dominant contributor to the full-chip power-supply noise. The simultaneous switching events which produce the triggering current transients for the delta-I noise are taken to arise from core-logic switching; the mitigating, de-coupling role of the capacitance of non-switching gates within the core-logic block is considered.