Migration of Cell Broadband Engine from 65nm SOI to 45nm SOI

Abstract

This paper describe the challenges of migrating the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell BE) design from a 65 nm SOI to a 45 nm twin-well CMOS technology on SOI with low-k dielectrics and copper metal layers using a mostly automated approach. A die micrograph of the 45 nm Cell BE is described here. The cycle-by-cycle machine behavior is preserved. The focuses are automated migration, power reduction, area reduction, and DFM improvements. The chip power is reduced by roughly 40% and the chip area is reduced by 34%.