Performance Analysis of Lossy Coupled Non-uniform On-Chip Interconnects with Skin Effects

Abstract

This paper presents an accurate numerical model to evaluate the propagation delay and crosstalk noise of high-speed on-chip interconnects. The structure of on-chip interconnect is considered as non-uniform, including the skin effects. The lossy coupled non-uniform interconnects are modelled by finite-difference time-domain technique. For accurate performance analysis, nonlinear complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is used to drive the interconnect lines. The nonlinear effects are also incorporated in the proposed model using the improved alpha power law model. The propagation delay and peak noise voltage on the victim line in dynamic and functional switching conditions are analysed and validated with Hailey simulation program with integrated circuit (HSPICE) simulations. The proposed model accuracy and computational efficiency are compared with HSPICE simulations for different cases. The comparison results show that the average error is less than 0.6% while estimating the peak noise voltage using HSPICE. Moreover, the proposed model shows a 75.2% reduction in average CPU runtime compared with HSPICE simulations. Therefore, the proposed model is fast and accurate in predicting the crosstalk-induced performance analysis of lossy coupled non-uniform interconnects at high frequencies.