Web-Based Digital Cell Library Characterization System

Abstract

A modern approach to the design of large-scale electronic computing equipment is inconceivable without using previous similar developments in the current project. It is quite natural in this case to use previously developed digital cell libraries as a base. When a separate library cell is included in a large project, there is no need to calculate signal transmission delays, power consumption and layout of the included cell — all this is obtained in advance at the stage of characterization of library elements. This approach allows to significantly accelerate the development of the product as a whole. The stage of characterization of digital libraries requires significant time and computing resources, which is why it receives increased attention from developers of computer-aided design systems for microelectronic equipment. This article discusses some aspects of building a digital cell library characterization system. The description of the web-based library characterization system developed by the author is given. The main features that distinguish the system from the rest are an interactive approach to building the system, its web—oriented nature (i.e. the system is located on a web server and is available for communication via any web browser on the Internet), a large number of auxiliary procedures, a unique graphical representation of the results obtained. In addition to the above, it may be noted the simplicity of preparing the source data, the ease of switching between the "initial circuit"/ "circuit with extracted parasitic elements" modeling modes, as well as between the so-called "modeling edges": the normal, worst and best combination of temperature and supply voltage. To speed up calculations in the system, two modes of parallelization of modeling processes are provided at the user's choice.