EC- 605

VLSI Circuits and Systems

Motivation & Introduction

Ayoush Johari
Assistant Professor
Lakshmi Narain College of Technology and Science
Bhopal
 Syllabus
Unit -1 – Introduction
 Introduction to CMOS VLSI circuit
 VLSI design flow
 Design strategies
 Hierarachy
 Regularity
 Modularity
 Locality
 MOS Transistor as a Switches
 CMOS Logic
 Combinational circuit
 Latches and Register
 Introduction of CAD Tool
 Design entry
 Synthesis
 Functional simulation.
Unit 2 - Specification of sequential systems
• Characterizing equation & definition of synchronous sequential
machines.
• Realization of state diagram and state table from verbal description
• Mealy and Moore model machines state table and transition diagram
• Minimization of the state table of completely and incompletely specified
sequential machines.
 Unit 3 -- Asynchronous Sequential Machine

• Introduction to asynchronous sequential machine

• Fundamental mode and Pulse mode asynchronous sequential
machine
• Secondary state assignments in asynchronous sequential
machine
• races and hazards.
 Unit 4 -- State Machine
• Algorithmic state machine
• fundamental concept of hardware/ firmware algorithms.
• Controllers and data system designing.
 Unit 5 -- Fault Detection in
combinational circuit
• Types of faults
• Fault detection using Boolean Difference and path
sensitization method.
• Concept of PROM, PLA, PAL, CPLD and FPGA
• PALASM software applications.
 References

1. Neil Weste: Principle of CMOS VLSI Design, TMH.

2. Kohavi: Switching & Finite Automata Theory, TMH.
3. Lee: Digital Circuits and Logic Design, PHI Learning.
4. Roth Jr.: Fundamentals of Logic Design, Jaico Publishing House.
5. Parag K. Lala: Fault Tolerant and Fault Testable Hardware Design, BS Publication
 Objective of the Class
• The Purpose of this Class is to cover the concepts and
techniques used in VLSI Circuits and Systems.
• The basic objective of this class is to make students
understand the basic concepts of VLSI based circuits &
Systems and VLSI Technology.
• Simulation and Semi custom Implementation will be added
advantage.
Note :
• The figures, text etc included in slides are borrowed from various books
websites authors pages and other from various books, websites, authors
pages, and other sources for academic purpose only. The instructor does
not claim any originality.
 Introduction to EC-605
• Introduction
• Briefing VLSI Design and Implementation
• Class logistics
 Design Matrices
• A VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) system integrates millions of
“electronic components” in a small area (few mm2  few cm2).
• Learn how to design “efficient” VLSI systems that implement
required functionalities.
• What are the design metrics?
• Circuit Speed / Performance
• Power consumption
• Design Area
• Yield
What are VLSI Systems composed of ?
1.Transistors 2. Wires

nMOS

=
design
pMOS

Circuits

CMOS logic gates

How does an IC look from
the inside?

wires

transistors

R. Noyce J. Kilby
 Technology Scaling
If a pond lily doubles everyday and it takes 30 days to completely cover a
pond, on what day will the pond be 1/2 covered?
Moore’s Law. The number of transistors in an integrated
circuit doubles every 2 years.

Quad core from

Intel: ~600
million
transistors in
286 mm2
 Feature Size

Human Hair
~75 m

. 0.18 m
180 nm
. feature

~40,000 (65-nm node) transistors could fit on cross-section

 Why should we learn about VLSI
• They are ubiquitous in our daily lives
(computers/iPods/TVs/Cars/…/etc).
 can help you understand the devices you use.

• The market for VLSI systems (and semiconductors) is

worth $250 billion dollars.
 can help you get a decent job after graduation (or you can even
start your own company).

• VLSI design and analysis is fun!

Top Semiconductor Companies
Top Semiconductor Companies
What does it take to design VLSI systems?
1. idea (need)

2. write
specifications

3. design
system 4. analyze/
model

if satisfactory
system

5. Fabrication

6. test / work as
modeled?
1. Applications / Ideas
 2. Specifications
• Instruction set
• Interface (I/O pins)
• Organization of the system
• Functionality of each unit in the
and how it to communicate to
other unit
3/4. Design and Analysis
VHDL / Verilog / SystemC

design schematics
compilation/
synthesis

mask layout patterns find wire routes device layout

• Design development is facilitated using Computer-Aided Design (CAD)

tools
 5. Fabrication

tapeout

mask layout patterns mask writer masks

printing
test and
packaging
dice

chip die
wafer
6. Evaluate design and compare to model.

• Check signal integrity

• Power consumption
• Input/output behavior

• Does the chip function as it is

supposed to be?
• Does it work at desired clock
frequency? (can we overclock?)

board
 What are we going to cover in this class?

• Overview of VLSI CMOS fabrication

• MOS transistor theory
• VLSI Layout design
• Circuit analysis and performance estimation
• Computer-aided design and analysis tools
• Combinational and sequential circuit design
• Customized and Semi-customized Design systems
• design project (if Possible)
 What is a VLSI Circuit ?
VERY LARGE SCALE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT

A circuit that has 10k ~ Technique where many

1Bln transistors on a circuit components and
single chip the wiring that
connects them are
•Still growing as
manufactured
number of transistors
simultaneously on a
on chip quadruple
compact chip (die)
every 24 months
(Moore’s law!)
 Brief History
The First Computer: Babbage Difference Engine (1832)

•Executed basic operations

(add, sub, mult, div) in
arbitrary sequences
•Operated in two-cycle
sequence, “Store”, and “Mill”
(execute)
•Included features like
pipelining to make it faster.
•Complexity: 25,000 parts.
•Cost: £17,470 (in 1834!)
 The Electrical Solution
•More cost effective
•Early systems used relays to make simple logic devices
•Still used today in some train safety systems
•The Vacuum Tube
•Originally used for analog processing
•Later, complete digital computers realized
•High Point of Tubes: The ENIAC
•18,000 vacuum tubes
•80 ft long, 8.5 ft high, several feet wide
 ENIAC
The first electronic computer (1946)
 Dawn of the Transistor Age

1947: Bardeen and Brattain create

point-contact transistor w/two PN
junctions. Gain = 18

1951: Shockley develops junction

transistor which can be
manufactured in quantity.
 Early Integration

Jack Kilby, working at Texas Instruments, invented

a monolithic “integrated circuit” in July 1959.
He had constructed the flip-flop shown in the
patent drawing above.
Early Integration

In mid 1959, Noyce develops the first

true IC using planar transistors,
•back-to-back pn junctions for
isolation
•diode-isolated silicon resistors and
• SiO2 insulation
• evaporated metal wiring on top
Practice Makes Perfect

1961: TI and Fairchild introduced first

logic IC’s
(cost ~ $50 in quantity!). This is a dual
flip-flop with 4 transistors.

1963: Densities and yields

improve. This circuit has four flip-
flops.
 is continued…

1967: Fairchild markets the first semi-

custom chip. Transistors (organized in
columns) can be easily rewired to
create different circuits. Circuit has
~150 logic gates.

1968: Noyce and Moore leave Fairchild to form

Intel. By 1971 Intel had 500 employees;
By 2004, 80,000 employees in 55 countries and
$34.2B in sales.
 The Big Bang : Its all started from here

1970: Intel starts

selling a 1k bit RAM,
the 1103.

1971: Ted Hoff at Intel designed the

first microprocessor. The 4004 had 4-
bit busses and a clock rate of 108 KHz.
It had 2300 transistors and was built
in a 10 um process.
 Exponential Growth

1972: 8080 introduced.

Had 3,500 transistors supporting a
byte-wide data path.

1974: Introduction of the 8088.

Had 6,000 transistors in a 6 um
process. The clock rate was 2 MHz.
 Today
Many disciplines have contributed to the current state of the art
in VLSI Design:

•Solid State Physics •Circuit design and

layout
•Materials Science
•Architecture design
•Lithography and fab
•Algorithms
•Device modeling
•CAD tools
To come up with chips like: on the next slide……………
 Intel Pentium
Intel® Pentium® 4
Intel® Celeron® D
Intel® Pentium® M
Intel® Itanium® 2
Intel® Xeon™
Intel® PCA Cellular
Intel® IXP465 Network
Intel® MXP5800 Digital Media
 Pentium Pro
•Actually a MCM comprising of
microprocessor and L2 cache

Why not make it on

one chip?
 Today

Sun UltraSparc

UltraSPARC IV
UltraSPARC III
UltraSPARC IIIi
UltraSPARC IIi
UltraSPARC IIe
 Pentium 4
– Introduction date: November
20, 2000
• 1.4 GHz clock
• fabricated in 180 nm process,
• 42 mln transistors)
– In 2002 (2 GHz in 130 nm, 55
mln transistors)
– In 2005 (3.8 GHz in 90 nm, 125
mln transistors)
– Typical Use: Desktops and
entry-level workstations
Supercomputer for Sony's PlayStation 3

• IBM chip has

nine processor
cores
• 192 billion
floating-point
operations per
second (192 G)
• Typical Use:
multimedia
Intel Core 2 Microprocessor

•In 2006
•143 mm2
•3 GHZ operation
•65 nm CMOS
technology
•291 mln transistors
 Other chips

IDT R5000 IBM Power PC 601

 Other chips

cyrix_math_coprocessor_83S87 Fairchild Clipper C100

 Other chips

Fujitsu 68903
HP PA8000
 Other chips

Motorola MC68020
IBM/Motorola Power PC620
Evolution of Electronics
 Technology Directions: SIA
Roadmap

Year 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014

Feature size (nm) 180 130 100 70 50 35
2
Logic trans/cm 6.2M 18M 39M 84M 180M 390M
Cost/trans (mc) 1.735 .580 .255 .110 .049 .022
#pads/chip 1867 2553 3492 4776 6532 8935
Clock (MHz) 1250 2100 3500 6000 10000 16900
2
Chip size (mm ) 340 430 520 620 750 900
Wiring levels 6-7 7 7-8 8-9 9 10
Power supply (V) 1.8 1.5 1.2 0.9 0.6 0.5
High-perf pow (W) 90 130 160 170 175 183
Evolution in Complexity
 Transistor Counts
K
1,000,000

100,000

10,000
1,000

100

10
Source: Intel
1
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Projected
 Moore’s law in Microprocessors

1000

100 2X growth in 1.96 years!

Transistors (MT)

10
P6
Pentium® proc
1 486
386
0.1 286
8085 8086
0.01 8080
8008
4004
0.001
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year
Transistors on Lead Microprocessors double every 2 years
 Die Size Growth
100
Die size (mm)

P6
486 Pentium ® proc
10 386
286
8080 8086
8085 ~7% growth per year
8008
4004 ~2X growth in 10 years

1
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year
Die size grows by 14% to satisfy Moore’s Law
 Frequency

CMOS
nMOS

Lead Microprocessors frequency doubles every 2 years

Power dissipation warning in 2000

100000
18KW
10000 5KW
1.5KW
Power (Watts)

1000 500W
Pentium® proc
100
286 486
10 8086 386
8085
8080
8008
1 4004

0.1
1971 1974 1978 1985 1992 2000 2004 2008
Year
Did this really happen?
 Power Dissipation

Lead Microprocessors power increase

 Power density
10000
Rocket
Power Density (W/cm2)

Nozzle
1000
Nuclear
Reactor
100

8086
10 4004 Hot Plate P6
8008 8085 386 Pentium® proc
286 486
8080
1
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year
Power density too high to keep junctions at low temp
 Not Only Microprocessors

Cell
Phones

Video
games
Small
Signal RF
Power Digital Cellular Market iPod
RF
(Phones Shipped)

Power
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Management
Units 48M 86M 162M 260M 435M
Analog
Baseband
iTablet
Digital Baseband
(DSP + MCU)
 Challenges in VLSI Design

“Microscopic Problems” “Macroscopic Issues”

• Ultra-high speed design • Time-to-Market
• Interconnect • Millions of Gates
• Noise, Crosstalk • High-Level Abstractions
• Reliability, Manufacturability • Reuse & IP: Portability
• Power Dissipation • Predictability
• Clock distribution. • etc.

Everything Looks a Little Different

…and There’s a Lot of Them!
 First Integrated Circuit
1 Transistor and 4 other devices on 1 chip
Intel 4004 Micro-Processor
Intel Pentium (II) microprocessor
 First Commercial Planar IC
Fairchild – One Binary Digital (Bit) Memory Device on Chip.
4 Transistors and 5 Resistors
 First IC created
with Computer Aided Design Tools -1967
First 1024 Bit Memory Chip --1970
Intel 4004 : 2.3k Transistors,1971
Pentium : 3.1 Million Transistors (1993)
Pentium II: 7.5 Million Transistors (1997)
Pentium III : 28.1 Million Transistors (1999)
Pentium IV : 52 Million Transistors (2001)
Core 2 Duo: 291 Million Transistors (2006)
NVIDIA Graphics Processing Unit : 1.4 Billion
Intel’s Tukwila: 2 Billion Transistors
 References
• http://ic.engin.brown.edu
• http:// www.cmosvlsi.com
• http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/chipshots/index.html
For Queries ?
Ayoush Johari
Email ID –
[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/ayoushj
http://littleprofee.blogspot.in/