A comprehensive methodology for noise characterization of ASIC cell libraries

In nanometer technologies, capacitive coupling between signal lines is increased, thereby causing crosstalk-induced hazards. Crosstalk analysis and avoidance methodologies have evolved to tackle this problem through various stages of the design flow. To ensure effective avoidance of crosstalk and identification of circuits failing due to crosstalk noise, certain noise related parameters have to be characterized for the cells in the technology library. Characterization of noise parameters, such as noise immunity and propagation, accounts for about 60% of the total ASIC library characterization cycle time, and hence becomes a bottleneck in the library creation process. We present a comprehensive methodology that enables noise characterization of nanometer libraries in reasonable time.