In digital semiconductors, the most critical signal is the clock. The delay from the clock source to the clock pin of a sequential cell is called Clock Latency. The difference in latency between sequential cells is referred to as Clock Skew. From Zero Skew to Useful Skew In the past,

Key Takeaway: From 1947’s magnetic core memory to the forthcoming HBM4 and compute-in-memory architectures, advances in semiconductor memory have continuously reshaped computing performance, capacity, and architecture. Understanding detailed memory types—from on-chip SRAM variants to emerging non-volatile memories—is essential for engineering high-performance, cost-effective systems. 1. Fundamental Principles of

In the world of digital design, you often hear the terms synchronous clock and asynchronous clock. While simple designs with a single module might use just one clock, modern Systems-on-a-Chip (SoCs) are typically designed with a variety of asynchronous clocks. For example, let's look at the Qualcomm Snapdragon

Physical Design Rule Checking (DRC) is the cornerstone of semiconductor physical verification, ensuring that an integrated circuit’s layout adheres to the foundry’s manufacturing constraints. By automating the validation of geometric and spacing requirements in chip layouts, DRC prevents catastrophic defects—shorts, opens, misalignments—and secures high yields, manufacturability,

The continuous scaling of semiconductor process nodes improves transistor density, but it disproportionately amplifies interconnect parasitics, necessitating a "shift-left" approach where the interconnect effect, particularly resistance, must be considered much earlier and more stringently throughout the design flow. The transition to advanced process nodes signifies a shift from

Overview of SPICE and STA In modern high-density VLSI design, it's crucial to ensure that an integrated circuit (IC) operates correctly and reliably at its specified clock period. This is achieved through rigorous timing analysis, which identifies potential performance bottlenecks and ensures compliance with timing constraints. Static Timing

In the field of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) design, a finished semiconductor chip's performance is not only determined by its logical functionality but is also significantly affected by physical phenomena that occur on the tiny wires, or interconnects, inside the chip. These physical phenomena are known as

Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) is a service that allows various semiconductor designs to be fabricated on a single wafer. Think of it like a "variety pizza"—instead of ordering a full pizza with just one topping, an MPW wafer combines multiple different designs from various teams onto a single

Chip design, particularly for modern, complex System on Chip (SoC) designs, is growing on an unimaginable scale. In the past, it was possible to fit an entire design into a single Verilog netlist and process it with an EDA tool. Now, that approach leads to several problems. Massive Designs, New