What is SOC physical design?
SOC physical design is the process of converting the SOC design description in gate level (netlist) to geometric layout-level description and generate database defining layout of process structures. The layout database is generated in graphic data system (GDS II) format which is used for fabrication.
What is the physical design flow of VLSI system?
VLSI Physical Design Flow is an algorithm with several objectives. Some of them include minimum area, wire length and power optimization. It also involves preparing timing constraints and making sure, that netlist generated after physical design flow meets those constraints.
What are the different steps in a typical ASIC or SOC design flow?
Let’s have an overview of each of the steps involved in the process.
- Chip Specification.
- Design Entry / Functional Verification.
- RTL block synthesis / RTL Function.
- Chip Partitioning.
- Design for Test (DFT) Insertion.
- Floor Planning (blueprint your chip)
- Placement.
- Clock tree synthesis.
What is SoC design methodology?
SoC designers employ IP reuse to improve design productivity. Hierarchical methodologies allow multiple teams to work on different parts of the design concurrently and independently. This “divide and conquer” approach reduces the complexity of the design problem for each design team and reduces the time to market.
What is SoC methodology?
Abstract: Today’s deep sub-micron semiconductor technology has enabled large-scale integration of multi-million gates consisting of reusable intellectual property (IP), on-chip memory and user-defined logic on a single chip.
What is ASIC backend?
In ASIC back end the we do floor plan, placement, layout and then simulations for checking the correct functionality and timing, parasitics etc. at last it is delievered to fab for manufacturing. in simple terms u can say after synthesis everything comes in Backend.
What are the inputs of physical design?
Design rules for metal layers like the width of metal layer and spacing between two metal layers….inputs for physical design.
| Name of Inputs | File format | Given by |
|---|---|---|
| Timing library/logical library | .lib(liberty file) | vendors |
| Physical library | .lef(layout exchange format) | vendors |
What is FPGA design flow?
SymbiFlow is an end-to-end FPGA synthesis toolchain, because of that it provides all the necessary tools to convert input Verilog design into a final bitstream. It is simple to use however, the whole synthesis and implementation process is not trivial.
What is the biggest disadvantage for an ASIC device?
There are also disadvantages of ASIC.
- the cost per a unit can be high when producing a small number of units because of the cost in producing a Photomask.
- they can be hard to design and it is expensive and wastes time if they need to be redesigned.
- the time of a manufacturing process can be long.
Why DFT is important in ASIC flow?
This technique enables you to evaluate your test patterns to determine whether these patterns detect faults. Faults may occur during either the design-tooling stage or the circuit-fabrication stage. Adopting DFT principles early in the design process ensures the maximum testability for the minimum effort.