ID-XploreTM is an analog design acceleration and migration tool for schematic centric analog design flows.
For the connected Internet of Things (IoT), a growth driver for the global semiconductor industry, ID-Xplore makes advanced sensors, smarter home products – all things IoT – easier to build.
New product strategies, minimal silicon area cost and minimal power consumption are critical for success in the low margin IoT product environment.
The Global Foundries 22nm FDSOI technology gives control of performance/power trade-off with dynamic body bias (BB). Specifically, the 22nm FDSOI technology provides low power operation benchmarks with no reduction in operational speed:
– O.4 V operation with forward body bias (FBB)
– 1pA/μ leakage current with reverse body bias (RBB)
Connected IoT products will use 22nm FDSOI for extended battery life, or battery-free energy harvesting applications, with controlled power domains and intelligently controlled dynamic operations to benefit from low-voltage and low-leakage characteristics of the 22nm FDSOI technology.
For differentiated analog circuit performance, the strong body bias control offered by Global Foundries 22nm FDSOI can be used to control the impact of process variation at the local or chip level.
Example Problem – Clock Skew Mismatch
Clock skew mismatch, resulting from process variation effects, can introduce substantial error into precision sampled data analog circuitry.
To minimise error introduced by clock skew mismatch, a control loop is applied to adjust the body bias and to obtain balanced differential clock timing.
Solution – Process Variation Control using BB
Circuit timing variation is controlled using the highly responsive BB in 22nm FDSOI. The range of control must exceed the skew mismatch, which requires understanding of the uncontrolled – skew at a particular transistor sizing, and the range of feedback capable for the same transistor sizing.
ID-Xplore creates an efficient design flow to find solutions to meet PVTB specifications. ID-Xplore works by determining the appropriate static and dynamic body biasing ranges in combination with performance specifications. The ID-Xplore tool is fully integrated into Cadence tools and works with the analog designer inversion specifications to explore design performance limitations.
ID-Xplore is not a blind optimizer. ID-Xplore works with traditional analog design methodology to provide increased designer insight and extensive design trade-off data, enabling quick design completion in any technology process.