Ams Lec 01 Introduction v01
Ams Lec 01 Introduction v01
Ams Lec 01 Introduction v01
م
5 August 2021 1442 ذو الحجة26
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
01: Introduction 2
Module 01: Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
1. Electronics Evolution and the ITRS/IRDS
2. Moore’s Law
3. Modern Moore Concepts
4. Why Don’t We Fabricate ICs in Egypt?
5. The Semiconductors Market
6. Course Information
7. Analog vs Digital Electronics
8. Introduction to Integrated Circuits (ICs)
9. How to Design a Billion Transistor Chip?
10. Introduction to Electronic Design Automation (EDA)
11. Analog IC Design Flow
01: Introduction 3
Introduction
01: Introduction 5
Transistor Evolution
01: Introduction 6
Integrated Circuit (IC) Evolution
≈ 13.5mm
≈ 11mm
01: Introduction 7
Sensing Microsystems
3mm 4mm
ADXL350
Analog Devices, 2012
Complete system on a tiny chip
• 3-axis MEMS* accelerometer
• Interface electronics
• Analog-to-digital conversion
• Memory
First accelerometer • Control logic
B&K, 1940s • Power management
• Digital interface
Simple bulky transducer
Acceleration → Voltage *MEMS = Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
01: Introduction 8
A Glimpse of History
❑ 1947: Invention of the transistor
❑ 1957: Soviet Union launched Sputnik (the world's first artificial satellite)
❑ 1958: US government created
▪ NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration and
▪ DARPA: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
❑ 1958: Invention of the IC
❑ 1960s, 1970s, 1980s: US government heavily funded semiconductor research
▪ VLSI = Very Large Source of Income ☺
❑ 1990: End of cold war, US government funding rapidly decreased
❑ 1991: Academia, government and industry held a workshop to:
▪ Create a common roadmap for semiconductors
▪ Facilitate funding for semiconductor research
01: Introduction 10
NTRS / ITRS / IRDS
❑ Previously focusing on PPA (power, performance, and area)
❑ Now PPAC = PPA + cost
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
01: Introduction 13
Moore’s Law
❑ Moore’s law [1965]: Transistor count doubles every year
01: Introduction 14
Moore’s Law
❑ Moore’s law [1965]: Transistor count doubles every year
❑ Practically: It doubled every 2-3 years since the 4004 [1970s]
❑ At the end of the day: It is exponential!
GND VDD
p+ n+ n+ p+ p+ n+
n well
p substrate
[Weste and Harris, 2010]
well
01: Introduction substrate tap
tap
[IRDS ES, 2020] 17
01: Introduction 18
The End of Moore’s Law?
01: Introduction 19
ن ا ْلعِْلِم إِاَّل قَلِ ًيلِ وما أُوتِيتم
م
6 August 2021 1442 ذو الحجة27
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
01: Introduction 21
Modern “Moore” Concepts
01: Introduction 23
FinFET
❑ Planar CMOS cannot be scaled below 20nm due to excess leakage current and severe short
channel effects.
❑ FinFET: Gate has better control on the channel
▪ Intel’s version is called trigate FET
▪ Generally: Multigate transistor
Microelectronics Careers 25
Or The Next Step?
Microelectronics Careers 26
Still Too Many Steps! – IRDS 2021
[https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/technology_node]
01: Introduction [IRDS ES, 2020] 28
IBM 2nm Technology
❑ IBM announcement of 2nm technologies does not correspond to 2nm feature size!
▪ The individual nanosheets are 5nm in height and separated from each other by 5 nm.
01: Introduction 36
Why 3D ICs?
❑ 3D ICs enable heterogenous integration (logic + specialty)
01: Introduction 37
Modern “Moore” Concepts
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
01: Introduction 41
How Much it Costs?
❑ TSMC planned 3nm fab is expected to cost $20 Billion.
❑ The Moore’s law train will soon come to a stop.
▪ But not due to physical limits as many have expected!
❑ No chance for Egypt in the semiconductor fabrication business (at least in the near future).
▪ What about other perspectives?
01: Introduction 44
GF Cancelled 7nm Plans
01: Introduction 45
Microelectronics Careers 46
Money is Not the Only Problem!
ADT at UCL 47
India…
01: Introduction 48
The US…
01: Introduction 49
TSMC…
01: Introduction 50
Europe…
ADT at UCL 51
ن ا ْلعِْلِم إِاَّل قَلِ ًيلِ وما أُوتِيتم
م
5 August 2021 1442 ذو الحجة26
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
01: Introduction 53
Types of Companies in the VLSI Industry
❑ IDM (integrated device manufacturer): Companies that design and manufacture integrated
circuits (ICs)
▪ Ex: Intel, Samsung, Texas Instruments (TI), etc.
❑ Fabless companies: Companies that focus on IC design only. They don’t have manufacturing
capabilities.
▪ Ex: Qualcomm, Broadcom, Nvidia, etc.
▪ Product companies vs design services companies
❑ Foundry companies (a.k.a. pure-play foundries or merchant foundries): Companies that
focus on IC fabrication only, without having any in-house design capabilities.
▪ Ex: TSMC, Global Foundries, UMC, etc.
❑ EDA companies: Companies that create the software tools used in IC design (EDA tools)
▪ Ex: Synopsys, Cadence, Mentor (now Siemens EDA), etc.
01: Introduction 54
Types of Companies in the VLSI Industry
Microelectronics Careers 59
More Companies Joining The Field!
Microelectronics Careers 60
Semiconductors Market
❑ Semiconductor sales
revenue worldwide (2019)
▪ ~ 484 billion USD
01: Introduction 69
Why Join The IC Industry?
❑ Highly paid
❑ Challenging job
▪ Makes the most out of your smartness
▪ Not just operation and maintenance
❑ Requires deep technical knowledge
▪ Strongly related to what you learn at university
▪ Keeps you updated with the state-of-the-art
Microelectronics Careers 70
ن ا ْلعِْلِم إِاَّل قَلِ ًيلِ وما أُوتِيتم
م
5 August 2021 1442 ذو الحجة26
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
01: Introduction 72
Course Modules
1. Introduction to the ICs and EDA worlds
01: Introduction 73
Course Prerequisites
❑ I expect you have taken undergraduate courses on
▪ Electronic devices (MOSFET models and operation)
▪ Electronic circuits
▪ Analog IC design
▪ Digital IC design
❑ If you didn’t study analog IC design before, then you MUST study this course on your own
▪ https://www.master-micro.com/mastering-microelectronics/courses/analog-ic-design
❑ This overview on the electronics industry is also VERY useful
▪ https://maharatech.gov.eg/course/view.php?id=32
01: Introduction 74
Mastering Microelectronics
Electrical Circuits Semiconductor Physics
Introduction to Electronics
01: Introduction 76
Prospective Careers
❑ Analog/Mixed-Signal/RF IC Designer
❑ Analog/Mixed-Signal QA Engineer
❑ Analog/Mixed-Signal Product Engineer
❑ Analog/Mixed-Signal Automation Engineer
❑ Analog/Mixed-Signal CAD Engineer
01: Introduction 77
References
❑ Documentation of simulation tools (HSPICE, LTSpice, PSpice, Spectre, etc.)
❑ Mikael Sahrling, Analog Circuit Simulators for Integrated Circuit Designers, 2021
❑ Adel Sedra and Gordon Roberts, SPICE, 1997.
❑ L. T. Pillage, R. A. Rohrer, and C. Visweswariah, Electronic Circuit and System Simulation
Methods, McGraw-Hill, 1995.
❑ Farid N. Najm, Circuit Simulation, 2010.
❑ C. Cheng, CSE245, UCSD.
❑ P. Jespers and B. Murmann, Systematic Design of Analog CMOS Circuits Using Pre-
Computed Lookup Tables, 2017.
❑ Ken Kundert, The Designer's Guide to SPICE and Spectre, 2003.
❑ Ken Kundert, The Designer's Guide to Verilog-AMS, 2004.
01: Introduction 78
Where to Get Information From?
❑ Textbooks
❑ Courses in top universities (including Ain Shams University ☺)
❑ MSc/PhD theses in top universities: Search Google and Proquest
❑ Journal papers
▪ Mainly IEEE journals and transactions + few other journals
▪ Only a few conferences have good quality
• Ex: ISSCC, CICC, VLSI Symp., ESSCIRC, ASSCC
▪ Check references and citations of good papers
▪ Review papers are especially useful
❑ Websites and Forums
▪ Ex: semiwiki, edaboard, designers-guide, LinkedIn, FB (ECE Knowledge Exchange and
VLSI Egypt), etc.
01: Introduction 79
01: Introduction 80
Feedback
❑ Don’t hesitate to send me feedback to improve the course quality.
❑ Avoid two common misconceptions
1. Feedback should NOT wait to the end of the course!
• It will be too late to improve anything!
• But anyway, you may still help next generations ☺
2. Feedback should NOT be always negative!
• Too much negative feedback leads to zero output!
• Too much positive feedback causes oscillation!
• Be balanced!
01: Introduction 81
What Students Say About this Course
“This is one of the rare extremely well-prepared courses I have registered. The slides cover a
lot of details and has a good number of examples. The content itself is very useful and gives
very good insight in how circuit simulators in general are built which is valuable not only for
design engineers, but for engineers seeking a career in EDA companies as well.”
“The weekly labs are much more beneficial in a practical sense than an exam could ever be.
The teaching flow is very intuitive and is done at great pace, with a lot of time given to
answering students’ questions.”
“I liked the clear explanations, the very well prepared slides, and many of the selected topics,
which I believe were extremely useful.”
01: Introduction 82
ن ا ْلعِْلِم إِاَّل قَلِ ًيلِ وما أُوتِيتم
م
5 August 2021 1442 ذو الحجة26
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
01: Introduction 84
Main Branches of Electronics
Electronics
01: Introduction 85
Analog vs Digital Signals
❑ Analog: continuous in time and amplitude
01: Introduction 87
Why Analog?
❑ All the physical signals in the world around us are analog
▪ Voice, light, temperature, pressure, etc.
❑ We (will) always need an “analog” interface circuit to connect between our physical world
and our digital electronics
Digital
Amplifier A/D processing
Transducer and storage
01: Introduction 88
Signal Processing Chain
Amp A/D
Transducers
Physical world
Digital
(sound, light,
Power Management processing
temperature,
and storage
pressure, etc.)
Amp D/A
01: Introduction 89
Electronic System Example: Wireless Transceiver
Rx Amp A/D
EM Waves
Digital
Power Management processing
and storage
Tx Amp D/A
01: Introduction 90
Electronic System Example: Mixed-Signal Hearing Aid
ΣΔ ΣΔ H-Bridge
DSP
A/D D/A Driver
AGC Decimation
Filter
Analog World
Phone Lines, Cables (CT, CA) Audio
(DSL, Cable Modem) (MP3, Hearing Aid)
Video
(Dig. Camera, LCD TV,
TFT Display)
E&M Waves Digital World
(Cellphone, Radio, Mechanical Transducers
GPS) (DT, DA) (Car/Airplane Sensors,
MEMS, Nanopore)
Biochemical Sensors
Digital Storage (Hazard detection, Drug
(DVD, Hard Disk, Flash) Delivery, Lab-on-a-Chip)
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
01: Introduction 95
What is an Integrated Circuit (IC)?
❑ Various circuit elements: transistors, capacitors, resistors, and even small inductances can
be integrated on one chip
01: Introduction 96
Discrete vs. Integrated Electronics
Circuits using discrete components Integrated circuit
01: Introduction 97
Integrated Circuit Components
❑ Transistors:
▪ Billions of tiny transistors can be integrated on the same chip
▪ SSI -> MSI -> LSI -> VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration): > 10,000 transistors
❑ Capacitors:
▪ Capacitors as large as 100s of pF can be integrated on-chip
▪ But they consume a lot of chip area → Use sparingly
❑ Resistors:
▪ Resistors as large as few MOhms can be integrated on-chip
▪ But they consume a lot of chip area → Use sparingly
❑ Inductors:
▪ Small inductors (few nH) can be integrated on-chip
▪ But they consume a lot of area with relatively poor performance → Use sparingly: Only
in high frequency circuits (e.g., RFICs)
01: Introduction 98
IC Technology Generations
❑ Early integrated circuits primarily used bipolar transistors (BJTs)
❑ 1960s: MOS ICs became attractive for their low cost
▪ MOS transistor occupied less area
▪ The fabrication process was simpler
▪ Early commercial processes used only PMOS transistors and suffered from poor
performance, yield, and reliability
❑ 1970s: Processes using only NMOS transistors became common
01: Introduction 99
IC Technology Generations (Cont’d)
❑ Digital circuits in all the previous technologies have quiescent power consumption
▪ Power is dissipated when the circuit is idle, i.e., not switching
▪ This limits the maximum number of transistors that can be integrated on one die
04: MOSFET DC [TECHCET CA LLC, Semiconductor Industry Market Trends 2019-20] 104
Analog Design Challenges
❑ Device scaling
▪ Transistors become faster, but the gain declines
❑ Supply voltage scaling
▪ From 12V in 1970s to less than 1V nowadays
❑ Low power consumption
▪ Increase battery lifetime, decrease cost and heat emissions
❑ Complexity
▪ Continuous increase in transistor count and system complexity
❑ PVT variations
▪ Tolerate large process, voltage, and temperature variations
❑ New applications
▪ Wireless standards, wearables, IoT, serial links (e.g., USB), power management
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
َ ُْ ََ
Module 01
Introduction to the ICs and EDA Worlds
Simulation and
Testing
Design Adjustment
Yes
Specs
No met? Yes Product