Only two decades ago most electronic circuits were designed with a slide-rule, and the designs were verified using breadboard techniques. Simulation tools were a research curiosity and in general were mistrusted by most designers and test engineers. In those days the programs were not user friendly, models were inadequate, and the algorithms were not very robust. The demand for simulation tools has been driven by the increasing complexity of integrated circuits and systems, and it has been aided by the rapid decrease in the cost of com­ puting that has occurred over the past several decades. Today a wide range of tools exist for analYSiS, deSign, and verification, and expert systems and synthesis tools are rapidly emerging. In this book only one aspect of the analysis and design process is examined. but it is a very important aspect that has received much attention over the years. It is the problem of accurate circuit and timing simulation.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Overview of Simulation Techniques.- 2.1 Analog vs Digital Simulation.- 2.2 Gate-Level Simulation.- 2.3 Switch-Level Logic Simulation.- 2.4 Mixed-Mode or Hybrid Simulation.- 2.5 Switch-Level Timing Simulation.- 3. Mos Network Partitioning and Ordering.- 3.1 MOS Network Components and Models.- 3.2 Partitioning the MOS Network into Blocks.- 3.2.1 Review of Graph Theory.- 3.2.2 Blocks of an MOS Network.- 3.2.3 Partitioning Algorithm and Its Complexity.- 3.2.4 A CMOS Example.- 3.3* Partitioning into Driver and Pass Transistors.- 3.3.1 Motivation.- 3.3.2 Formal Definitions.- 3.3.3 Partitioning Algorithm.- 3.3.4 An NMOS Example.- 3.3.5 Modifications for CMOS Circuits.- 3.4 Ordering of Partitioned Blocks.- 3.4.1 Directed Graphs.- 3.4.2 Presence of Feedback and Its Detection.- 3.4.3 An Example to Illustrate Ordering.- 3.5 Conclusions.- 4. Switch-Level Timing Simulation.- 4.1 Overview.- 4.2 Waveform Representation.- 4.3 Simulation Algorithm.- 4.4 Deriving Inverter Voltage Equations.- 4.4.1 Equations for Switching Inputs.- 4.4.2 Equations for Fixed Inputs.- 4.4.3 Using the Equations.- 4.5 Determining the dc Output Voltage.- 4.6 Mapping Complex Blocks to Primitives.- 4.6.1 Transistor Reduction Basis.- 4.6.2 Subcircuit Reduction Algorithm.- 4.7 Parasitics.- 4.8 Sample Subcircuit Processing.- 4.8.1 Simple CMOS Inverter.- 4.8.2 CMOS NAND Gate.- 4.8.3 NMOS Inverter Driving a Pass Transistor.- 5. Simulating Strongly Connected Components.- 5.1 Waveform Relaxation vs Time-point Relaxation.- 5.2 Dynamic Windowing.- 6. Performance of Idsim2.- References.- About The Authors.