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We report a VGA dynamic vision sensor (DVS) with a 9µm pixel, developed through a digital as well as an analog implementation. DVS systems in the literature try to increase spatial resolution up to QVGA [1–2] and data rates up to 50 million events per second (Meps) (self-acknowledged) [3], but they are still inadequate for high-performance applications such as gesture recognition, drones, automotive,...
We present a new method and its implementation that enables design-phase assessment of statistical performance metrics of semiconductor memories under random local and global process variations. Engineers use the tool to reduce design margins and to maximize parametric yield. Results on industry grade 45nm SRAM designs show that this holistic approach is significantly more accurate than the alternatives...
This paper presents an automated technique to perform SRAM wide statistical analysis in presence of process variability. The technique is implemented in a prototype tool and is demonstrated on several 45 and 32nm industry-grade SRAM vehicles. Selected case studies show how this approach successfully captures non-trivial statistical interactions between the cells and the periphery, which remain uncovered...
We present a practical, systematical method for the evaluation of the soft error rate (SER) of microelectronic devices. Existing methodologies, practices and tools are integrated in a common approach while highlighting the need for specific data or tools. The showcased method is particularly adapted for evaluating the SER of very complex microelectronic devices by engineers confronted to increasingly...
This document presents a compilation of results from tests performed by iRoC Technologies on SER induced by alpha particles on SRAM memories for technology nodes from 180 nm to 65 nm. The aim of this study is to establish the variation of sensitivity with technology node for SEU and MCU, and to analyze the possible influence of different designs and technological parameters at a given technology node.
The soft-error vulnerability of flip-flops has become an important factor in IC reliability in sub-100-nm CMOS technologies. In the present work the soft-error rate (SER) of a 65-nm flip-flop has been investigated with the use of alpha-accelerated testing. Simulations have been applied to study the flip-flop SER sensitivity in detail. Furthermore, an easy-to-use approach is presented to make an accurate...
In this paper, we present a new technique to improve the reliability of H-tree SRAM memories. This technique deals with the SRAM power-bus monitoring by using built-in current sensor (BICS) circuits that detect abnormal current dissipation in the memory power-bus. This abnormal current is the result of a single-event upset (SEU) in the memory and it is generated during the inversion of the state of...
With the event of nanoscale technologies, new physical phenomena and technological limitations are increasing the process variability and its impact on circuit yield and performances. Like combinatory cells, the sequential cells also suffer of variations, impacting their timing characteristics. Regarding the timing behaviors, setup and hold time violation probabilities are increasing. This article...
This paper studies the impact of intra-die random variability on low-power digital circuit designs, specifically, circuit timing failures due to intra-die variability. We identify a new low-Vdd statistical failure mode that is strongly supply-voltage dependent and also introduce a simple yet novel method for quantifying the effects of process variability on digital timing - a delay overlapping stage...
This paper describes a design flow for the circuit-level optimization of a technology. The concurrent exploration of device characteristics and library design choices leads to a more application-optimal technology. We illustrate the design flow by: 1) analyzing the impact of buffer cell design, and 2) by optimizing a 130 nm technology for low operational power.
The dramatic increase in leakage current, coupled with the swell in process variability in nano-scaled CMOS technologies, has become a major issue for future IC design. Moreover, due to the spread of leakage power values, leakage variability cannot be neglected anymore. In this work an accurate analytic estimation and modeling methodology has been developed for logic gates leakage under statistical...
In this paper, we point out the importance of considering sensitivity performances due to process variations and operating voltage conditions during the design process. We demonstrate that such considerations significantly decrease the read timing margin introduced by the traditional corner method. However, this implies using statistical design technique which is introduced herein. The memory considered...
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