Successful ASIC Design the First Time Through

he very name application-specific integrated circuit, or ASIC, con­ T notes an ability to provide a dense package for a highly complex design targeted at a focused, often complex solution. The ability to create customized high-performance designs has come of age, facilitated by so­ phisticated tools that enable designers to cope with ever-increasing de­ mands for added product functionality, features, and complexity. Most designers are trained in the traditional methods of approaching complex digital electronics with standard parts but have little, if any, exposure to custom or even semicustom integrated circuit design. Most see only a broad survey of IC technology. This book is targeted at the new ASIC designer who is getting ready to tackle that first ASIC design and is concerned about the unknowns that lie ahead. Economic and perfor­ mance considerations as well as tool capability and process fabrication quality have evolved to the point where consideration of ASIC design is now commonplace in an ever-increasing number of electronic systems designs. Engineers are now given the challenge of coping not only with new technologies but with new design methodologies that are fundamen­ tally necessary and advantageous to support new competitive high-tech products. Laypeople and engineers alike have marveled at the advances made over the years in electronics' complexity, performance, density, and cost. The migration of systems to modules to boards to integrated circuits clearly underscores the radical transition that the physical incarnation of electronics has undergone.

1. Introduction to ASICs and ASIC Design.- Doesn’t Everybody Design with ASICs?.- How Many ASIC Vendors Are Needed to Build an ASIC?.- Types of ASICs.- The Benefits of Using ASICs.- When Should a Designer Consider Using an ASIC?.- ASIC Types: Advantages and Disadvantages.- When to Use a PGA, FPGA, or Standard ASIC.- ASIC Technologies and Trade-offs.- Market Statistics and Predictions about ASICs.- Summary and Conclusions.- 2. The ASIC Design Process.- ASIC Design Process Flow.- Concept and Specifications: Where it All Begins.- The Foundry/Customer Interface.- Design Implementation.- Choosing an ASIC Vendor.- ASIC Design Kits.- ASIC Vendor Guidelines, Assistance, and Support.- Design In-house, Rent, or Use the ASIC Vendor Design Center?.- Postdesign Activities: Backannotation for Simulation.- Summary and Conclusions.- 3. Design Creation for ASICs.- System on a Chip.- Start the Design at the Architectural Level, From the Top.- Behavioral-level Design.- Functional Design.- Structural Design.- Detailed Design.- Physical/Geometry.- “Standard” Electronic Design Automation and Schematic Capture.- Specific Design Considerations.- Silicon Compilers and ASIC Design.- ERC and DRC Considerations.- ASIC and EDA Vendor Design Rule Checks.- Knowing When the Design Is Ready for Verification.- Summary and Conclusions.- 4. Design Methodologies for ASICs.- Bottom-up Design.- Top-down Design.- Conceptual-to-Functional Design.- Design Synthesis.- Logic Synthesis.- Silicon Compilers.- Should the Designer Lay It Out?.- Summary and Conclusions.- 5. Logic Simulation.- What Is Simulation?.- The Imperative for ASIC Simulation.- The Components of Logic Simulation.- Initialization and Unknowns.- Simulation States.- Approximations and Limitations.- Selecting the Computer Power.- Tricks of theTrade.- Acceleration Techniques.- Developing a Successful Simulation Strategy.- Top Ten Most Common Mistakes.- Consider Test Now.- Board-Level Simulation.- Summary.- 6. Timing.- The Importance of Timing.- Basic Timing Considerations.- Timing and Logic Simulation.- Hazards.- Specialized Timing Analyzers.- Board- and System-Level Timing.- Summary.- 7. Fault Simulation.- What Is Fault Simulation?.- Uses of Fault Simulation.- Fault Simulation in the Design Process.- Fault Simulation Basics.- Inputs to the Fault Simulator.- Outputs from the Fault Simulator.- What Is a Good Fault Coverage?.- Acceleration Techniques.- Commonly Asked Questions.- Some Straight Talk about Fault Simulation.- Contractual or Government Requirements.- Limitations of Fault Simulation.- Summary.- 8. Test.- A Story—Part 1.- A Story—Part 2.- A Story—Epilogue.- The Moral of Our Story.- Test and ASIC Design.- DC Test Methodology.- Design for Testability.- Emerging Test Technologies.- Power Analysis.- Board Test.- Summary.- 9. Summary and Conclusions.- What You Have (or Should Have) Learned—A Review.- When to Use the ASIC Vendor’s Design Tools and When to Buy Your Own.- How to Choose an EDA Vendor.- Long-Term Viability of ASIC Methodology for Board-System Design.- Future of EDA Tools and Methods.- Board and System Simulation.- The Future of Mixed Analog-Digital ASICs.