Methods to improve digital MOS macromodel accuracy

Abstract

This paper presents accurate series-transistor reduction techniques which extend the applicability of linear and nonlinear macromodels to more complex structures through accurately modeling the channel length modulation effect, effective transconductance, input terminal position dependence, parasitic capacitances, such as gate coupling capacitances, and the body effect. Adequate solutions to address these sources of delay errors, which may total 100% or more, have not been previously provided. The significant improvement in simulation accuracy using these proposed techniques is shown. The timing macromodel used to implement these techniques is up to several hundred times faster than SPICE2 and up to several times faster than existing nonlinear macromodels. The accuracy of this macromodel over a wide range of operating conditions is demonstrated. The macromodel and reduction techniques can be used to minimize VLSI simulation time, provide fast feedback in circuit optimization, and generate accurate data for higher-level macromodels. The proposed reduction techniques apply to linear and nonlinear macromodels.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>