Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10D—INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
  • H10D89/00—Aspects of integrated devices not covered by groups H10D84/00 - H10D88/00
  • H10D89/10—Integrated device layouts
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10D—INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
  • H10D84/00—Integrated devices formed in or on semiconductor substrates that comprise only semiconducting layers, e.g. on Si wafers or on GaAs-on-Si wafers
  • H10D84/90—Masterslice integrated circuits
  • H10D84/903—Masterslice integrated circuits comprising field effect technology
  • H10D84/907—CMOS gate arrays
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10D—INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
  • H10D84/00—Integrated devices formed in or on semiconductor substrates that comprise only semiconducting layers, e.g. on Si wafers or on GaAs-on-Si wafers
  • H10D84/90—Masterslice integrated circuits
  • H10D84/903—Masterslice integrated circuits comprising field effect technology
  • H10D84/907—CMOS gate arrays
  • H10D84/968—Macro-architecture
  • H10D84/974—Layout specifications, i.e. inner core regions
  • H10D84/981—Power supply lines
• • H10W20/427—

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates generally to a layout construction, and more particularly, to an adaptive standard cell architecture and layout techniques for low area digital system-on-chip (SoC).
• SoC system-on-chip
• a standard cell is an integrated circuit that may be implemented with digital logic.
• An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) such as an SoC device, may contain thousands to millions of standard cells. Such standard cells may occupy around 20% of an SoC. Reducing a size / area footprint of ASICs is beneficial. Accordingly, there is a need for reducing the size / area footprint of individual standard cells.
• ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
• a standard cell complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device includes a first power rail extending across the standard cell.
• the first power rail is connected to one of a first voltage or a second voltage less than the first voltage.
• the standard cell CMOS device further includes a second power rail extending across the standard cell.
• the second power rail is connected to an other one of the first voltage or the second voltage.
• the second power rail includes a metal x layer interconnect and a set of metal x- 1 layer interconnects connected to the metal x layer interconnect.
• the standard cell CMOS device further includes a set of CMOS transistor devices between the first power rail and the second power rail and powered by the first power rail and the second power rail.
• the standard cell CMOS device further includes an x-1 layer interconnect extending under the second power rail and orthogonal to the second power rail. The x-1 layer interconnect is coupled to the set of CMOS transistor devices.
• the x-1 layer interconnect may extend between two x-1 layer interconnects of the set of metal x-1 layer interconnects that are part of the second power rail.
• x is equal to two and the second power rail includes a metal two layer interconnect and a set of metal one layer interconnects.
• FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a portion of an exemplary CMOS device.
• FIG. 2 is diagram illustrating an exemplary 7-track cell architecture.
• FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a jog spacing of a gate interconnect with respect to an active region.
• FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating standard cell footprint comparisons.
• FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method of operating a standard cell CMOS device.
• FIG. 1 is a diagram 100 illustrating a portion of an exemplary CMOS device.
• the CMOS device includes a first power rail/bus 102 extending across the standard cell (only a portion of the standard cell is illustrated in the diagram 100).
• the first power rail 102 is connected to one of a first voltage or a second voltage less than the first voltage.
• the first voltage may be Vaa and the second voltage may be V ss (which may be ground (GND)).
• the CMOS device further includes a second power rail/bus 104 extending across the standard cell.
• the second power rail 104 is connected to an other one of the first voltage or the second voltage.
• the first power rail 102 may be connected to V ss and the second power rail may be connected to Vaa- Alternatively, the first power rail 102 may be connected to Vaa and the second power rail may be connected to V ss .
• the second power rail 104 includes a metal x layer interconnect 106 and a set of metal x-1 layer interconnects 108, 110 connected to the metal x layer interconnect.
• the metal x layer interconnect 106 may be a metal two (M2) layer interconnect and the set of metal x-1 layer interconnects 108, 1 10 may be a set of metal one (Ml) layer interconnects.
• the CMOS device further includes a set of CMOS transistor devices between the first and second power rails 102, 104 and powered by the first and second power rails 102, 104.
• the CMOS device further includes an x-1 layer interconnect 1 12 extending under the second power rail 104 and orthogonal to the second power rail 104.
• the x-1 layer interconnect 112 is coupled to the set of CMOS transistor devices, which are between the first and second power rails 102, 104.
• the second power rail 104 extends in a first direction (e.g., horizontal direction), and the x-1 layer interconnect 1 12 extends in a second direction (e.g., vertical direction) orthogonal to the first direction.
• the first power rail 102 includes an M2 layer interconnect
• the second power rail 104 includes an M2 layer interconnect 106 shunted with a plurality of Ml layer interconnects 108, 1 10.
• the Ml layer interconnects 108, 110 of the second power rail 104 are separated to allow the Ml layer interconnect 1 12 to extend under the second power rail 104 without contacting the Ml layer interconnects 108, 1 10.
• the set of CMOS devices between the first and second power rails 102, 104 may be connected to a second set CMOS devices between the second power rail 104 and a third power rail/bus 118 through the Ml layer interconnect 1 12.
• fewer higher metal layer interconnects e.g., metal three (M3) layer interconnects
• M3 layer interconnects metal three layer interconnects
• fewer higher metal layer interconnects are used for inter- cell connections (local routing)
• more tracks are available for intra-cell connections. Having more tracks available for intra-cell connections makes intra-cell routing easier and may decrease a cost of manufacturing the SoC if less masks / fewer layers are needed to manufacture the SoC.
• the x-1 layer interconnect 1 12 extends between two x-1 layer interconnects 108 and HO of the set of metal x- 1 layer interconnects 108, HO that are part of the second power rail 104.
• the second power rail 104 includes an M2 layer interconnect 106 and a set of Ml layer interconnects 108, 1 10.
• the first power rail 102 may include only the Ml layer interconnect 1 16, only the M2 layer interconnect 1 14, or both the Ml and M2 layer interconnects 1 14, 116.
• the first and second power rails 102, 104 may extend parallel to each other.
• the set of metal x-1 layer interconnects 108, 110 may extend under the metal x layer interconnect 106 and parallel to the metal x layer interconnect 106.
• the CMOS device may further include the third power rail 118 extending across the standard cell.
• the third power rail 1 18 is connected to one of the first voltage or the second voltage.
• the first and third power rails 102, 118 may be connected to V ss and the second power rail 104 may be connected to Vaa-
• the first and third power rails 102, 1 18 may be connected to Vaa and the second power rail 104 may be connected to V ss .
• the third power rail 1 18 may include a metal x layer interconnect 120 and/or a metal x-1 layer interconnect 122.
• the third power rail 1 18 may include multiple separate metal x-1 layer interconnects 122 if the third power rail 1 18 is within a standard cell (as shown) and not on an edge of a standard cell. As illustrated, the third power rail 1 18 includes the metal x layer interconnect 120 and multiple separate metal x-1 layer interconnects 122.
• the CMOS device may further include a second set of CMOS transistor devices between the second and third power rails 104, 1 18 that are powered by the second and third power rails 104, 1 18.
• the x-1 layer interconnect 1 12 may also be coupled to the second set of CMOS transistor devices between the second and third power rails 1 18.
• the CMOS device may include additional metal x-1 layer interconnects 124, 126 that extend under the third power rail 118 in the second direction, orthogonal to the first direction and to the third power rail 1 18.
• the metal x-1 layer interconnects 124, 126 may be coupled to the second set of CMOS transistor devices between the second and third power rails 104, 118, and to a third set of CMOS transistors devices between the third power rail 1 18 and a fourth power rail.
• FIG. 2 is diagram 200 illustrating an exemplary 7-track cell architecture.
• Individual cells may have a cell height that allows for seven Ml layer tracks (rather than eight or more tracks) that extend in the first direction orthogonal to gate interconnects 240 that extend in the second direction.
• the Ml layer tracks may have a pitch of x nm (e.g., 100 nm), providing a cell height of 7x nm (e.g., 700 nm).
• the 7-track standard cell architecture may apply to a 28 nm manufacturing process technology or other manufacturing process technologies (e.g., 40 nm manufacturing process technology).
• a standard cell may include multiple such cells. Accordingly, with a 7-track cell architecture, a standard cell may include l*n Ml layer tracks, where n is the number of vertically aligned cells. As discussed in relation to FIG.
• a power rail 202 may include an M2 layer interconnect 214 shunted with an Ml layer interconnect 216.
• Ml and M2 layer interconnects 214, 216 may extend unseparated across the cell (as shown in FIG. 2).
• the Ml layer interconnect 216 may be separated to allow for local routing with Ml layer interconnects that extend in the second direction under the M2 layer interconnect 214 and between the separated Ml layer interconnect 216 (as shown in FIG. 1 in relation to the second and third power rails 104, 118).
• a width w p of the p-type active region 250 may be approximately equal to a width w n of the n-type active region 260.
• the n-type well 270 may be centered within the cell.
• the set of CMOS transistor devices discussed supra in relation to FIG. 1 may include a set of p- type metal oxide semiconductor (pMOS) transistor devices within the p-type active region 250 and a set of n-type metal oxide semiconductor (nMOS) transistor devices within the n-type active region 260.
• pMOS p- type metal oxide semiconductor
• nMOS n-type metal oxide semiconductor
• a width w p of the pMOS transistor devices may be approximately equal to a width w n of the nMOS transistor devices, providing a pMOS/nMOS (PN) ratio of one.
• the pMOS transistor devices are on the n-type well 270. One edge of the n-type well is approximately in a middle of the cell between the power rail 202 and the power rail 204.
• FIG. 3 is a diagram 300 illustrating a jog spacing of a gate interconnect 240 with respect to an active region 255.
• a width w e.g. 200 nm
• a requisite jog spacing between the gate interconnect 240 and the active region 255 may be greater than a requisite jog spacing between the gate interconnect 240 and the active region 255 when the width w n or the width w p is greater than or equal to the width w.
• the widths w p and w n may be adjusted to allow for a smaller requisite jog spacing (e.g., 35 nm rather than 70 nm) between the gate interconnect 240 and the active region 255, even though such an adjustment may result in a mismatch in the drive strength of the pMOS and nMOS transistors (pMOS and nMOS transistors are approximately matched in drive strength when the PN ratio is approximately 1.45).
• FIG. 4 is a diagram 400 illustrating standard cell footprint comparisons.
• a standard cell 402 may have the footprint 402'.
• the standard cell 402 may include four individual cells (see FIG. 2), which are located horizontally so that inter- cell local routing may use M2 layer interconnects rather than M3 or higher layer interconnects.
• a standard cell 404 may have the footprint 404' without increasing or substantially increasing use of M3 or higher layer interconnects.
• the standard cell 404 may include four individual cells (see FIG.
• the footprint 404' provides better pin access (i.e., the pins may be spaced farther apart) and a smaller area (assuming that the footprint 402' has eight or more Ml layer tracks).
• FIG. 5 is a flow chart 500 of a method of operating a standard cell CMOS device.
• step 502 power is provided to a set of CMOS transistor devices through a first power rail and a second power rail.
• the first power rail extends across the standard cell.
• the first power rail is connected to one of a first voltage or a second voltage less than the first voltage.
• the second power rail extends across the standard cell.
• the second power rail is connected to an other one of the first voltage or the second voltage.
• the second power rail includes a metal x layer interconnect and a set of metal x-1 layer interconnects connected to the metal x layer interconnect.
• the set of CMOS transistor devices is between the first power rail and the second power rail.
• step 504 a current is flowed through an x-1 layer interconnect extending under the second power rail and orthogonal to the second power rail.
• the x-1 layer interconnect is coupled to the set of CMOS transistor devices.
• the x- 1 layer interconnect extends between two x- 1 layer interconnects of the set of metal x-1 layer interconnects that are part of the second power rail.
• x is equal to two and the second power rail includes an M2 layer interconnect and a set of Ml layer interconnects.
• the first power rail includes at least one of an Ml layer interconnect or an M2 layer interconnect.
• the first power rail and the second power rail extend parallel to each other.
• the set of metal x- 1 layer interconnects extends under the metal x layer interconnect and parallel to the metal x layer interconnect.
• step 506 power may be provided to a second set of CMOS transistor devices through the second power rail and a third power rail.
• the third power rail extends across the standard cell.
• the third power rail is connected to the one of the first voltage or the second voltage.
• the third power rail includes at least one of a metal x layer interconnect or a metal x-1 layer interconnect.
• the second set of CMOS transistor devices is between the second power rail and the third power rail and powered by the second power rail and the third power rail.
• the x-1 layer interconnect is also coupled to the second set of CMOS transistor devices.
• the set of CMOS transistor devices includes a set of pMOS transistor devices and a set of nMOS transistor devices, and a width of the pMOS transistor devices is approximately equal to a width of the nMOS transistor devices.
• the pMOS transistor devices are on an n-type well, and one edge of the n-type well is approximately in a middle between the first power rail and the second power rail.
• a standard cell CMOS device apparatus includes means for providing power to a set of CMOS transistor devices through a first power rail and a second power rail.
• the means for providing power to the set of CMOS transistor devices may be the first and second power rails.
• the first power rail extends across the standard cell.
• the first power rail is connected to one of a first voltage or a second voltage less than the first voltage.
• the second power rail extends across the standard cell.
• the second power rail is connected to an other one of the first voltage or the second voltage.
• the second power rail includes a metal x layer interconnect and a set of metal x-1 layer interconnects connected to the metal x layer interconnect.
• the set of CMOS transistor devices is between the first power rail and the second power rail.
• the apparatus further includes means for flowing a current through an x- 1 layer interconnect extending under the second power rail and orthogonal to the second power rail.
• the means for flowing the current is the x- 1 layer interconnect.
• the x- 1 layer interconnect is coupled to the set of CMOS transistor devices.
• the apparatus may further include means for providing power to a second set of CMOS transistor devices through the second power rail and a third power rail.
• the means for providing power to the second set of CMOS transistor devices may be the second and third power rails.
• the third power rail extends across the standard cell.
• the third power rail is connected to the one of the first voltage or the second voltage.
• the third power rail includes at least one of a metal x layer interconnect or a metal x-1 layer interconnect.
• the second set of CMOS transistor devices is between the second power rail and the third power rail and powered by the second power rail and the third power rail.
• the x-1 layer interconnect is also coupled to the second set of CM
• the power rail or a portion of the power rail may be separated to allow for local routing on one or more layers of the power rail.
• the power rail includes a metal x layer interconnect and a metal x-1 layer interconnect connected to the metal x layer interconnect
• the metal x-1 layer interconnect may be separated/disconnected to allow for local inter-cell routing with metal x-1 layer interconnects.
• the metal x-1 layer interconnects for local inter-cell routing extend orthogonal to the metal x layer interconnect of the power rail.
• metal x-1 layer interconnects for local routing rather than metal x+m layer interconnects, where m is greater than or equal to one, frees up use of the metal x+m layer interconnects and allows for more metal x+m layer interconnects to be used for intra-cell routing.
• a footprint of the standard cell may be closer to square shaped than otherwise, without increasing or substantially increasing use of x+m layer interconnects. Having a square shaped or close to square shaped footprint of a standard cell provides for better pin access for the standard cell. The height of a standard cell may also be reduced to provide an area savings.
• the exemplary CMOS device enables efficient multi-height cells with reduced dependence/use of x+m layer interconnects (m > 1) (e.g., M3) because the power rail on the metal x and metal x-1 layers allows for local inter-cell routing with x-1 layer interconnects under/between the power rail.
• m > 1 e.g., M3
• the exemplary CMOS device uses more metal x layer interconnects than otherwise, as the power rails include metal x layer interconnects.
• the widths of the p-type active regions and n-type active regions may be adjusted to be approximately equal. Reducing the PN ratio to one reduces the performance due to the drive reduction, but such performance degradation may be compensated by providing additional drive cells or boosting the voltage.
• n-type well may be centered to facilitate quick development of complementary logic (e.g., AND to OR, negated AND (NAND) to negated OR (NOR), AND-OR-invert (AOI) to OR-AND-invert (OAI), AND-OR (AO) to OR-AND (OA), etc.).
• complementary logic e.g., AND to OR, negated AND (NAND) to negated OR (NOR), AND-OR-invert (AOI) to OR-AND-invert (OAI), AND-OR (AO) to OR-AND (OA), etc.
• Combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or any combination thereof include any combination of A, B, and/or C, and may include multiples of A, multiples of B, or multiples of C.
• combinations such as “at least one of A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or any combination thereof may be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, where any such combinations may contain one or more member or members of A, B, or C.

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• 2014
  • 2014-05-01 US US14/267,888 patent/US9070552B1/en active Active
• 2015
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