论文标题
基于紧凑的排水电流模型的子/接近阈值电压中SRAM细胞的定时产量模型
A Timing Yield Model for SRAM Cells in Sub/Near-threshold Voltages Based on A Compact Drain Current Model
论文作者
论文摘要
子/接近阈值静态随机记忆(SRAM)设计对于解决能量受限应用中的记忆瓶颈至关重要。但是,在过程变化下的高集成密度和可靠性需要准确估计极小的故障概率。为了捕获这种罕见的事件在记忆电路中,无法容忍传统的蒙特卡洛(MC)模拟的时间和存储开销。另一方面,由于假定的分布或纳米级设备的过度简化的排水管电流模型,在子/接近阈值区域中预测物理表达的失败概率的经典分析方法在不准确。这项工作首先提出了一个简单但有效的排水电流模型,以描述低压下的排水引起的屏障降低效果。基于此,得出了SRAM中兴趣指标的概率密度函数。然后提出两个分析模型,以评估SRAM动态稳定性,包括访问和写入时间失败。提出的模型可以轻松扩展到具有不同读/写辅助电路的不同类型的SRAM。这些模型对不同操作电压和温度的MC模拟进行了验证。 0.5V VDD的平均相对误差分别仅为访问时间和编写故障模型的平均相对误差。所需数据样本的大小比最先进的方法小43.6倍。
Sub/Near-threshold static random-access memory (SRAM) design is crucial for addressing the memory bottleneck in energy-constrained applications. However, the high integration density and reliability under process variations demand an accurate estimation of extremely small failure probabilities. To capture such a rare event in memory circuits, the time and storage overhead of conventional Monte Carlo (MC) simulations cannot be tolerated. On the other hand, classic analytical methods predicting failure probabilities from a physical expression become inaccurate in the sub/near-threshold region due to the assumed distribution or the oversimplified drain current model for nanoscale devices. This work first proposes a simple but efficient drain current model to describe the drain-induced barrier lowering effect at low voltages. Based on that, the probability density functions of the interest metrics in SRAM are derived. Two analytical models are then put forward to evaluate SRAM dynamic stabilities including access and write-time failures. The proposed models can be extended easily to different types of SRAM with different read/write assist circuits. The models are validated against MC simulations across different operating voltages and temperatures. The average relative errors at 0.5V VDD are only 8.8% and 10.4% for the access-time and write failure models respectively. The size of required data samples is 43.6X smaller than that of the state-of-the-art method.