Abstract

In today's aggressively scaled technology nodes, billions of transistors are packaged into a single integrated circuit. Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools are needed to automatically assemble the transistors into a functioning system. One of the most important design steps in the physical synthesis is the design of the clock network. The clock network delivers a synchronizing clock signal to each sequential element. The clock signal is required to be delivered meeting timing constraints under variations and in multiple operating modes. Synthesizing such clock networks is becoming increasingly difficult with the complex power management methodologies and severe manufacturing variations. Clock network synthesis is an important problem because it has a direct impact on the functional correctness, the maximum operating frequency, and the overall power consumption of each synchronous integrated circuit. In this dissertation, we proposed synthesis methodologies for robust and reconfigurable clock networks. We have made three contributions to this topic. First, we have proposed a clock network optimization framework that can achieve better timing quality than previous frameworks. Our proposed framework improves timing quality by reducing the propagation delay on critical paths in a clock network using buffer sizing and layer assignment. Second, we have proposed a clock tree synthesis methodology that integrates the clock tree synthesis with the clock tree optimization. The methodology improves timing quality by avoiding to synthesize clock trees with topologies that are sensitive to variations. Third, we have proposed a clock network that can reconfigure the topology based on the active mode of operation. Lastly, we conclude the dissertation with future research directions.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2021

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Ewetz, Rickard

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Degree Program

Computer Engineering

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008912; DP0026191

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0026191

Language

English

Release Date

December 2021

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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