Large-scale reconfigurable and programmable analog devices provide a new option for prototyping and synthesizing analog circuits for analog signal processing and beyond. Field-programmable analog arrays (FPAAs) built upon floating gate transistor technologies provide the analog reconfigurability and programmability density required for large-scale devices on a single integrated circuit (IC). A wide variety of synthesized circuits, such as OTA followers, band-pass filters, and capacitively coupled summation/difference circuits, were measured to demonstrate the flexibility of FPAAs. Three generations of devices were designed and tested to verify the viability of such floating gate based large-scale FPAAs. Various architectures and circuit topologies were also designed and tested to explore the trade-offs present in reconfigurable analog systems. In addition, large-scale FPAAs have been incorporated into class laboratory exercises, which provide students with a much broader range of circuit and IC design experiences than have been previously possible. By combining reconfigurable analog technologies with an equivalent large-scale digital device, such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an extremely powerful and flexible mixed signal development system can be produced that will enable all of the benefits possible through cooperative analog/digital signal processing (CADSP).

This thesis proposes a new approach to the design of reliable VLSI interconnects, based on predictive failure models embedded in a software tool for reliability analysis. A method for predicting the failure rate of complex integrated circuit interconnects subject to electromigration, is presented. This method is based on the principle of fracturing an interconnect pattern into a number of statistically independent conductor segments. Five commonly-occurring segment types are identified: straight runs, steps resulting from a discontinuity in the wafer surface, contact windows, vias and bonding pads. The relationship between median time-to-failure (Mtf) of each segment and physical dimensions, temperature and current density are determined. This model includes the effect of time-varying current density. The standard deviation of lifetime is also determined as a function of dimensions. A· minimum order statistical method is used to compute the failure rate of the interconnect system. This method, which is applicable to current densities below 106 AI cm2 , combines mask layout and simulation data from the design data base with process data to calculate failure rates. A suite of software tools called Reliant (RELIability Analyzer for iNTerconnects) which implements the algorithms described above, is presented. Reliant fractures a conductor pattern into segments and extracts electrical equivalent circuits for each segment. The equivalent circuits are used in conjunction with a modified version of the SPICE circuit simulator to determine the currents in all segments and to compute reliability. An interface to a data base query system provides the capability to access reliability data interactively. The performance of Reliant is evaluated, based on two CMOS standard cell layouts. Test structures for the calibration of the reliability models are provided. Reliant is suitable for the analysis of leaf cells containing a few hundred transistors. For MOS VLSI circuits, an alternative approach based on the use of an event-driven switch-level simulator is presented. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1988.

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In this thesis we describe a method of mapping one-dimensional and multidimensional filter algorithms onto systolic architectures using the z-domain approach. In this approach the filter algorithm is first transformed into its corresponding z-domain equivalent and recursive expressions similar to single assignment codes are derived using Horner's rule or other polynomial evaluation techniques. By obtaining different recursive expressions, different systolic structures can be derived. The characteristics of these structures can easily be deduced from the recursive expressions. The multidimensional filters derived are modular and hierarchical, i.e., the three-dimensional structures are obtained from the two-dimensional ones which are in turn obtained from one-dimensional structures. In considering the design of any array processor, it is important to consider the design of the processing elements involved. The most important and demanding operation in these elements is the multiplication. Four different multipliers are designed in which the number of operations required to produce the desired result is reduced. The reduced number of operations along with the advantages of very-large-scale integration technology in terms of increased device density and faster switching make these multipliers potential candidates in high-speed signal processing applications. The first multiplier is an area-efficient multiplier that uses approximately 50% of the area of a full parallel multiplier. In this multiplier only the units yielding the most significant part of the product are used. In addition, a correction unit is incorporated to minimize the error resulting from circumventing the use of units yielding the least significant part of the product. The second multiplier is based on the modified octal Booth algorithm in which four-bit segments of the multiplier are scanned and corresponding operations effected on the multiplicand. The third multiplier is a diminished-1 multiplier that finds application in the Fermat number-theoretic transform. In this multiplier the use of a translator is circumvented and a novel technique for translation is incorporated in the multiplier structure. The fourth multiplier is one that performs an inner-product operation without the use of an accumulator thereby resulting in increased speed and reduced area. Finally we discuss the VLSI implementations of three of the multipliers mentioned above, a second-order digital filter, and a single processing element that can be used as a basic unit in designing one-dimensional and multidimensional digital filters. Some associated problems in digital-filter structure. viz., the quantization and overflow limit-cycle oscillations; have been taken into consideration and ways have been suggested for their elimination. / Graduate

Design of systems in the low-end nanometer domain has introduced new dimensions in power consumption and dissipation in CMOS devices. With continued and aggressive scaling, using low thickness SiO2 for the transistor gates, gate leakage due to gate oxide direct tunneling current has emerged as the major component of leakage in the CMOS circuits. Therefore, providing a solution to the issue of gate oxide leakage has become one of the key concerns in achieving low power and high performance CMOS VLSI circuits. In this thesis, a new approach is proposed involving dual dielectric of dual thicknesses (DKDT) for the reducing both ON and OFF state gate leakage. It is claimed that the simultaneous utilization of SiON and SiO2 each with multiple thicknesses is a better approach for gate leakage reduction than the conventional usage of a single gate dielectric (SiO2), possibly with multiple thicknesses. An algorithm is developed for DKDT assignment that minimizes the overall leakage for a circuit without compromising with the performance. Extensive experiments were carried out on ISCAS'85 benchmarks using 45nm technology which showed that the proposed approach can reduce the leakage, as much as 98% (in an average 89.5%), without degrading the performance.

This thesis presents a secure digital camera (SDC) that inserts biometric data into images found in forms of identification such as the newly proposed electronic passport. However, putting biometric data in passports makes the data vulnerable for theft, causing privacy related issues. An effective solution to combating unauthorized access such as skimming (obtaining data from the passport's owner who did not willingly submit the data) or eavesdropping (intercepting information as it moves from the chip to the reader) could be judicious use of watermarking and encryption at the source end of the biometric process in hardware like digital camera or scanners etc. To address such issues, a novel approach and its architecture in the framework of a digital camera, conceptualized as an SDC is presented. The SDC inserts biometric data into passport image with the aid of watermarking and encryption processes. The VLSI (very large scale integration) architecture of the functional units of the SDC such as watermarking and encryption unit is presented. The result of the hardware implementation of Rijndael advanced encryption standard (AES) and a discrete cosine transform (DCT) based visible and invisible watermarking algorithm is presented. The prototype chip can carry out simultaneous encryption and watermarking, which to our knowledge is the first of its kind. The encryption unit has a throughput of 500 Mbit/s and the visible and invisible watermarking unit has a max frequency of 96.31 MHz and 256 MHz respectively.

In the world of VLSI (very large scale integration) technology, there are many different types of circuit simulators that are used to design and predict the circuit behavior before actual fabrication of the circuit. In this thesis, I compared and evaluated existing circuit simulators by considering standard benchmark circuits. The circuit simulators which I evaluated and explored are Ngspice, Tclspice, Winspice (open source) and Spectre® (commercial). I also tested standard benchmarks using these circuit simulators and compared their outputs. The simulators are evaluated using design metrics in order to quantify their performance and identify efficient circuit simulators. In addition, I designed a sigma-delta modulator and its individual components using the analog behavioral language Verilog-A. Initially, I performed simulations of individual components of the sigma-delta modulator and later of the whole system. Finally, CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) transistor-level circuits were designed for the differential amplifier, operational amplifier and comparator of the modulator.

Einstein's relativity theory tells us that the notion of simultaneity can only be approximated for events distributed over space. As a result, the use of asynchronous techniques is unavoidable in systems larger than a certain physical size. Traditional design techniques that use global clocks face this barrier of scale already within the space of a modern microprocessor chip. The most common response by the chip industry for overcoming this barrier is to use Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous (GALS) design techniques. The circuits investigated in this thesis can be viewed as examples of GALS design. To make such designs trustworthy it is necessary to model formally the relative signal delays and timing requirements that make these designs work correctly. With trustworthy asynchrony one can build reliable, large, and scalable systems, and exploit the lower power and higher speed features of asynchrony. This research presents ARCtimer, a framework for modeling, generating, verifying, and enforcing timing constraints for individual self-timed handshake components that use bounded-bundled-data handshake protocols. The constraints guarantee that the component's gate-level circuit implementation obeys the component's handshake protocol specification. Because the handshake protocols are delay insensitive, self-timed systems built using ARCtimer-verified components can be made delay insensitive. Any delay sensitivity inside a component is detected and repaired by ARCtimer. In short: by carefully considering time locally, we can ignore time globally. ARCtimer applies early in the design process as part of building a library of verified components for later system use. The library also stores static timing analysis (STA) code to validate and enforce the component's constraints in any self-timed system built using the library. The library descriptions of a handshake component's circuit, protocol, timing constraints, and STA code are robust to circuit modifications applied later in the design process by technology mapping or layout tools. New contributions of ARCtimer include: 1. Upfront modeling on a component by component basis to reduce the validation effort required to (a) reimplement components in different technologies, (b) assemble components into systems, and (c) guarantee system-level timing closure. 2. Modeling of bounded-bundled-data timing constraints that permit the control signals to lead or lag behind data signals to optimize system timing.

As the speed of operation of VLSI devices has increased, delay fault testing has become a more important factor in VLSI testing. Due to the large number of gates in a VLSI circuit, the gate level test generation methodologies may become infeasible for delay test generation. In this work, a new behavioral delay fault model that aims at simplifying the delay test generation problem for digital circuits is presented. The model is defined using VHDL. It is shown that each defined behavioral level delay fault can be mapped to a gate level equivalent fault and/or physical failure. A systematic way of representing a behavioral model in terms of a data flow graph is presented. A behavioral level input-output path is defined and a strategy to generate tests for delay faults along a behavioral path is presented. It is then shown that tests developed from the behavioral model can test a gate level equivalent circuit for path delay faults. / Master of Science