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La probabilité des fautes transitoires augmente avec l'évolution des technologies. Ceci a suscité un intérêt croissant pour les méthodes prédictives d'analyse des comportements erronés d'un circuit. Ce travail porte sur l'étude de deux aspects complémentaires : l'injection de fautes dans des circuits décrits au niveau RTL et l'analyse des résultats obtenus à l'issue de campagnes d'injection.<br />Nous présentons une nouvelle approche pour la génération de mutants, permettant l'instrumentation d'un circuit pour des modèles de fautes hétérogènes. Pendant la définition d'une campagne d'injection de fautes, le flot d'analyse que nous avons proposé permet au concepteur d'introduire, dans le même circuit, des inversions de bits uniques (SEU) ou multiples (MBF), ou encore des transitions erronées. En outre, nous avons visé une génération de mutant la plus efficace selon plusieurs contraintes qui incluent (1) la modification simple et automatique de la description initiale du circuit, (2) l'optimisation des entrées additionnelles pour le contrôle d'injection et (3) la réduction du surcoût matériel après synthèse pour une bonne compatibilité avec des campagnes d'injection de fautes basées sur l'émulation.<br />Dans le flot d'analyse, un modèle comportemental est généré permettant au concepteur d'identifier les chemins de propagation d'erreurs dans le circuit. Une telle analyse vise à identifier, très tôt dans le flot de conception, les modes de défaillance inacceptables d'un circuit afin de modifier immédiatement sa description et ainsi améliorer sa robustesse.<br />Nous présentons des résultats obtenus suite à des injections multi niveaux dans des descriptions VHDL de circuits numériques. Ces résultats démontrent qu'une campagne d'injection réalisée très tôt dans le processus de conception, sur une description encore très éloignée de l'implémentation finale, peut donner des informations très utiles sur les caractéristiques de sûreté d'un circuit.

<p>In the last three decades we have witnessed a remarkable development in the area of integrated circuits. From small logic devices containing some hundred transistors to modern processors containing several tens of million transistors. However, power consumption has become a real problem and may very well be the limiting factor of future development. Designing for low power is therefore increasingly important. To accomplice an efficient low power design, accurate power estimation at early design stage is essential. The aim of this thesis was to set up a power estimation flow to estimate the power consumption at early design stage. The developed flow spans over both RTL- and gate-level incorporating Mentor Graphics Modelsim (RTL-level simulator), Cadence PKS (gate- level synthesizer) and own developed power estimation tools. The power consumption is calculated based on gate-level physical information and RTL- level toggle information. To achieve high estimation accuracy, real node annotations is used together with an own developed on-chip wire model to estimate node voltage swing. </p><p>Since the power estimation may be very time consuming, the flow also includes support for low power design iteration. This gives efficient power estimation speedup when concentrating on smaller sub- parts of the design.</p>

<p>This report is the outcome of a thesis work done at Linköpings University, campus Norrköping. The thesis work was part of the development of a RF transceiver chip for implantable medical applications. The development was done in cooperation with Zarlink Semiconductor AB, located in Järfälla, Stockholm.</p><p>The transceiver is divided into three main blocks, which are the wakeup block, the MAC block and the RF block. The wakeup block is always operating and is awaiting a wakeup request in the 2,45GHz ISM-band. The RF-block is operating in the 400MHz ISM-band and is powered up after wakeup The MAC is the controller of the whole chip. All three blocks in the transceiver structure should be integrated on the same chip, using TSMC 0,18µm process design kit for CMOS (Mixed Signal /RF).</p><p>The purpose of the thesis work was to develop the wakeup circuit for the transceiver. The main purpose was to develop the digital control logic in the circuitry, using RTL-coding (mainly VHDL) but the thesis work also included a system analysis of the whole wakeup block, including the front-end, for getting a better overview and understanding of the project.</p><p>A complete data packet or protocol for the wakeup message on 2,45GHz, is defined in the report and is one of the results of the project. The packet was developed continuously during progress in the project. Once the data packet was defined the incoming RF stage could be investigated. The final proposal to a complete system design for the wakeup block in the RF transceiver is also one of the outcomes of the project. The front-end consists mainly of a LNA, a simple detector and a special decoder. Since the total power consumption on the wakeup block was set to 200nA, this had to be taken under consideration continuously. There was an intention not to have an internal clock signal or oscillator available in the digital part (for keeping the power consumption down). The solution to this was a self-clocking method used on the incoming RF signal. A special decoder distinguishes the incoming RF signal concerning the burst lengths in time. The decoder consists of a RC net that is uploaded and then has an output of 1, if the burst length is long enough and vice versa.</p><p>When it was decided to use a LNA in the front-end, it was found that it could not be active continuously, because of the requirements on low power consumption. The solution to this was to use a strobe signal for the complete front-end, which activates it. This strobe signal was extracted in the digital logic. The strobe signal has a specific duty cycle, depending on the time factors in the detector and in the decoder in the front-end. The total strobing time is in the implemented solution 250µs every 0,5s.</p><p>The digital implementation of the control logic in the wakeupblock was made in VHDL (source code) and Verilog (testbenches). The source code was synthesized against the component library for the process 0,18µm from TSMC, which is a mixed/signal and RF process. The netlist from the synthesizing was stored as a Verilog file and simulated together with the testbenches using the simulator Verilog-XL. The results from the simulations were examined and reviewed in the program Simvison from Cadence. The result was then verified during a pre-layout review together with colleagues at Zarlink Semiconductor AB. During the implementation phase a Design report was written continuously and then used for the pre-layout review. Extracts (source code and testbench) from this document can be found as appendixes to the report.</p>

This report is the outcome of a thesis work done at Linköpings University, campus Norrköping. The thesis work was part of the development of a RF transceiver chip for implantable medical applications. The development was done in cooperation with Zarlink Semiconductor AB, located in Järfälla, Stockholm. The transceiver is divided into three main blocks, which are the wakeup block, the MAC block and the RF block. The wakeup block is always operating and is awaiting a wakeup request in the 2,45GHz ISM-band. The RF-block is operating in the 400MHz ISM-band and is powered up after wakeup The MAC is the controller of the whole chip. All three blocks in the transceiver structure should be integrated on the same chip, using TSMC 0,18µm process design kit for CMOS (Mixed Signal /RF). The purpose of the thesis work was to develop the wakeup circuit for the transceiver. The main purpose was to develop the digital control logic in the circuitry, using RTL-coding (mainly VHDL) but the thesis work also included a system analysis of the whole wakeup block, including the front-end, for getting a better overview and understanding of the project. A complete data packet or protocol for the wakeup message on 2,45GHz, is defined in the report and is one of the results of the project. The packet was developed continuously during progress in the project. Once the data packet was defined the incoming RF stage could be investigated. The final proposal to a complete system design for the wakeup block in the RF transceiver is also one of the outcomes of the project. The front-end consists mainly of a LNA, a simple detector and a special decoder. Since the total power consumption on the wakeup block was set to 200nA, this had to be taken under consideration continuously. There was an intention not to have an internal clock signal or oscillator available in the digital part (for keeping the power consumption down). The solution to this was a self-clocking method used on the incoming RF signal. A special decoder distinguishes the incoming RF signal concerning the burst lengths in time. The decoder consists of a RC net that is uploaded and then has an output of 1, if the burst length is long enough and vice versa. When it was decided to use a LNA in the front-end, it was found that it could not be active continuously, because of the requirements on low power consumption. The solution to this was to use a strobe signal for the complete front-end, which activates it. This strobe signal was extracted in the digital logic. The strobe signal has a specific duty cycle, depending on the time factors in the detector and in the decoder in the front-end. The total strobing time is in the implemented solution 250µs every 0,5s. The digital implementation of the control logic in the wakeupblock was made in VHDL (source code) and Verilog (testbenches). The source code was synthesized against the component library for the process 0,18µm from TSMC, which is a mixed/signal and RF process. The netlist from the synthesizing was stored as a Verilog file and simulated together with the testbenches using the simulator Verilog-XL. The results from the simulations were examined and reviewed in the program Simvison from Cadence. The result was then verified during a pre-layout review together with colleagues at Zarlink Semiconductor AB. During the implementation phase a Design report was written continuously and then used for the pre-layout review. Extracts (source code and testbench) from this document can be found as appendixes to the report.

Ce travail de thèse introduit un nouveau concept dans la vérification des circuits au niveau RTL : l'interopérabilité entre simulateurs HDL, émulateurs matériel et plateformes de prototypage. Cela permet de bénéficier, à la fois de l'excellente vitesse d'exécution des plateformes de prototypage et des capacités de déboguage, d'observabilité et contrôlabilité offertes par les émulateurs matériel et simulateurs HDL. L'idée principale de l'interopérabilité consiste en la réalisation des tests sur une plateforme de prototypage rapide tout en réalisant périodiquement des sauvegardes de l'état du circuit. Lorsqu'une erreur apparait, le déboguage est réalisé, soit un émulateur rapide, soit un simulateur HDL économique : le test est alors rejoué à partir de la dernière sauvegarde d'état réalisée avant l'instant d'apparition du problème. Enfin, cette thèse présente un flot de prototypage, validé sur un circuit industriel STM HLS25, permettant d'intégrer l'interopérabilité comme une fonctionnalité du circuit

In the last three decades we have witnessed a remarkable development in the area of integrated circuits. From small logic devices containing some hundred transistors to modern processors containing several tens of million transistors. However, power consumption has become a real problem and may very well be the limiting factor of future development. Designing for low power is therefore increasingly important. To accomplice an efficient low power design, accurate power estimation at early design stage is essential. The aim of this thesis was to set up a power estimation flow to estimate the power consumption at early design stage. The developed flow spans over both RTL- and gate-level incorporating Mentor Graphics Modelsim (RTL-level simulator), Cadence PKS (gate- level synthesizer) and own developed power estimation tools. The power consumption is calculated based on gate-level physical information and RTL- level toggle information. To achieve high estimation accuracy, real node annotations is used together with an own developed on-chip wire model to estimate node voltage swing. Since the power estimation may be very time consuming, the flow also includes support for low power design iteration. This gives efficient power estimation speedup when concentrating on smaller sub- parts of the design.

This thesis focuses on problem-solution analysis of synchronous digital circuits; the results of which are autosynchronous circuit design methodology, timing parameter definitions based on simulation models and constraint settings. The RTL transformation of the synchronous state machine in VHDL language to an autosynchronous state machine was created with minimal modifications for the simple design of these circuits. Following this, a comparison of the transformed state machines with their synchronous originals in parameters such as chip area, current consumption and timing specification domain is introduced. The summation of this thesis displays a theoretical comparison of several types of synchronization (synchronous, autosynchronous, fundamental asynchronous, EAIC, Bundled-data, Dual-rail) which are presented on the single state machine example with the same technology parameters.

As systems complexity grows, so grows the risk of errors, that's why it's necessary to effectively and reliably repair those errors. With most of real-time systems this statement pays twice, because a single error can cause complete system crash which may result in catastrophe. Formal verification, contrary to other methods, allows reliable system requirements verification.

Ce travail de thèse s'attache à la réduction du phénomène d'interférence électromagnétique dans les circuits intégrés numériques.<br />Les méthodes développées s'adressent aux descriptions haut-niveau des circuits afin de réduire les modifications rétroactives dans le flot de conception et de circonscrire ainsi le temps et les coûts dédiés à l'élaboration du circuit. <br />Une première méthode appelée "Asynchronisation" propose de s'affranchir de la principale source d'émission dans les circuits numériques : l'horloge. Ce signal de contrôle est remplacé par des communications locales d'une manière permettant de conserver la compatibilité cycle à cycle du circuit. <br />Les communications locales sont ensuite exploitées par la seconde méthode "mise en forme du courant" ("Current Shaping") afin de réduire davantage l'émission électromagnétique du circuit. La concurrence des traitements dans le circuit est minimisée par ordonnancement. Les pics de courant résultant de la simultanéité des actions dans le circuit sont ainsi minimisés.<br />De plus, une étude a été menée sur les protocoles 4 phases en vue de déterminer comment réduire davantage leur émission électromagnétique.