A Multidisciplinary Optimization Approach to Integrated Circuit Design

In this paper, we investigate potential applications of multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) algorithms to integrated circuit design. These algorithms use global sensitivity equations as a tool that provides for a temporary decoupling of the constituent subsystems of a complex system so that designers with expertise in different disciplines can design the subsystems. We develop two example design problems, one with hierarchically coupled subsystems and one with non-hierarchically coupled subsystems, to which we apply multidisciplinary optimization: (1) An example of joint process-circuit optimization, in which a semiconductor fabrication process is tuned concurrently with the design of a CMOS circuit, and (2) an example of circuit -thermal design, in which cell placement and cell design are done simultaneously with regard to the temperature effects on circuit performances. We discuss how this approach enables efficient and concurrent optimization of integrated circuits. 1.0 Intr..