Digital components
Technology-aware design
Aspire - When today's state-of-the-art nano-transistors are produced, they show a variation in parameters. Not all transistors behave alike, a phenomenon we call variability. And during their lifetime, the parameters degrade, slowly influencing the functioning of the transistors. We’re now looking at a gradual degradation, instead of sudden, predictable failures. Reliability has become a time-dependent variability of transistors. So transistors vary already at the start, and their characteristics degrade over time. What we do is study how this variability and degradation influence the reliability of an IC, and how we can neutralize that influence.
Invent - The technology-aware design (TAD) program looks for solutions for these scaling-induced problems, in two tracks:
- Analysis focus: centered around "Variability & Reliability Aware Modeling (VAM)
- Solution focus: specific focus on run-time countermeasures using fine-grained, standardized Knobs, Monitors, and Control algorithms (SKM)
Achieve - In 2009, imec transferred a Design-for-Manufacturing tool for embedded SRAMs to Samsung Electronics. Read the press release.