Technology Challenges for SOC Design

Advances in silicon technology have fueled much of the growth in SoC performance and density. Yet these technology advances have not come easily: each new technology generation brings with it a new set of technology related design considerations and challenges. This chapter outlines the major technology issues facing current and future SoC designers. These challenges are divided into issues that influence design, those that influence manufacture and those that relate to affordability. The design issue section outlines problems relating to performance scaling, power management, signal integrity, parametric variability and reliability. The manufacturability section describes issues relating to manufacturing yield and lithography challenges. Finally, the affordability section covers issues relating to rising engineering costs and technology trends. Each topic begins with a summary of the principal issues and trends, followed by a discussion of the associated SoC impact and mitigation strategies.