In advanced technology nodes, correctly choosing among available back-end-of-line (BEOL) stack options is important to meet stringent design quality of results requirements. However, it is nontrivial to evaluate BEOL stack… Click to show full abstract
In advanced technology nodes, correctly choosing among available back-end-of-line (BEOL) stack options is important to meet stringent design quality of results requirements. However, it is nontrivial to evaluate BEOL stack options since the routing outcomes highly depend on the input design (e.g., netlist, placement, etc.). In this paper, we propose a systematic framework to measure routing capacity of a BEOL stack as well as inherent capability of routers. Based on our experimental results, we observe consistent results across mesh-like placement and placements from various placers. Also, our proposed framework enables new insights into important questions regarding BEOL stack options. Using our framework, we further study the relation between the routing hotspot size and routing failure empirically. Lastly, we present an analytical study based on exponentiation of a Markov transition matrix about the impact of design size on routing failure.
               
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