How do you optimize the layout of storage cells to minimize parasitic effects and noise?

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Storage cells are essential components of integrated circuit design, as they store and manipulate data for various applications. However, they also face challenges such as parasitic effects and noise, which can degrade their performance and reliability. In this article, you will learn how to optimize the layout of storage cells to minimize these issues and improve your design quality.

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Anuj Gupta

Layout Manager @Apple || SRAM Architect | PPA Specialist || Ex-GF | Ex-ARM | Ex-IBM | Ex-ST || eNVM | 5nm | 3nm | 2nm

1 Parasitic effects and noise sources

Parasitic effects are unwanted phenomena that arise from the physical properties of the materials and structures used in storage cells. They include capacitance, resistance, inductance, and coupling, which can affect the signal integrity, speed, power consumption, and cross-talk of the cells. Noise sources are external or internal factors that introduce random fluctuations or disturbances in the voltage or current of the cells. They include thermal noise, shot noise, flicker noise, and interference from other devices or signals.

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Anuj Gupta

Layout Manager @Apple || SRAM Architect | PPA Specialist || Ex-GF | Ex-ARM | Ex-IBM | Ex-ST || eNVM | 5nm | 3nm | 2nm
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Layout Designer needs to gather the information about the critical nets and the constraints the circuit person is expecting for implementation. Start with floorplanning the logic and assigning the routing resources for critical nets to keep the parasitics under check. Width, Spacing, Shielding. Raise flag if you notice something unusual.

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Nandan Ramaiah

Master's Degree Student in Electrical and Electronics
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To minimize Parasitic Capacitance, reduce overlap areas, and use lower dielectric constants and shorter interconnects. Minimize the loop area, shielding, and ground planes to reduce parasitic induction. optimized routing to minimize resistance, use wide traces for power lines, efficient via placement, and shorter signal paths

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2 Layout optimization techniques

To reduce the impact of parasitic effects and noise sources, you can apply various layout optimization techniques to your storage cells. Scaling down the dimensions of the cells is one way to reduce parasitic capacitance and resistance, as well as increase speed and density. Shielding layers or guard rings can be used to isolate cells from external noise sources or adjacent cells, preventing unwanted coupling or leakage. Additionally, arranging the cells in regular and symmetrical patterns can minimize variations in parasitic effects and noise across the cells, while balancing the load and drive of the cells will ensure they have enough driving capability and output swing to overcome parasitic effects and noise, maintaining signal quality and stability.

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3 Layout optimization tools

To assist you with the layout optimization of your storage cells, you can use a variety of tools to analyze, simulate, and verify your design. Parasitic extraction tools can extract the parasitic effects from your layout and generate a netlist or model to represent them. Noise analysis tools can estimate the noise sources and their impact on your layout, as well as provide noise margins or figures of merit. Layout verification tools can check for errors, violations, or inconsistencies with design rules or specifications. Lastly, layout optimization tools can automatically or interactively optimize your layout based on area, performance, power, or noise objectives and constraints.

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4 Layout optimization examples

To demonstrate how layout optimization can improve storage cells, here are some examples of various types of storage cells and how they can be enhanced. Static random-access memory (SRAM) cells can be optimized by reducing the size of the pull-up transistors and increasing the size of the pull-down transistors to reduce power consumption and increase noise immunity. Metal-to-metal contacts and dummy cells can also be used to reduce contact resistance and parasitic capacitance, as well as improve matching and symmetry. Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) cells can be optimized with trench or stacked capacitors to increase capacitance and reduce leakage, as well as sense amplifiers to amplify the signal and reduce noise. Folded or open bit lines, dummy word lines, and charge sharing and noise coupling balancing can also be used for optimization. Flash memory cells can benefit from tunnel oxide or Fowler-Nordheim tunneling to lower programming voltage and power consumption, as well as multi-level cells or 3D NAND structures to boost density and capacity. Error correction codes or wear leveling algorithms, along with isolation layers or decoupling capacitors, can further optimize flash memory cells by reducing noise and errors, as well as interference and coupling.

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Anuj Gupta

Layout Manager @Apple || SRAM Architect | PPA Specialist || Ex-GF | Ex-ARM | Ex-IBM | Ex-ST || eNVM | 5nm | 3nm | 2nm
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Layout optimization take place at different levels, staring from device level transistor S/D sharing to chip level IP placement & routing. Avoiding over-design (Drivers larger than needed) and removing/reducing redundancy (example TAP usage) can help in overall design optimizations.

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5 Layout optimization benefits

Optimizing the layout of your storage cells can provide various advantages for integrated circuit design, including improved performance and functionality, lower power consumption and dissipation, enhanced quality and robustness, and increased density and integration. Through optimization, you can increase the speed, reliability, and accuracy of your storage cells, while also reducing their voltage, current, and leakage. Additionally, optimization can reduce their susceptibility to noise, errors, and variations while decreasing their area, pitch, and complexity.

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Anuj Gupta

Layout Manager @Apple || SRAM Architect | PPA Specialist || Ex-GF | Ex-ARM | Ex-IBM | Ex-ST || eNVM | 5nm | 3nm | 2nm
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Overall Chip design is a business and companies needs to make profit. Layout optimization can lead to better performance, reduce power consumption, smaller area, less cost to design and/or even reduced time to Market. Hence playing a key role in the Business Economics.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Anuj Gupta

Layout Manager @Apple || SRAM Architect | PPA Specialist || Ex-GF | Ex-ARM | Ex-IBM | Ex-ST || eNVM | 5nm | 3nm | 2nm
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A Major hurdle in layout/design optimization is : - Doing something in a specific way just because it has always been done that way. You can unleash the hidden potential of the design by carefully challenging the existing methodologies to improve and make them aligned to the dynamic world of technology.

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How do you optimize the layout of storage cells to minimize parasitic effects and noise?

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1 Parasitic effects and noise sources

2 Layout optimization techniques

3 Layout optimization tools

4 Layout optimization examples

5 Layout optimization benefits

6 Here’s what else to consider

Integrated Circuit Design

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