Signal electromigration (SEM) is a phenomenon that causes wires and other circuit elements to deteriorate with usage as current flows through them. Current circuit models include large numbers of components arranged in ever-smaller dimensions, requiring small wires and resistors to withstand large current densities, thereby enhancing the deleterious effects of SEM. Given the possible large sizes of simulations and simulation tasks for complex circuits including billions of components in a single chip, integrated circuit models simplify the assumptions of signal flow in a circuit, thereby generally overestimating SEM effects. This results in modeling decisions such as reducing component density and the like, which ultimately reduce the cost efficiency of circuit fabrication. Furthermore, oversimplification may result in overlooking certain signal combinations that may occur during circuit operation, which may result in catastrophic circuit failure, forcing a complete redesign of a circuit. Such an outcome is highly undesirable, at least because of the large cost of retooling manufacturing protocols at the foundry level as well as the missed market window opportunity cost.
The description provided in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely because it is mentioned in or associated with the background section. The background section may include information that describes one or more aspects of the subject technology.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds