umberto garlando xxxii cycle supervisor: prof. maurizio ...polito.it...design of cad tools for...
TRANSCRIPT
• The scaling of CMOS technology is reaching its limits. New technologies are being
studied to overcome CMOS limitations.
• Among various emerging technologies, Nano Magnetic Logic (NML) is the one that may
represent, in future, a replacement of CMOS for many reasons.
• In NML technology logic `1' and `0' are encoded inside the magnetization vector of
particularly shaped magnets.
• These technologies need a completely different design approach compared to standard
CMOS. The main logic gate for both the magnetic technologies is the Majority Voter (MV)
Research context and motivation
• Perpendicular NML (pNML): the
magnetization vector is perpendicular to
the magnets.
• A global sinusoidal clock signal is
applied to the whole circuit.
• Since the clock is global, the Artificial
Nucleation Center (ANC) is used to
determine information direction
• In-plane NML (iNML): the magnetization
vector lies in the same plane of the
magnets.
• A three phases clock mechanism is
needed to guarantee information
propagation.
• Clock zones width is limited to maximum
five elements to avoid propagation
errors.
Design of CAD Tools for Emerging Technologies
Umberto Garlando
Supervisor: Prof. Maurizio Zamboni
Submitted and published works• Turvani, G., Riente, F., Cairo, F., Vacca, M., Garlando, U., Zamboni, M., and Graziano, M. (2017) Efficient and reliable fault
analysis methodology for nanomagnetic circuits. Int. J. Circ. Theor. Appl., 45: 660–680.
• G.Causapruno, U. Garlando, F. Cairo, M. Zamboni and M. Graziano, "A Reconfigurable Array Architecture for NML," 2016
IEEE Computer Society Annual Symposium on VLSI (ISVLSI), Pittsburgh, PA, 2016, pp. 99-104.
• M.Bollo, G. Santoro, U. Garlando and M. Zamboni, "NANOcom: A Mosaic Approach for nanoelectronic circuits design," 2017
12th International Conference on Design&Technology of Integrated Systems In Nanoscale Era(DTIS), Mallorca, 2017, pp. 1-6.
• A.Ferrara, U. Garlando, L. Gnoli, G. Santoro and M. Zamboni, "3D design of a pNML random access memory," 2017 13th
Conference on Ph.D. Research in Microelectronics and Electronics (PRIME), Giardini Naxos, 2017, pp. 5-8.
• F. Riente, U. Garlando, G. Turvani, M. Vacca, M. Ruo Roch, M. Graziano, MagCAD: A Tool for the Design of 3D Magnetic
Circuits
List of attended classes• 01MNFIU – Parallel and distributed computing (19/07/2017, 5 CFU)
• 01QTGIU – Advanced techniques for highly reliable electronic system design
(04/11/2016, 4 CFU)
• 01QSCIU – Reconfigurable computing (20/07/2017, 4 CFU)
• 01RZHIU – 3D Integration: Challenges and Solutions (01/06/2017, 4 CFU)
• 02RHQRV – Intellectual Property Rights, Technology Transfer and Hi-tech
Entrepreneurship (17/07/2017, 9 CFU)
Novel contributions• MagCAD: a powerful and user friendly editor for circuits based on emerging technologies.
• iNML and pNML technologies are fully supported.
• Completely developed in C++ and multiplatform.
• The design phase consists in a simple drag&drop of the basic elements inside the
drawing windows.
• Advanced features:
1. Snap-to-grid
2. Collision avoidance
3. 3D design
4. Hierarchical design
5. Component export and import
6. Layout as images export (png, svg, jpg and pdf)
• The main feature is the automatic generation of VHDL code based on the circuit layout.
• Technological specific inspection algorithms are used to generate a structural description.
• Interconnections and signals are automatically added by the tool.
• Technological parameter can be modified by the user
• Testbench template provided among the VHDL files.
• Simulations can be performed using a standard VHDL simulator like ModelSim®.
• A technological library with a behavioral description of the basic elements is provided.
Addressed research questions/problems
Adopted methodologies• Study and research of the key aspect of the technology.
• Development of the graphic elements and the GUI.
• Set-up of the technology library for VHDL simulation.
• Write the automatic generation algorithm for VHDL description.
Future work• Include support also for MolecularQCA technology.
• Develop a general algorithm for the simulation of field coupled devices. This algorithm
is a starting point for a fast simulator for magnetic and molecular technology.
• Continue improving MagCAD performance, taking advantage of user feedbacks.
PhD program in
Electrical, Electronics and
Communications Engineering
XXXII Cycle
Logic "1" Logic "0"Logic "1" Logic "0"
Information propagation direction
ANC
MV
AB
C
OUT
A 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
B 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1
C 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
OUT 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
External SimulatorOutputsMAGCAD
Circuit Design
Technology
Library
Timing
Parameters
VHDL NetlistVHDL
GenerationCircuit Design
VHDL
Generation
• No commercial tools are available in the
market for design and simulation of
circuits based on emerging technologies.
• My research activity tries to overcome this
situation, providing the possibility of fast
prototyping and simulation of digital
circuit based on magnetic technologies.
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