Semiconductor circuit deterioration simulation method and computer program medium
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorsDaisuke Hagishima, Kazuya Matsuzawa, Yuichiro Mitani, Shigeto Fukatsu, Kouichirou Inoue
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A semiconductor circuit deterioration simulation method for a circuit including MOSFETs includes inserting a dynamic voltage source associated with a fluctuation in voltage/current characteristics into each gate terminal of a plurality of MOSFETs in series, calculating dynamic deterioration amounts of the plurality of MOSFETs by performing circuit simulation and calculating a dynamic deterioration amount, and repeating the above processing to perform the circuit deterioration simulation over the long term.
Claims18
A semiconductor circuit deterioration simulation method for a circuit using a computer including a pre-processor, a main processor, and a post processor, comprising:
- creating by the pre-processor, a second input file pre-processed to enable inserting a dynamic voltage source associated with a fluctuation in voltage/current characteristics into each gate terminal of the plurality of MOSFETs in series, based on a first input file having the circuit including a plurality of MOSFETs specified therein, and a first deterioration calculation condition file including a dynamic deterioration model associated with elapse of a time, to send the second input file and the first deterioration calculation condition file to the main processor;
- performing first circuit simulation with respect to the second input file by the main processor and calculating a dynamic deterioration amount after elapse of a short time dt from a time ti (i=an integer greater than or equal to 0) of the plurality of MOSFETs based on the dynamic deterioration model by using the first deterioration calculation condition file to create a third input file, to send the third input file to the post processor;
- performing, by the post processor, an estimation calculation of a dynamic fluctuation amount at a time ti+1 (where ti+1−ti>dt) by extrapolation based on the third input file to create a second deterioration calculation condition file, to feed back the second deterioration calculation condition file to the main processor;
- calculating, by the main processor, dynamic deterioration amounts of the plurality of MOSFETs at ti+1 to ti+1+dt with contents in the second deterioration calculation condition file based on the dynamic deterioration model, and then carrying out second circuit simulation having the dynamic deterioration amount reflected therein, to send the post processor;
- repeating processing from the estimation calculation based on the extrapolation to the second circuit simulation by the post processor until ti reaches a simulation target time tfinal;
- and
- outputting from the post processor an output file in which the second circuit simulation is reflected when ti reaches tfinal.
A computer program medium having a program executed by a computer recorded therein, the program including a circuit deterioration simulation method for a circuit, the method comprising:
- creating, based on a first input file having the circuit including a plurality of MOSFETs specified therein, a second input file pre-processed to enable inserting a dynamic voltage source associated with a fluctuation in voltage/current characteristics into each gate terminal of the plurality of MOSFETs in series, along with creating a first deterioration calculation condition file including a dynamic deterioration model associated with elapse of a time;
- performing first circuit simulation with respect to the second input file and calculating a dynamic deterioration amount after elapse of a short time dt from a time ti (i=an integer greater than or equal to 0) of the plurality of MOSFETs based on the dynamic deterioration model by using the first deterioration calculation condition file to create a third input file;
- performing an estimation calculation of a dynamic fluctuation amount at a time ti+1 (where ti+1−ti>dt) by extrapolation based on the third input file to create a second deterioration calculation condition file;
- calculating dynamic deterioration amounts of the plurality of MOSFETs at ti+1 to dt with contents in the second deterioration calculation condition file based on the dynamic deterioration mode, and then carrying out second circuit simulation having the dynamic deterioration amount reflected therein;
- repeating processing from the estimation calculation based on the extrapolation to the second circuit simulation until ti reaches a simulation target time tfinal;
- and
- outputting an output file in which the second circuit simulation is reflected when ti reaches tfinal to terminate the operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.