What is VLSI?

 Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) is the process of

creating an integrated circuit (IC) by combining thousands
of transistors into a single chip.
 VLSI began in the 1970s when complex semiconductor
and communication technologies were being developed.
 The microprocessor is a VLSI device.
 Before the introduction of VLSI technology most ICs had a
limited set of functions they could perform.
 An electronic circuit might consist of a CPU, ROM, RAM
and some other components. VLSI lets IC designers add
all of these into one chip.
 Integrated circuits Era
 In the year 1958 Jack Kilby designed an IC (Integrated Circuit).
 The integrated circuits are classified as shown below:
Number of Number of Logic
Acronym Name Year
transistors on the IC gates on the IC

Small-Scale
SSI Integration
1964 1 to 10 1 to 12

Medium-Scale
MSI Integration
1968 10 to 500 13 to 99

Large-Scale
LSI Integration
1971 500 to 20,000 100 to 9999

Very Large-Scale
VLSI Integration
1980 20,000 to 10,00,000 10000 to 99999

Ultra-Large-Scale
ULSI Integration
1984 10,00,000 and more 100000 and more
What’s in this thing????
 4004
 First microprocessor
(1971)
--Used For Busicom calculator
Characteristics:
10 mm process
2300 transistors
400 – 800 kHz
4-bit word size
16-pin DIP package
 8008
• 8-bit follow-on (1972)
– Dumb terminals
• Characteristics
– 10 mm process
– 3500 transistors
– 500 – 800 kHz
– 8-bit word size
– 18-pin DIP package
• Note 8-bit datapaths
– Individual transistors visible
 8080
• 16-bit address bus (1974)
– Used in Altair computer
• (early hobbyist PC)
• Characteristics
– 6 mm process
– 4500 transistors
– 2 MHz
– 8-bit word size
– 40-pin DIP package
 8086 / 8088
• 16-bit processor (1978-9)
– IBM PC and PC XT
– Revolutionary products
– Introduced x86 ISA
• Characteristics
– 3 mm process
– 29k transistors
– 5-10 MHz
– 16-bit word size
– 40-pin DIP package
• Microcode ROM
 80286
• Virtual memory (1982)
– IBM PC AT
• Characteristics
– 1.5 mm process
– 134k transistors
– 6-12 MHz
– 16-bit word size
– 68-pin PGA
• Regular datapaths and
ROMs
Bitslices clearly visible
 80386
• 32-bit processor (1985)
– Modern x86 ISA
• Characteristics
– 1.5-1 mm process
– 275k transistors
– 16-33 MHz
– 32-bit word size
– 100-pin PGA
• 32-bit datapath,
microcode ROM,
synthesized control
 80486
• Pipelining (1989)
– Floating point unit
– 8 KB cache
• Characteristics
– 1-0.6 mm process
– 1.2M transistors
– 25-100 MHz
– 32-bit word size
– 168-pin PGA
• Cache, Integer datapath,
FPU, microcode,
synthesized control
 Pentium
• Superscalar (1993)
– 2 instructions per cycle
– Separate 8KB I$ & D$
• Characteristics
– 0.8-0.35 mm process
– 3.2M transistors
– 60-300 MHz
– 32-bit word size
– 296-pin PGA
• Caches, datapath,
FPU, control
 Pentium Pro / II / III
• Dynamic execution (1995-9)
– 3 micro-ops / cycle
– Out of order execution
– 16-32 KB I$ & D$
– Multimedia instructions
– PIII adds 256+ KB L2$
• Characteristics
– 0.6-0.18 mm process
– 5.5M-28M transistors
– 166-1000 MHz
– 32-bit word size
– MCM / SECC
 Pentium 4
• Deep pipeline (2001)
– Very fast clock
– 256-1024 KB L2$
• Characteristics
– 180 – 90 nm process
– 42-125M transistors
– 1.4-3.4 GHz
– 32-bit word size
– 478-pin PGA
• Units start to become
invisible on this scale
Summary
Different Integrated Circuits
Latest Processors
 Why VLSI?
 Integration improves the design.
 Lower parasitic = higher speed.
 Lower power consumption.
 Physically smaller Integration
reduces manufacturing cost -
(almost) no manual assembly
VLSI advantages:
1. Reduces the Size of Circuits.
2. Reduces the effective cost of the devices.
3. Increases the Operating speed of circuits
4. Requires less power than Discrete

components.
5. Higher Reliability
6. Occupies a relatively smaller area.
 Integrated Circuit Design Flow

System requirements
Architecture
and specifications
definition
Behavioral
description Architecture level
Logic design
Structural
description Register transfer level

Physical
Circuit
Circuit design
design
description Physical level

Fabrication Layout
Layout design
design

Testing
 Integrated Circuit Technologies – Tradeoffs
• Bipolar and NMOS are older technologies
- Many circuit design approaches are directly relatable to BiCMOS, GaAs, and CMOS
• Different technologies lean toward different applications

NMOS  high density, medium speed, and medium power

→ Replaced by CMOS, which is NMOS and PMOS

CMOS  high density, medium speed, and very low power (8 to 12 masks)
→ Very high density – digital VLSI – dominates technology (1985 to today)
→ Some specialized analog functions

GaAs  very high speed and high power ( low density)

→ Very high speed digital and analog microwave

Bipolar  high speed and high power ( low density)

→ Dominant in the 1970’s (6 to 10 masks)

BiCMOS  high density, high speed, medium power

→ Mixed-signal (analog and digital) high speed circuits
→ Best of both worlds with added cost
 Evolution of Integrated Systems

ra
c e
h i
l i t
• ENIAC, the “Giant Brain” • First • First integrated
n o • 16-core
transistor circuit
o microprocessor

M
– ≈ 18,000 vacuum tubes
– 174 kWatts – 410 million
transistors
– ≈ 1800 ft2 A reduction of ≈ 7200 mm2/day in area
– 250 watts
– 100 kHz A reduction of ≈ 7.5 watts/day in power
– 396 mm2
An increase of ≈ 100 kHz/day in speed
– 2.3 GHz

1946 1947 1958 2009 Time

3
 Technology Scaling
– Scaling of minimum feature size
– From 10 um in 1971 to 0.13 um in 2003

4004
8080

8086
8085

i286
i486
i386
Pentium
Pentium Pro
Pentium 2
Pentium 3
Pentium 4
Pentium D
Core
Core 2

Core i7
 Increasing Die Area
– 14% per year
– Additional circuitry to enhance performance and functionality

Pentium Pro
Pentium Pentium 4 Core i7
Pentium 2 Core 2
i486 Pentium 3
Core

i386 Pentium D

i286

8086
8080 8085

4004
 Increasing Clock Frequency
– Enhanced device performance
– Innovative circuits and microarchitectures

Classical Scaling Era Modern Era

Pentium D Core Core i7
Pentium 4
Core 2

Multicore
Pentium 3
Pentium 2
Pentium Pro

Pentium
i386
8086 i286 i486
~ 30,000x
8085

8080

4004
 Microprocessor Power Trends
– Power consumption increases

Core Core i7
Pentium D
Pentium 4 Core 2

NMOS to CMOS Pentium 2

Transition Pentium Pro
Pentium 3
Pentium

i286
i486
8086

i386

8008 8085
8080

4004
 Power Density Trends

– Power dissipation

– Hot spots

– Cost of cooling
Rocket Nozzle
• Low cost cooling

– Air flow fans Nuclear Reactor

Power Wall

– Heat sinks Pentium D Core

Core i7
Core 2
Pentium 3
Pentium 4
• Expensive cooling Pentium 2
solutions Hot Plate
8086 Pentium Pro
i286
Pentium
– Liquid cooling 8085
8080 i486
– Refrigeration 4004 i386
 Supply Voltage Scaling
– Enhanced device reliability
– Reduced power consumption

Classical Scaling Era

12 Volts
4004 8080

8085 i286 i386 i486 Pentium

5 Volts
8086
Pentium Pro
3.3 Volts
Pentium 2 Pentium 3
Pentium 4
1.5 Volts Core Core i7
Modern Era Pentium D
Core 2
 A quick look at the power consumption of a modern
Laptop
Power is all about the VLSI circuits…..

100%
90% Other
80% LCD+BckLt
70%
60% Wireless
50% Mem
40% Graphics
30%
20% NB/SB; misc
10% CPU
0%
CPU FTP Tx 3D Games
Workload 17W 30W
26W
 A quick look at the power
consumption of a Server

Again, it’s a VLSI problem

i/o
Some of the applications:
……………..
Application of ICs:
Sensors used in new cars
ECG: ELECTRO CARDIO GRAPH

EEG:ELECTRO ENCEPHALO GRAPH

EMG: ELECTRO MYO GRAPHY

EOG: ELECTRO OCULO GRAPHY

ECoG: ELECTROCORTICOGRAPHY
Good paper: Flexible inorganic bioelectronics
Carbon nanotube thin-film transistors and
integrated circuits
Multi-Sensors placed on the Hand
 Cable Modem Architecture
 Transmit/Upstream
 QPSK/QAM Modulator
performs:
 QPSK/QAM-16 modulation
 Reed-Solomon Encoding
 D/A Conversion
 Up-conversion to the
selected frequency/channel
 Receive/Downstream
 RF Tuner
 Converts TV Channel to a
fixed lower frequency (6-
40MHz)
 QAM Demodulator performs:
 A/D conversion
 QAM-64/256 demodulation
 MPEG frame synchronization
 Error Correction (Reed-
Solomon)
 MAC - Media Access Control
 Implemented partially in
hardware and software
 Data and Control Logic
 Block Diagram of RF Tuner

Base Band
Mixer Mixer 2 Output
1
IF1 IF2
LNA Filter Filter
Input 1.2 GHz 36 MHz/44 MHz
500 MHz-
900 MHz
VCO1
VCO2

Frequency Image Rejection

Synthesizer Architecture
(Programmable)

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 RF Tuner…..Wide Band LNA

Parameter Values
(44-900)
Input Frequency
MHz
Noise Figure 3dB
Current consumption 2.5mA
Conversion Gain 7.4dB
 Band Pass Filter

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 Quadrature VCO

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Muttiah Muralitharan’s spin bowling report