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Design and optimization of inductive-coupling links for 3-D-ICs

Design and optimization of inductive-coupling links for 3-D-ICs
Design and optimization of inductive-coupling links for 3-D-ICs

Recent research in the field of 3-D system integration has looked to the use of inductive-coupling links (ICLs) to provide vertical connectivity without incurring the inflated fabrication and testing costs associated with through-silicon vias. For power-efficient ICL design, optimization of the utilized physical inductor geometries is essential, but currently must be performed manually in a process that can take several hours. As a result, the generation of optimized inductor designs poses a significant challenge. In this paper, we address this challenge in three main contributions: 1) a novel, nonuniform planar inductor layout that exhibits enhanced performance when compared with conventional uniform inductors; 2) a rapid solver for evaluating inductor layouts; and 3) a high-speed optimization algorithm for determining best performing coil pairs. These three contributions are combined as a CAD tool for optimization of ICLs for 3-D-ICs (COIL-3-D). Results demonstrate that COIL-3-D achieves an average accuracy within 7.8% of finite-element tools consuming a small fraction of the time (1.5x 10E-3 %), significantly ameliorating the design of ICL-based 3-D-ICs. We also demonstrate that using COIL-3-D to optimize ICL inductor layouts can yield significant performance (up to 41.5% bandwidth improvement) and power (up to 8.1% power improvement) benefits, when compared with layouts used in prior ICL implementations. For these reasons, this paper unlocks new potential for low-cost, power-efficient 3-D integration using ICLs.

3-D-IC, antenna design, inductive coupling, optimization, wireless channel.
1063-8210
711-723
Fletcher, Benjamin J.
b9ee2f3f-f125-47df-a73e-e61c0404d4c9
Das, Shidhartha
c1e693af-261c-495d-8f0f-227396df0e3b
Mak, Terrence
0f90ac88-f035-4f92-a62a-7eb92406ea53
Fletcher, Benjamin J.
b9ee2f3f-f125-47df-a73e-e61c0404d4c9
Das, Shidhartha
c1e693af-261c-495d-8f0f-227396df0e3b
Mak, Terrence
0f90ac88-f035-4f92-a62a-7eb92406ea53

Fletcher, Benjamin J., Das, Shidhartha and Mak, Terrence (2019) Design and optimization of inductive-coupling links for 3-D-ICs. IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems, 27 (3), 711-723. (doi:10.1109/TVLSI.2018.2881075).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Recent research in the field of 3-D system integration has looked to the use of inductive-coupling links (ICLs) to provide vertical connectivity without incurring the inflated fabrication and testing costs associated with through-silicon vias. For power-efficient ICL design, optimization of the utilized physical inductor geometries is essential, but currently must be performed manually in a process that can take several hours. As a result, the generation of optimized inductor designs poses a significant challenge. In this paper, we address this challenge in three main contributions: 1) a novel, nonuniform planar inductor layout that exhibits enhanced performance when compared with conventional uniform inductors; 2) a rapid solver for evaluating inductor layouts; and 3) a high-speed optimization algorithm for determining best performing coil pairs. These three contributions are combined as a CAD tool for optimization of ICLs for 3-D-ICs (COIL-3-D). Results demonstrate that COIL-3-D achieves an average accuracy within 7.8% of finite-element tools consuming a small fraction of the time (1.5x 10E-3 %), significantly ameliorating the design of ICL-based 3-D-ICs. We also demonstrate that using COIL-3-D to optimize ICL inductor layouts can yield significant performance (up to 41.5% bandwidth improvement) and power (up to 8.1% power improvement) benefits, when compared with layouts used in prior ICL implementations. For these reasons, this paper unlocks new potential for low-cost, power-efficient 3-D integration using ICLs.

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Design and Optimization of Inductive Coupling Links for 3D-ICs - Accepted Manuscript
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 22 October 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 5 December 2018
Published date: March 2019
Keywords: 3-D-IC, antenna design, inductive coupling, optimization, wireless channel.

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 428192
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/428192
ISSN: 1063-8210
PURE UUID: 98525e2e-2741-4039-b415-f78b84df2723
ORCID for Benjamin J. Fletcher: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4957-1934

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Date deposited: 14 Feb 2019 17:30
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 23:29

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Contributors

Author: Benjamin J. Fletcher ORCID iD
Author: Shidhartha Das
Author: Terrence Mak

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