3D Physical Design: Challenges and Solutions

Abstract:
Modern three-dimensional (3D) designs, in which the active devices are placed in multiple layers using 3D integration technologies, are helping to maintain the validity of Moore’s law in today’s nano era. However, progress in commercial 3D ICs has been slow due to multiple reasons. One of them is the lack of appropriate physical design (layout) tools that take the new constraints arising from the third dimension into account. In this paper, an overview of physical design’s challenges in the new 3-dimensional context are presented. Specifically, we investigate the physical design steps of floorplanning, placement, routability prediction and routing. New 3D-tailored design methodologies are presented that are capable of addressing 3D-specific design challenges.