INTEGRATED CIRCUIT STRUCTURE INCORPORATING AN INDUCTOR, AN ASSOCIATED DESIGN METHOD AND AN ASSOCIATED DESIGN SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method for designing an integrated circuit structure, said method comprising:
- receiving design parameters for an electrostatic discharge circuit and a specified application frequency, wherein said electrostatic discharge circuit comprises an electrostatic discharge device electrically connected in parallel to an inductor;
generating a first design for said electrostatic discharge device based on said design parameters;
determining, based on said first design, a capacitance value for said electrostatic discharge device;
determining, based on said capacitance value and said application frequency, an inductance value for said inductor to ensure that a subsequently designed inductor-capacitor (LC) circuit will have a resonant frequency at said application frequency; and
generating a second design comprising said inductor with said inductance value aligned over and electrically connected to said electrostatic discharge device of said first design to form said inductor-capacitor circuit.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are embodiments of a circuit (e.g., an electrostatic discharge (ESD) circuit), a design methodology and a design system. In the circuit, an ESD device is wired to a first metal level (e.g., M1). An inductor is formed in a second metal level (e.g., M5) above the first metal level and is aligned over and electrically connected in parallel to the ESD device by a single vertical via stack. The inductor is configured to nullify, for a given application frequency, the capacitance value of the ESD device. The quality factor of the inductor is optimized by providing, on a third metal level (e.g., M3) between the second metal level and the first metal level, a shield to minimize inductive coupling. An opening in the shield allows the via stack to pass through, trading off Q factor reduction for size-scaling and ESD robustness improvements.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for designing an integrated circuit structure, said method comprising:
-
receiving design parameters for an electrostatic discharge circuit and a specified application frequency, wherein said electrostatic discharge circuit comprises an electrostatic discharge device electrically connected in parallel to an inductor; generating a first design for said electrostatic discharge device based on said design parameters; determining, based on said first design, a capacitance value for said electrostatic discharge device; determining, based on said capacitance value and said application frequency, an inductance value for said inductor to ensure that a subsequently designed inductor-capacitor (LC) circuit will have a resonant frequency at said application frequency; and generating a second design comprising said inductor with said inductance value aligned over and electrically connected to said electrostatic discharge device of said first design to form said inductor-capacitor circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A program storage device readable by computer and tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by said computer to perform a method of designing an integrated circuit structure, said method comprising:
-
receiving design parameters for an electrostatic discharge circuit and a specified application frequency, wherein said electrostatic discharge circuit comprises an electrostatic discharge device electrically connected in parallel to an inductor; generating a first design for said electrostatic discharge device based on said design parameters; determining, based on said first design, a capacitance value for said electrostatic discharge device; determining, based on said capacitance value and said application frequency, an inductance value for said inductor to ensure that a subsequently designed inductor-capacitor (LC) circuit will have a resonant frequency at said application frequency; and generating a second design comprising said inductor with said inductance value aligned over and electrically connected to said electrostatic discharge device of said first design to form said inductor-capacitor circuit. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A computer-aided design system for designing an integrated circuit, said system comprising:
-
a user interface for receiving design parameters for an electrostatic discharge circuit and a specified application frequency, wherein said electrostatic discharge circuit comprises an electrostatic discharge device electrically connected in parallel to an inductor; and at least one processor adapted to generate a first design for said electrostatic discharge device based on said design parameters, wherein said processor is further adapted; to determine, based on said first design, a capacitance value for said electrostatic discharge device; to determine, based on said capacitance value and said application frequency, an inductance value for said inductor to ensure that a subsequently designed inductor-capacitor (LC) circuit will have a resonant frequency at said application frequency; and to generate a second design comprising said inductor with said inductance value aligned over and electrically connected to said electrostatic discharge device of said first design to form said inductor-capacitor circuit. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification