A buffer placement algorithm to overcome short-circuit power dissipation in mesh based clock distribution network

Abstract

In the recent past, Mesh-based clock distribution has received interest due to their tolerance to process variations in deep-sub micron technology. Mesh buffers are placed on the mesh to drive the large load capacitance of clock sinks and mesh wire capacitance. In this paper, we propose a buffer placement algorithm which can overcome the short circuit power dissipated in clock meshes. Our buffer placement algorithm uses clustering technique to judiciously place buffers such that short-circuit power is minimized while minimizing skew at the same time. This is verified by Monte carlo simulations incorporating process, voltage and systemic variations in NGSPICE.

Keywords

• Mesh-based clock distribution
• Mesh buffer
• Short circuit power
• Inter-buffer skew
• Clock skew