Simulation system estimating self-heating characteristic of circuit and design method thereof

Abstract

A method of designing a semiconductor circuit using a circuit simulation tool executed by a computer includes calculating power consumptions of elements of the semiconductor circuit by use of the circuit simulation tool. A thermal netlist is created about the semiconductor circuit, based on the power consumptions and geometry information of each of the elements. A simulation of the semiconductor circuit is performed with the thermal netlist using the circuit simulation tool to detect a temperature of each of the elements. The thermal netlist includes thermal capacitance information of each of the elements.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of designing a semiconductor circuit using a circuit simulation tool executed by a computer, the method comprising:
 calculating power consumptions of elements of the semiconductor circuit by use of the circuit simulation tool;   creating a thermal netlist about the semiconductor circuit, based on the power consumptions and geometry information of each of the elements;   performing a simulation of the semiconductor circuit's operation with the thermal netlist using the circuit simulation tool to detect a temperature of each of the elements during the simulated operation of the semiconductor circuit; and   receiving an electrical netlist for calculating the power consumptions of the elements of the semiconductor circuit; wherein   the thermal netlist includes thermal capacitance information of each of the elements;   wherein in creating the thermal netlist, an electrical resistance of each of the elements of the electrical netlist is replaced with a thermal resistance or a thermal capacitance of the thermal netlist,   wherein the thermal netlist includes:   a first thermal resistance connected between source and channel nodes of a transistor;   a second thermal resistance connected between a drain node and the channel node; and   a third thermal resistance connecting a gate node and the channel node.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal netlist further includes:
 a first thermal capacitance connected between the source node and the channel node; and   a second thermal capacitance connected between the channel node and the drain node.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the first thermal resistance and the first thermal capacitance are connected in parallel with each other, and wherein the second thermal resistance and the second thermal capacitance are connected in parallel with each other. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal netlist further includes:
 an oxide film thermal resistance connected between the gate node and the channel node; and   a thermal resistance connected between the gate node and the drain node.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal netlist further includes at least one thermal resistance connected between a bulk node of the transistor and at least one of the source node, the channel node, and the drain node. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the thermal netlist further includes a thermal resistance connecting the bulk node and a substrate node of the transistor. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising reconstructing a revised electrical netlist of the semiconductor circuit with the detected temperature information. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising performing a simulation of the semiconductor's operation with the revised electrical netlist using the circuit simulation tool. 
     
     
         9 . A method of designing a semiconductor circuit using a circuit simulation tool executed by an information processing device, the method comprising:
 receiving a first netlist of the semiconductor circuit and material and geometry information of elements included in the semiconductor circuit;   conducting a first simulation of the semiconductor circuit's operation with the first netlist using the circuit simulation tool;   creating a second netlist corresponding to a thermal circuit representation of the semiconductor circuit depending on at least one of power consumptions of the elements generated according to the first simulation, the material information, and the geometry information;   performing a second simulation of the semiconductor circuit's operation with the second netlist using the circuit simulation tool to detect temperature variations of the elements; and   revising the first netlist based on the detected temperature variations to create a third netlist, wherein   the thermal circuit includes a thermal capacitance parameter for detecting the temperature variations of the elements dynamically, and   the circuit simulation tool is a SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) program.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein a power value of the second netlist is provided using a value of the power consumptions. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein a thermal resistance of the second netlist is calculated based on the geometry information and the material information. 
     
     
         12 . A computer-based system which simulates a semiconductor circuit, the system comprising:
 an input/output device adapted to receive an electrical netlist of the semiconductor circuit, geometry information of elements included in the semiconductor circuit, and material characteristic information of the elements;   a working memory adapted to load a simulation program; and   a central processing unit adapted to execute the simulation program depending on information provided from the input/output device,   wherein the simulation program includes:
 a simulation tool adapted to verify an electrical circuit characteristic of the semiconductor circuit; and 
 a simulation control module adapted to call the simulation tool, to make the simulation tool calculate a power consumption using the electrical circuit netlist, to create a thermal netlist of the semiconductor circuit based on the calculated power consumption, the geometry information, and the material characteristic information, and to make the simulation tool simulate the semiconductor's operation with the thermal netlist and thereby create and output thermal circuit characteristics of the elements. 
   
     
     
         13 . The computer-based system of  claim 12 , wherein the simulation control module calls the simulation tool and controls the simulation tool to simulate the semiconductor's operation with the thermal netlist in compliance with an electrical circuit law. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-based system of  claim 13 , wherein the simulation control module detects temperature variations of the elements depending on a simulation result of the semiconductor's operation with the thermal netlist. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-based system of  claim 14 , wherein the simulation control module revises the electrical netlist based on the temperature variations of the elements. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-based system of  claim 15 , wherein the simulation control module calls the simulation tool to simulate the semiconductor's operation with the revised electrical netlist. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-based system of  claim 13 , wherein the simulation control module replaces an electrical resistance of the electrical netlist with a thermal resistance or a thermal capacitance to create the thermal netlist.