Title:  Design Challenges and CAD Solutions for Low Power and Reliable Monolithic 3D ICs

Committee: 

Dr. Lim, Advisor  

Dr. Raychowdhury, Chair

Dr. Mukhopadhyay

Abstract: The objective of the proposed research is to study the challenges in low power and reliable monolithic 3D IC design, and to develop new CAD solutions to address these challenges. In addition, near-threshold voltage 3D IC design and comparison with 2D IC will also be studied. The key challenges in monolithic 3D ICs, to be studied in this research, include thermal modeling and optimization, 3D power delivery network design and analysis, and addressing inter-tier performance difference and inter-tier interconnect difference. Monolithic 3D ICs need to be thoroughly evaluated, under practical settings, to correctly assess the power, performance and cost benefits over conventional 2D ICs. However, to carry such evaluation under fair settings, specific 3D IC CAD tools become necessary. There is very little CAD research on handling inter-tier performance differences while addressing thermal and power delivery issues in monolithic 3D ICs. This thesis aims to develop these tools, as well as to carry out a practical evaluation of the benefits of monolithic 3D ICs.