ANSYS, Inc.
Systems and methods for estimating temperatures of wires in an integrated circuit chip

Abstract:

Systems and methods are provided for estimating a temperature of a wire of an integrated circuit (IC) chip having a plurality of heat-generating components. For each of the heat-generating components, a temperature of the heat-generating component is computed. For each of the heat-generating components, a decay profile defining a thermal coupling from the heat-generating component to wires of the IC chip is computed. For each of the heat-generating components, a temperature elevation on the wire caused by the heat-generating component is computed. The temperature elevation is computed based on the temperature and decay profile of the heat-generating component and a spatial relationship between the wire and the heat-generating component. A total temperature elevation on the wire is computed by summing the temperature elevation of each of the heat-generating components. The heat-generating components include a plurality of wires of the IC chip and at least one device of the IC chip.