Reduction of crosstalk noise by optimizing 3-D configuration of the routing grid

In this paper, we propose novel physical design techniques for a sub-quarter micron system-on-a-chip (SoC). By appropriately optimizing the routing grid space or the cell utilization ratio, the coupling effects are almost eliminated. By employing our proposed techniques on a 0.13 /spl mu/m six-layer physical design, the longest path delay is significantly decreased by 15% maximum without the need for process improvement. This significant delay reduction, which corresponds to a half generation of process progress, greatly accelerates the performance of SoCs.