Determination of worst-case crosstalk noise for non-switching victims in GHz+ interconnects

Considering RLC interconnect model and multiple switching aggressors, we study switching pattern generation and switching time alignment that leads to worst-case crosstalk noise for a quiet victim or a noisy one. We assume that aggressors can have arbitrary switching patterns and can switch at arbitrary times. We show that the commonly used superposition algorithm results in 15% underestimation on average, and propose a new algorithm that has virtually the same complexity as the superposition algorithm but approximates the exhaustive search very well with only 4% underestimation on average. Further, we show that applying RC model to GHz+ interconnects in IRTS 0.10 /spl mu/m technology underestimates crosstalk noise by up to 80%, and convincingly conclude that RLC model is necessary to analyze such interconnects.