Performance analysis of 3D-IC for multi-core processors in sub-65nm CMOS technologies

Three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D-IC) have the potential to reduce interconnect length and improve performance especially in sub-65nm CMOS technologies. This paper describes design and performance analysis of the 3D-IC in sub-65nm CMOS technologies based on the accurate calculation of interconnects delays using 16-core processors as case studies. Performance improvement of the 3D-IC vs. 2D-IC is increased as CMOS scales down, which is consistent with the expected trend. The performance improvement is over 20%. Furthermore, performance of the 3D-IC in 65 nm (or 45 nm) CMOS technology is superior to that of the 2D-IC in 45 nm (or 32 nm) CMOS technology. It indicates that design conversion from 2D-IC to 3D-IC is superior to the CMOS technology migration according to COMS scaling. Reduction in repeater buffers and area overhead is also estimated.