SkyHawk is an automated constraint-driven power grid prototyping and optimization tool. It ensures silicon accuracy by utilizing foundry certified RedHawk power grid verification and analysis engine. SkyHawk delivers multi-layer, fully customizable and easily configurable power grid for a System-on-a-Chip (SoC) design that meets the voltage drop and power supply requirements, while considering power specifications, design constraints, and simultaneous switching effects. Its powerful capabilities include decoupling capacitance and pad placement advisory to help guide designers in generating the most optimal power grid design.

With SkyHawk, design teams can now start their power supply planning very early in the design cycle and continuously refine the grid at every stage of the design process. Power grid designs can now be automatically determined and generated to meet all the power supply requirements.

Highlights

Issues with Current Methodology

Automatic constraint-driven power grid generation

Verified using foundry certified RedHawk power integrity engine

Decoupling capacitance and power pad advisory

Use from early in design cycle and at every stage of the design process

Highlights:

• User specified constraint-driven fully automatic power grid generation
• Interface to RedHawk ensures silicon-proven accuracy
• Immediate verification of automatically generated power grid
• Consideration of simultaneous switching effects
• Decoupling capacity and pad placement advisory
• Exploration of different power grid design styles
• Region-based power grid prototyping
• Support for hookup of macro / IP / custom block
• Support for flip-chip or wire-bond designs
• Ease-of-use and rapid turn-around time
• Use early in the design cycle and at every step of the design process

back to top...

Issues with Current Methodology
Currently designers define the power grids for their SoC designs based on experience or calculations and on several assumptions. Once a power grid is defined, its correctness and ability to deliver the required power to different parts of the SoC design is not validated until the end of the design cycle. Only then are the problems associated with the power grid identified and attempts are made to solve them.

The existing methodology such as over-designed or under-designed grids, ad-hoc decoupling capacitance placements, and static-only power grid analysis result in following issues:

• Wasting precious routing resources
• Dynamic power integrity issues found too close to tapeout
• Inadequate decoupling capacitance protection
• No consideration for simultaneous switching of devices, including capacitive and inductive effects
• No consideration for designs with varying power consumption regions

back to top...

Automatic constraint-driven power grid generation
SkyHawk automatically generates power grids that honor constraints like blockages, pitch requirements, design styles, etc. that meet the specified voltage drop targets while supplying power to all parts of a design. It considers the effects of simultaneous switching devices, as well as capacitance and inductance.

back to top...

Verified using foundry certified RedHawk power integrity engine
The verification of the grid should be done through a proven power grid analysis solution to ensure that the grid is robust and sufficient decoupling capacitors and pads exist to supply the necessary power. SkyHawk utilizes RedHawk to capitalize on its foundry certified, silicon-proven accuracy. Since SkyHawk™operates within the RedHawk™framework, the grid automatically generated by SkyHawk™can be readily verified by RedHawk™.

back to top...

Decoupling capacitance and power pad advisory
SkyHawk™ can be used to estimate decoupling capacitor and power pad needs from early in the design process allowing for intelligent decoupling capacitor and power pad placement.

back to top...

Use from early in design cycle and at every stage of the design process
Power grid planning involves determining not only the power bus structures and their widths, but also the decoupling capacitor and power supply pad needs. Power grid planning using SkyHawkT can be started once early power estimates and floorplanning information become available. This gives engineering teams an early estimate on routing resources required for supplying power.

As a design evolves and more information becomes available, the power grid design should be re-visited. SkyHawkT can be used at every stage to utilize the increased levels of available data to refine the power grid and reassess power routing needs.

back to top...