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An ASIC Is

An ASIC is an application specific integrated circuit designed to perform specialized functions. There are several types of ASICs including full custom, standard cell, and gate array. Full custom ASICs have each transistor hand designed and highest performance but longest design time. Standard cell ASICs use predesigned cells connected together for high performance and shorter design time than full custom. Gate array ASICs have predrawn transistors connected to form cells and designs for lower performance but very quick fabrication. Key considerations in choosing an ASIC include time to market, cost including mask costs, and technical and financial feasibility for the required volumes.

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Sergio Canchumani
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38 views

An ASIC Is

An ASIC is an application specific integrated circuit designed to perform specialized functions. There are several types of ASICs including full custom, standard cell, and gate array. Full custom ASICs have each transistor hand designed and highest performance but longest design time. Standard cell ASICs use predesigned cells connected together for high performance and shorter design time than full custom. Gate array ASICs have predrawn transistors connected to form cells and designs for lower performance but very quick fabrication. Key considerations in choosing an ASIC include time to market, cost including mask costs, and technical and financial feasibility for the required volumes.

Uploaded by

Sergio Canchumani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ASICs - What are they?

I An ASIC is:
I An Application Specific Integrated Circuit
I An ASIC is an IC that is designed to perform a particular, specialized
function
I It is not software programmable, unless its a uC
I It is not not a memory chip, but may contain memory
I Examples would include
I MPEG decoder
I Audio processor for Dolby noise reduction
I Image processor for MRI
I How are ASICs used?
I Many popular electronic devices
I High volume, cost sensitive
I High reliability, high performance (mA/Mhz)
ASICs - Types of ASICs

I Full Custom ASIC


I Each transistor hand drawn, (polygon pushing)
I Analog parts are done this way
I Highest performance, longest design time
I Hand optimized parts of high-end uPs
I Full set of masks needed
ASICs - Types of ASICs

I Standard Cell ASIC


I Predesigned (standard) cells in a library are used
I These cells are connected together to form the design
I High performance, much shorter design time than full custom
I Most digital ASICs are designed this way
I Usually uses HDLs with logic synthesis
I Full set of masks needed
ASICs - Types of ASICs

I Gate Array ASIC


I Predrawn transistors are on a die
I These transistors are connected together to form cells
I The cells are connected to form a design
I Usually digital in nature
I Lower performance, but very quick to fabricate
I Only metalization masks are needed
I Usually uses HDLs with logic synthesis
ASICs - Types of ASICs

I FPGA
I Fully predesigned silicon, logic functions and interconnect
I Programmed with a ”bit file” to configure logic and interconnect
I Medium performance, higher power consumption
I Very quick to implement, minutes
I Better for more limited volume applications
I Almost always uses HDLs plus logic synthesis
I No DFT structures required
I Popular for ASIC prototyping
ASICs - Considerations?

I Time to market
I Time to market is a primary driver
I Dramatic increase in profit with earlier time-to-market landing
I Cutting one month off schedule increases profit roughly 10%
ASICs - Considerations?

I Cost
I Standard cell synthesis can cost $125k per license
I Typical standard cell NRE $50K to $200K
I If you can’t spend at least a million, you are not in the game
I One bug in a standard cell design can be a disaster
I A standard cell ”respin” takes possibly 8 weeks and a lot of money
I Really cheap tools are available for FPGA implementation - free!
I FPGAs cost $10-100 each in single quantity
I FPGA bugs are fixed at zero cost in minutes

Mask set costs (2006)


Process(um) Vdd Metal layers Mask Set Cost ($)
65 1.0 9 3,000,000
90 1.0 9 1,500,000
130 1.2 7 750,000
350 3.3 3 40,000
ASICs - How do you choose?

I 1 - Technical feasibility
I Can it run fast enough?
I Is it low enough power?
I Can it operate at 1.2V?
I Is the required IP available?
I 2 - Financial Analysis
I What is the cost to get first prototypes (NRE)
I What is the volume piece part price?
I How many will we ship?
I How much market share would we loose?
I Roughly: FPGAs for volumes <1000’s, ASICs for volumes >10,000

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