VIGILANT

Partner:

IMSE-US (coordinator)             

group link and logo

IP 1 – Coordinador 1 :   Francisco Vidal Fernández Fernández

IP 2 – Coordinador 2 :   Rafael Castro López

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REDEC – UAB   

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HIPICS/QINE- UPC​

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Funding Agency:

Key words:

Variability, IC design, reliability evaluation, compact modeling, characterization, security, mitigation, exploitation, CMOS, emerging devices

Summary:

Electronic devices flood many aspects of our lives. The wondrous evolution of nano-CMOS technologies with the emergence of new materials and devices is behind it. The demand for integrated circuits (ICs) is not without challenges though: our modern digital economy and society requires them to be more functional, more reliable, safer and more secure, and fields like IoT, Cybersecurity and High-performance computing are now priorities in many research agendas. However, one critical obstacle in this evolution is variability, culprit for the device parametric fluctuations deriving in a reliability loss of the IC. Rising right after fabrication (TZV, Time-Zero Variability) or during the IC lifetime (TDV, Time-Dependent Variability), it ends up critically compromising its functionality or even cutting short its lifetime. If variability is undealt with, ICs will no longer be able to fulfil the capabilities of safety, security, and reliability.

VIGILANT faces up this challenge from two perspectives. It will first develop solutions and new design paradigms to lessen or tolerate variability; the goal is clear: mitigate its negative impact. Second, realizing variability has also a beneficial side, TZV and TDV will be exploited for hardware-based security. While this duality mitigation/exploitation is one key goal, there is another cross-cutting goal: the evaluation of several technologies and their potential for the duality, from the established bulk CMOS, through the versatile FDSOI, to beyond-CMOS alternatives like memristors. To undertake the goals, VIGILANT needs the complementary expertise of teams (IMSE, UAB and UPC) with a successful track record in the collaborative investigation of variability.

Publications:

Journals

• Altet J, Barajas E, Mateo D, Billong A, Aragones X, Perpiñà X, Reverter F. BPF-Based Thermal Sensor Circuit for On-Chip Testing of RF Circuits. Sensors. 2021; 21(3):805. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21030805 
• P Saraza-Canflanca, H Carrasco-Lopez, A Santana-Andreo, Piedad Brox, R Castro-Lopez, Elisenda Roca, Francisco V Fernandez, “Improving the reliability of SRAM-based PUFs under varying operation conditions and aging degradation”, Microelectronics Reliability, vol. 118, pp. 114049, 2021.
• P. Saraza-Canflanca, J. Martin-Martinez, R. Castro-Lopez, E. Roca, R. Rodriguez, F. V. Fernandez, M. Nafria,  “Statistical Characterization of Time-Dependent Variability Defects Using the Maximum Current Fluctuation”, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, doi: 10.1109/TED.2021.3086448. (2021) in press 
• A. Crespo-Yepes, R. Ramos, E. Barajas, X. Aragones, D. Mateo, J. Martin-Martinez, R. Rodriguez and M. Nafria, “Modeling of the degradation of CMOS inverters under pulsed stress conditions from ‘on-the-fly’ measurements“, Solid-State Electronics, Vol. 184, 108094 (2021) 
• A. Ruiz, C. Couso, N. Seoane, M. Porti, A.J. García-Loureiro, M. Nafria, “Methodology for the simulation of the variability of MOSFETs with polycrystalline high-k dielectrics using CAFM input data”, IEEE Access, accepted for publication
• E. Salvador, M.B. Gonzalez, F. Campabadal, J. Martin-Martinez, R. Rodriguez, E. Miranda, “SPICE Modeling of Cycle-to-Cycle Variability in RRAM Devices”, Solid State Electronics, Vol. 185, 108040 (2021).
• G. Pedreira, J. Martin-Martinez, P. Saraza-Canflanca, R. Castro-Lopez, R. Rodriguez, E. Roca, F. V. Fernandez, M. Nafria, “Unified RTN and BTI statistical compact modeling from a defect-centric perspective”, Solid-State Electronics, Vol. 185, 108112 (2021) 
• J. Diaz-Fortuny, P. Saraza-Canflanca, R. Rodriguez, J. Martin-Martinez, R. Castro-Lopez, E. Roca, F. V. Fernandez and M, Nafria, “Statistical threshold voltage shifts caused by BTI and HCI at nominal and accelerated conditions”, Solid State Electronics, Vol. 185,  108037, (2021). 
• A. Ruiz, S. Claramunt, A. Crespo-Yepes, M. Porti, M. Nafria, H. Xu, C. Liu, Q. Wu, “Exploiting the KPFM capabilities to analyze at the nanoscale the impact of electrical stresses on OTFTs properties”, Solid-State Electronics, Volume 186, 2021, 108061. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sse.2021.108061 
• V. Ntinas et al., “Power-Efficient Noise-Induced Reduction of ReRAM Cell’s Temporal Variability Effects,” in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs, vol. 68, no. 4, pp. 1378-1382, April 2021, doi: 10.1109/TCSII.2020.3026950.
• V. Ntinas, A. Rubio and G. C. Sirakoulis, “Probabilistic Resistive Switching Device Modeling Based on Markov Jump Processes,” in IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 983-988, 2021, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3042012.
• K. Rallis, P. Dimitrakis, I. G. Karafyllidis, A. Rubio and G. C. Sirakoulis, “Electronic Properties of Graphene Nanoribbons With Defects,” in IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology, vol. 20, pp. 151-160, 2021, doi: 10.1109/TNANO.2021.3055135.
• Rodríguez-Montañ és, R., Arumí, D., Gómez-Pau, A., Manich, S., Gonzalez, M.B., Campabadal, F., Enhanced Serial RRAM Cell for Unpredictable Bit Generation, Solid-State Electronics (2021), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sse.2021.108059 
• A. D. Zarandi, M. R. Reshadinezhad and A. Rubio, “A Systematic Method to Design Efficient Ternary High Performance CNTFET-Based Logic Cells,” in IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 58585-58593, 2020, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2982738.

Conferences

• P. Saraza-Canflanca, H. Carrasco-Lopez, P. Brox, R. Castro-Lopez, E. Roca and F.V. Fernandez, “Improving the reliability of SRAM-based PUFs under varying conditions”, Proceedings DCIS 2020.
• M. Nafria, J. Diaz-Fortuny, P. Saraza-Canflanca, J. Martin-Martinez, E. Roca, R. Castro-Lopez, R. Rodriguez, P.Martin-Lloret, A. Toro-Frias, D. Mateo, E. Barajas, X. Aragones, F. V. Fernandez, “Circuit reliability prediction: challenges and solutions for the device time-dependent variability characterization roadblock”, Proceedings LAEDC 2021.
• J.Martin-Martinez, G. Pedreira, P. Saraza-Canflanca, J.Diaz-Fortuny, R. Castro-López, R. Rodriguez, E. Roca, X. Aymerich, F.V. Fernandez, M. Nafria.”A complete smart approach for the RTN characterization and modelling of scaled MOSFETs”, Abstracts CDE 2021.
• A. Ruiz, N. Seoane, S. Claramunt, A. J. García-Loureiro, M. Porti and M. Nafría, “Analysis of metal gate workfunction fluctuations on MOSFETs variability using KPFM characterization and device simulation tools. Abstracts of the Spanish Conference on Electron Devices (CDE), Sevilla (Spain), 9-10 June 2021, POSTER
• E. Salvador, M.B. Gonzalez, F. Campabadal, J. Martin-Martinez, R. Rodriguez, E. Miranda, “In-depth Analysis of the Statistical Distribution of RRAM Electrical Parameters Intended for Compact Modeling.”, Abstracts of the Spanish Conference on Electron Devices (CDE), Sevilla (Spain), 9-10 June 2021, ORAL
• G. Pedreira, J. Martin-Martinez, P. Saraza-Canflanca, R. Castro-Lopez, R. Rodriguez, E. Roca, F. V. Fernandez, M. Nafria, “Unified RTN and BTI statistical compact modeling from a defect-centric perspective”, INFOS 2021. ORAL
• J. Diaz-Fortuny, Pablo Saraza-Canflanca, Rosana Rodriguez, Javier Martin-Martinez, Rafael Castro-Lopez, Elisenda Roca,Francisco V. Fernandez and Montserrat Nafria, “Statistical threshold voltage shifts caused by BTI and HCI at nominal and accelerated conditions”, INFOS 2021. ORAL
• E. Salvador, M.B. Gonzalez, F. Campabadal, J. Martin-Martinez, R. Rodriguez, E. Miranda, “SPICE Modeling of Cycle-to-Cycle Variability in RRAM Devices”, 22th Conference on Insulating Films on Semiconductors (INFOS), 28June-02 July 2021, Rende, Italy. 
• A. Ruiz, S. Claramunt, A. Crespo-Yepes, M. Porti, M. Nafria, H. Xu, C. Liu, Q. Wu, “Exploiting the KPFM capabilities to analyze at the nanoscale the impact of electrical stresses on OTFTs properties”,22th Conference on Insulating Films on Semiconductors (INFOS), 28June-02 July 2021, Rende, Italy.  
• P. Saraza-Canflanca, E. Camacho-Ruiz, R. Castro-Lopez, E. Roca, J. Martin-Martínez, R. Rodriguez, M. Nafria and F.V. Fernandez, “Simulating the impact of Random Telegraph Noise on integrated circuits”, Proceedings SMACD2021.
• F. Passos, P. Saraza-Canflanca, R. Castro-Lopez, E. Roca and F.V. Fernandez, “Dealing with hierarchical partitioning in bottom-up design methodologies”, Proceedings SMACD2021.
• E. Camacho-Ruiz, P. Saraza-Canflanca, R. Castro-Lopez, E. Roca, P. Brox and F. V. Fernandez, “A study of SRAM PUFs reliability using the Static Noise Margin”, Proceedings SMACD2021.
• A. D. Zarandi, A. Rubio and M. R. Reshadinezhad, “A Memristor-based Quaternary Memory with Adaptive Noise Tolerance,” 2020 XXXV Conference on Design of Circuits and Integrated Systems (DCIS), 2020, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/DCIS51330.2020.9268675.
• R. Rodriguez, D. Arumí, A. Gómez-Pau, S. Manich, M.B. González, F. Campabadal, “Enhanced Serial RRAM Cell for Unpredictable Bit Generation”, 2020 XXXV Conference on Design of Circuits and Integrated Systems (DCIS), 2020
• V. Ntinas, G. Sirakoulis, A. Rubio, “Mmemristor-based Probabilistic Cellular Automata”, IEEE 64th Int. Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, MWCAS 2021, August 2021.

 

 

Chapters and Books

• Antonio Rubio, Ramon Canal, “Technology layer”, Chapter 1 book “Cross-Layer Reliability of Computing Systems” The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), ISBN 978-1-78561-797-3.