Chip-to-chip vertical noise coupling from on-chip switching DC-DC converter to low noise amplifier in mixed-signal stacked 3D-IC

Abstract

Recently, the mobile devices are forced to integrate more and more functions, achieve high performance as much as a personal computer. At the same time, physical space to integrate them is getting smaller to meet the consumer demands for mobile devices. These extreme conditions are no longer achievable through 2D-SoC (system-on-chip), since the conventional CMOS downscaling has nearly reached its physical limits. As a substitute, stacked 3D-IC is a promising new technological solution. Denser integration can be achieved by the 3D stacking of ICs at a far lower cost and in less space. In spite of the advantage of stacked 3D-IC, serious new noise coupling issues are raised by the 3D stacking of ICs; namely, chip-to-chip vertical noise coupling between stacked-ICs in a mixed-signal stacked 3D-IC. The chip-to-chip vertical noise coupling issue is a new and severe enough to degrade the whole system performance, particularly, RF/analog circuits. Therefore, a prediction of the chip-to-chip vertical noise coupling in a design stage is very important for one-time success of the system design. Previous works on the prediction have had a trade-off between the accuracy and the simulation time. However, the trade-off is no longer acceptable since the required accuracy and model bandwidth are getting higher and the optimization process through the prediction in the design stage is still often iterative. In this dissertation, we propose a modeling method for fast and accurate prediction of the vertical noise coupling from an on-chip switching mode power supply to a low noise amplifier (LNA) in a stacked 3D-IC. The proposed modeling includes a compact and broadband multi-section lumped circuit model of the vertical noise coupling between on-chip inductor of an on-chip switching DC-DC converter and LNA and a model of noise transfer in LNA circuit. To achieve accuracy, the modeling includes consideration of high frequency effect such as a current redistribution and a phase diff...