Proposal and verification of a novel on-interposer active power distribution network for an efficient simultaneous switching noise suppression in 2.5D/3D IC

Abstract

Simultaneous switching noise (SSN) occurs when clock-synchronized digital circuits switch simultaneously. The SSN can cause electromagnetic interference and logic failure. Hierarchical power distribution network (PDN) of 2.5D/3D IC needs careful design due to broadband simultaneous switching current (SSC) spectrum. Conventional power distribution network cannot respond to various SSC spectrum due to its passive characteristic. In this paper, on-interposer active PDN is proposed to efficiently suppress the SSN in 2.5D/3D IC. The proposed on-interposer active PDN can control the PDN impedance of 2.5D/3D IC optimally according to the type and frequency of SSC spectrum using externally controllable on-interposer decoupling capacitor scheme. The proposed scheme is modeled using segmentation method and the modeling is verified with measurement result. With the verified model, the SSN suppression of the proposed scheme is simulated, analyzed and demonstrated in frequency and time domain.