High Yield Standard Cell Libraries: Optimization and Modeling

In this paper, we present a flow for architecting standard cell libraries in nanometer technologies. The proposed approach relies on a Yield Characterization Environment to evaluate a set of manufacturability metrics and analyze multiple design trade-offs. We have identified four classes of manufacturability objectives that we addressed in our standard cell architectures: Average Functional Yield, Functional Yield Consistency, Performance Consistency and Leakage. Cells optimized for different manufacturability objectives present different trade-offs and require different layout architectures. We will show examples of such different trade-offs and architectural requirements and show the impact of adopting high-manufacturability standard cells on product Yields.