Paradigm Shift in Semiconductor Technology Scaling Calling for Advancements in Design Modelling

Semiconductor manufacturing inventions like gate-all-around devices, back-side power, and 2.5D and 3D stacking at the packaging level have driven continued technology scaling despite the slowdown in critical dimension process scaling. While these inventions show promise for enhancing performance, they have elevated the need for thermal and reliability management to be classified as first-class design challenges across abstraction levels. In this paper, we will discuss the scaling implications, highlight the increasing trend in thermal and reliability challenges, and bring out the need to enhance existing VLSI design flow and modeling with more tightly coupled, spatially accurate, precise thermal and IR modeling.