VLSI: An investigation into the effect of non-uniform distribution of current on crosstalk noise

On-chip interconnect has become a critical dominant factor affecting the performance and reliability of high performance integrated circuits (IC) such as system-on-a-chip (SoC). As the chip dimensions increase with chip complexity, interconnects tend to get longer. The longer on-chip interconnects coupled with a decrease in wire width and wire separation, inductive effects, and more specifically, mutual inductance coupling between neighbouring wires become non-negligible. An analytical model to examine the effect of non-uniform distribution of current on the mutual inductance and capacitance between on-chip interconnects, and the subsequent effect on the noise peak voltage of the victim line, is presented.