Abstract
As logic technology advances toward higher speeds and higher levels of integration, the problem of interconnects becomes more acute. This is because, per unit length, the resistance of a wire increases as all dimensions are reduced whereas its capacitance remains constant. This presentation will consider the statistics of wiring a large chip, based on Rent's rule, and derive relationships for wire resistance and current density. The efficacy of solutions to the wiring bottleneck, such as the use of a wiring hierarchy, and the use of repeaters, will be examined. Using these results it will be shown that a 77K ambient will be highly desirable for a future high speed computer, when circuit densities will be greater than 100,000 circuits/ cm2 and circuit delays less than 100ps. The speed advantage of the 77K computer over the room temperature version will scale as √ριCKT where ρ is the wire resistance and ιCKT is the circuit delay. The advantage of superconducting wires, and requirements on current density, will also be discussed in this context.© (1988) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

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