Re-Connecting MOS Modeling and Circuit Design: New Methods for Design Quality

Amid the blizzard of design-automation technologies, the analytical MOSFET models (and their associated model parameter sets) receive scant attention from the design community. However, these models and parameter sets are fundamental to the design process, since they represent the critical "communication link" between a design group and its wafer foundry. In particular, analog integrated circuit design is carried out at the transistor level; however, this fundamental aspect of analog design has not received much attention. The digital designer is also severely affected by slow MOS models, accuracy problems, and unpredictable model behavior.