Large-Scale Circuit Simulation

The simulation of VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) circuits falls beyond the capabilities of conventional circuit simulators like SPICE. On the other hand, conventional logic simulators can only give the results of logic levels 1 and 0 with the attendent loss of detail in the waveforms. The aim of developing large-scale circuit simulation is to bridge the gap between conventional circuit simulation and logic simulation. This research is to investigate new approaches for fast and relatively accurate time-domain simulation of MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductors), LSI (Large Scale Integration) and VLSI circuits. New techniques and new algorithms are studied in the following areas: (1) analysis sequencing (2) nonlinear iteration (3) modified Gauss-Seidel method (4) latency criteria and timestep control scheme. The developed methods have been implemented into a simulation program PREMOS which could be used as a design verification tool for MOS circuits. (Author) Doctoral thesis.