Growing your own IC clock tree

The design of a good clock-distribution network, or "tree," for a high-performance chip requires good integrated circuit engineering skills. A chip's specifications for speed, power and other factors are defined and then the clock-tree design is integrated into the normal chip-design flow. Although it is necessary to define the kind of tree needed up-front, there are some electronic design automation tools available to synthesize the tree and verify its performance before committing the design to silicon. Design methodology considerations for clock-trees are discussed.