Modular IC Hub-Spoke Architecture for Design Complexity
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Solution Overview
Problem
As ICs become increasingly complex, device designers face challenges in reducing design cycles and increasing reliability while managing software changes to accommodate new features and device modifications, leading to increased verification and validation costs and time consumption.
Innovation Solution
A modular integrated circuit architecture with a hub-and-spoke design, where a central hub manages and communicates with multiple spoke modules, enabling efficient power and clock signal distribution, and supporting interoperability through a common signaling format, allowing for the reuse of software and hardware components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If IC fabrication technology advances to make ICs smaller with more components, then device size is reduced, but device complexity increases making design and verification more expensive and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated circuit is divided into multiple independent spoke modules (e.g., audio module, video module, graphics module, USB module) that can be designed, verified, and manufactured separately. Each module has its own interface to the hub, allowing modular development that reduces overall design complexity while enabling compact integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The hub provides a common interface and unified address mapping that works across all spoke modules. This universal interface design allows the same hub architecture to support multiple different spoke modules, reducing verification costs and enabling reuse of design elements across various IC configurations.
2Productivity
If designers reuse working portions of previous designs, then design cycle is reduced and reliability is increased, but software changes are required to accommodate new features and device modifications
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates hardware modules from software control. Each spoke module is an independent hardware unit with a standardized interface, allowing hardware reuse without requiring software changes. The hub software can remain unchanged while supporting different spoke module configurations through the universal interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified address mapping scheme allows the same software to access different hardware resources by changing address parameters. This enables software to adapt to different spoke module configurations without actual software modification, maintaining productivity while avoiding software complexity.
3Reliability
If verification and validation of design becomes increasingly expensive and time consuming, then design quality may improve, but development efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Verification is performed independently on each spoke module rather than on the entire IC design. This modular verification approach reduces the time and resources required for validation while maintaining high design quality, as each module can be verified using the same standardized interface protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The common interface and unified address mapping provide a standardized verification framework that can be applied across all spoke modules. This universality allows verification methodologies to be reused and standardized, reducing overall verification time and cost while ensuring consistent design quality.
Data Source
AI summary
A modular integrated circuit includes a hub module that is coupled to a plurality of spoke modules via a plurality of hub interfaces. The plurality of hub interfaces provide a plurality of signal interfaces between the hub module and each of the plurality of spoke modules, wherein each of the plurality of signal interfaces is isolated from each of the other signal interfaces of the plurality of signals interface, and wherein each of the plurality of signal interfaces operates in accordance with a common signaling format.