ASICs in VLSI
The abbreviation ASIC stands for Application Specific Integrated Circuits. Compared with standard circuits an ASIC is designed and manufactured according to specifications resulting from its application. The ASIC user can specify the circuit function at design level and/or by means of configuration options. The figure below shows a possible classification of monolithically integrated circuits.
Design flow of ASICs
Today, ASIC design flow is a very mature process in silicon turnkey design. The ASIC design flow and its various steps in VLSI engineering that we describe below are based on best practices and proven methodologies in ASIC chip designs.
Some of the design goals for AISCs are:
• cost effective solution,
• low design effort with respect to time and cost,
• high performance, i.e., functionality, speed,
• low power dissipation,
• small volume and weight,
• high reliability,
• low cost for mounting and test.
Technological Characteristics of ASICs
The so called feature size of a certain technology is a measure of the length of the smallest MOS transistor, sometimes also for the minimal allowable distance between two connection lines on the chips. The feature size λ is in the order of the length of a transistor. The silicon chip of the IC, the so called die varies in its area from some mm^2 to several cm^2. The bigger the die and the smaller λ the more transistors can be integrated into one IC.
Conclusion
We learnt about Application Specific Integrated Circuits (commonly known as ASICs), its classification’s, how it’s designed keeping in mind the numerous factors as discussed above and also the technological characteristics of them. For the next blog I'll be taking about it’s application in VLSI. Till then..
