Power distribution network design (PDND) plays a critical role in the physical very large-scale integration (VLSI) design process, and involves many important issues in circuit design and physical integration for high-speed chips. PDND issues are still being researched; very few books in this field have been published.

In this book, the author describes all the aspects of PDND, from PDND modeling, analysis, and computer-aided design (CAD) tools, to package design. Through the presentation of valuable industrial design examples, readers will gain in-depth insights into chip design issues for power distribution networks.

In chapter 1, the author talks about power supply noise and modeling issues; the primary models and characterization results are presented. In addition, the author talks about the decoupling capacitance insertion method. A CAD procedure is proposed to automate the insertion process. The author ends by predicting some technology scaling impacts on PDND, in two scenarios.

In chapter 2, the guidelines for chip layout and floor planning in power grid design are described. The general principles to improve layout or package performance for the power distribution network are presented. Section 2.3 describes the power grid analysis and decoupling capacitance optimization method for a high-performance microprocessor. Section 2.4 discusses the general methodology for IR drop analysis and reduction. Another section describes package-level power network planning. These three issues are the core issues of PDND, and constitute the basis of PDND.

Chapter 3 discusses electromigration (EM). A basic EM definition and EM rules are presented. The CAD tools used to perform EM analysis are introduced. The methodology for reducing EM failures is discussed, in section 3.3.

In chapter 4, the static and dynamic IR drop analysis methods are discussed. Several practical approaches to fixing power drop problems are listed. Chapter 5 introduces a power grid analysis tool from Cadence, used to find the weak spots in the power grid, with three approaches. The practical design flow using the CAD tool is described. Chapter 6 offers practical industrial design examples of microprocessors. The actual examples from industry are great.

Chapter 7 discusses package and input/output (I/O) design for power delivery on the system-level. The author recommends that the right package should be used for high power delivery performance. In section 7.2, simultaneous switching noise (SSN) is described in detail. A methodology for ground bounce and decoupling capacitance is proposed. In section 7.4, the voltage measurement techniques are presented.

Overall, the book is a valuable reference for engineers, students, and researchers. It provides many industrial design examples to illustrate power distribution network design-related issues. The organization of the book is straightforward, and is short, but concise. It is a good book.