Convex delay models for transistor sizing

This paper derives a methodology for developing accurate convex delay models to be used for transistor sizing. A new rich class of convex functions to model gate delay is presented and the circuit delay under such a model is shown to be equivalent to a convex function. The richness of these functions is exploited to accurately model gate delay for modern designs. The delay model is incorporated into a transistor sizing algorithm based on TILOS. The models were characterized by using a set of grid points and then validated using a disjoint data set. The models were found to be within about 10% of SPICE for nearly all of the gate types considered. Also presented are the experimental results of sizing various test circuits.