Three-dimensional Integrated Circuit Design

Chapter 5. Physical Design Techniques for 3-D ICs

A variety of recently developed or emerging fabrication processes for 3-D systems are reviewed in Chapters 2 and 3. An effective design flow, however, for 3-D ICs has yet to be developed. This predicament is due to the additional complexity and related issues that emerge from introducing the third dimension to the integrated circuit design process. Existing techniques for 3-D circuits focus primarily on the back end of the design process. Floorplanning, placement, and routing techniques for standard cell 3-D circuits are presented in, respectively, Sections 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3. These techniques constitute early research efforts to tackle these important problems rather than a complete design flow ...