Fundamental Technologies for Dependable VLSI System
Strategic Sector
Research Supervisor
Year Started
Outline
This Research Area covers the R & D of fundamental technologies for the VLSI system that can guarantee high reliability and high security. It is a societal requirement today to guarantee the reliability and security of information systems, on which human activities depend to an ever increasing extent. The VLSI, its engine, is also a gigantic system itself containing a huge number of circuit elements, and its reliability and security is at the core of those of any information system. This Research Area addresses problems that have to be solved to realize VLSI systems with advanced levels of integration, while ensuring required reliability and security. To be concrete, the scope of this Research Area includes subjects as follows. Some of the major physical problems are fluctuation associated with ultimate miniaturization of integrated-circuit elements, single-event data failure, and deterioration brought by long time use. These degrading factors not only cause malfunctions, but also might prevent a VLSI from large-scale integration. An extensive search for novel technologies to alleviate those factors is required at the device level, circuit level, and system level. On the other hand, because large-scale integration by miniaturization will soon reach its limit, technologies for packaging many chips in three dimensions while ensuring reliability and security are also important subjects. Another R & D subjects are design techniques that prevent mistakes in design that accompanies increase in the scale of integration and complexity of system. Software that facilitates design, verification, manufacturing, and testing is sought for. Also required is R & D of architecture and circuits that detect, confine, and relieve threats to reliability and security from inside and outside of the VLSI system during operation. Requirements for a VLSI system come from the quality and performance requirements of the information system it is used in. How to specify and evaluate reliability and security requirements for the VLSI system is also a subject of this Research Area.