Resonant clock mega-mesh for the IBM z13™

Abstract

The IBM z13™ microprocessor utilizes a large resonant "mega-mesh" global clock distribution saving 50% of the final-stage clock mesh power and 8% of the total chip power in the desired frequency range of 4.5 to 5.5 GHz compared to a simulated, non-resonant base-line design. The mega-mesh is driven by pulsed buffers. Measurement of the mega-mesh's robustness is enabled by skew gradients created by programmable delays. The design is implemented in IBM's high-performance 22nm high-k CMOS SOI technology with 17 metal layers [1].