GCHECK: Global Convergence Checker for Oscillators

GCHECK is an automated verification tool that validate whether a ring oscillator always converges to the desired mode of operation regardless of the initial conditions and variability conditions. This is the first tool ever reported to address the global convergence failures in presence of variability. It has been shown that the tool can successfully validate a number of coupled ring oscillator circuits with various global convergence failure modes (e.g. no oscillation, false oscillation, and even choatic oscillation) with reasonable computational costs such as running 1000-point Monte-Carlo simulations for 7~60 initial conditions (maximum 4 hours).

Research Publication

• T. Kim, S. Youn, H. Park, and J. Kim, "Verifying Start-up Failures in Coupled Ring Oscillators in Presence of Variability Using Predictive Global Optimization," to be presented at ICCAD 2013.

Software Distribution

• Software package GCHECK_10162013.tar.gz

• Software user manual GCHECK_manual_10162013.pdf