Communication today is not as easy as it was in the past. Protecting numerous com-
munication services, which are operating in the same or adjacent communication
channels, has become increasingly challenging. Communication systems have to be
protected from both natural and manmade interference. Electromagnetic interfer-
ence can be radiated or conducted, intentional or unintentional.
This book is intended to help electric power and telephone company
personnel and individuals interested in properly protecting critical tele-
communications circuits and equipment located in high voltage (HV)
environments and to improve service reliability while maintaining safe
working conditions. Critical telecommunications circuits are often
located in HV environments such as electric utility power plants,
substations, cell sites on power towers, and standalone telecommuni-
cations facilities such as 911 call centers and mountaintop telecom-
munications sites.
This effort started as an answer to the numerous questions the authors have
repeatedly had to answer about electrostatic discharge (ESD) Protection and
input/output (1/0) designs. In the past no comprehensive book existed suffi-
ciently covering these areas, and these topics were rarely taught in engineering
schools. Thus first-time I/O and ESD Protection designers have had consider-
able trouble getting started. This book is in part an answer to such needs.
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is one of the most prevalent threats to the reliability
of electronic components. It is an event in which a finite amount of charge is trans-
ferred from one object (i.e., human body) to another (i.e., microchip). This process
can result in a very high current passing through the microchip within a very short
period of time, and, hence, more than 35% of chip damages can be attributed to an
ESD-related event. As such, designing on-chip ESD structures to protect integrated
circuits against the ESD stresses is a high priority in the semiconductor industry.
Failure analysis is invaluable in the learning process of electrostatic discharge (ESD) and
electrical overstress (EOS) Protection design and development [1–8]. In the failure analysis
of EOS, ESD, and latchup events, there are a number of unique failure analysis processes
andinformationthatcanprovidesignificantunderstandingandillumination[4].Today,thereis
still no design methodology or computer-aided design (CAD) tool which will predict EOS,
ESDProtectionlevels,andlatchupinasemiconductorchip;thisisoneofthesignificantreasons
why failure analysis is critical to the ESD design discipline.
Dear Reader, this book project brings to you a unique study tool for ESD
Protection solutions used in analog-integrated circuit (IC) design. Quick-start
learning is combined with in-depth understanding for the whole spectrum of cross-
disciplinary knowledge required to excel in the ESD field. The chapters cover
technical material from elementary semiconductor structure and device levels up
to complex analog circuit design examples and case studies.
The goal of this book is to introduce the simulation methods necessary to describe
the behaviour of semiconductor devices during an electrostatic discharge (ESD).
The challenge of this task is the correct description of semiconductor devices under
very high current density and high temperature transients. As it stands, the book
can be no more than a snapshot and a summary of the research in this field
during the past few years. The authors hope that the book will provide the basis
for further development of simulation methods at this current frontier of device
physics.
This paper reviews key factors to practical ESD
Protection design for RF and analog/mixed-signal (AMS) ICs,
including general challenges emerging, ESD-RFIC interactions,
RF ESD design optimization and prediction, RF ESD design
characterization, ESD-RFIC co-design technique, etc. Practical
design examples are discussed. It means to provide a systematic
and practical design flow for whole-chip ESD Protection design
optimization and prediction for RF/AMS ICs to ensure 1 st Si
design success.
