Estimation of Voltage Drop in Power Circuits using Machine Learning Algorithms : Investigating potential applications of machine learning methods in power circuits design

Abstract: Accurate estimation of voltage drop (IR drop), in Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) is a critical challenge, which impacts their performance and power consumption. As technology advances and die sizes shrink, predicting IR drop fast and accurate becomes increasingly challenging. This thesis focuses on exploring the application of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, including Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Graph Neural Network (GNN), to address this problem. Traditional methods of estimating IR drop using commercial tools are time consuming, especially for complex designs with millions of transistors. To overcome that, ML algorithms are investigated for their ability to provide fast and accurate IR drop estimation. This thesis utilizes electrical, timing and physical features of the ASIC design as input to train the ML models. The scalability of the selected features allows for their effective application across various ASIC designs with very few adjustments. Experimental results demonstrate the advantages of ML models over commercial tools, offering significant improvements in prediction speed. Notably, GNNs, such as Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) models showed promising performance with low prediction errors in voltage drop estimation. The incorporation of graph-structures models opens new fields of research for accurate IR drop prediction. The conclusions drawn emphasize the effectiveness of ML algorithms in accurately estimating IR drop, thereby optimizing ASIC design efficiency. The application of ML models enables faster predictions and noticeably reducing calculation time. This contributes to enhancing energy efficiency and minimizing environmental impact through optimised power circuits. Future work can focus on exploring the scalability of the models by training on a smaller portion of the circuit and extrapolating predictions to the entire design seems promising for more efficient and accurate IR drop estimation in complex ASIC designs. These advantages present new opportunities in the field and extend the capabilities of ML algorithms in the task of IR drop prediction.