HW 11

My old exams are online here.
  1. sp08mid2 problems 2, 3
  2. sp06final problem 2
  3. sp08final problem 5 part a
  4. fa08final problem 1 parts a through e, and problem 4
  5. You are working at a startup and need to advise your partners on how much your next product is going to cost. You know that it's going to take about 200k gates and need 12kB of RAM. You have access to two IC processes . The first IC process is 180nm, with 50k gates/mm2, and 100kb/mm2. Masks cost $200k, and 200mm wafers cost $800. The second IC process is 32nm, with 1M gates/mm2, and 2Mb/mm2. Masks in this process cost $5M, and 300mm wafers cost $2000. Your design needs 20 pins.
    1. What is the marginal cost per chip in each process?
    2. How many chips do you need to make in each process before the marginal cost is greater than the amortized mask cost per chip?
    3. For what production volumes would you use the 180nm process vs. the 32nm process?
    4. How would your answers change if you needed 200 pins?