Single Flux Quantum Integrated Circuit Design

High efficiency, large scale, stationary computing systems – supercomputers and data centers – are becoming increasingly important due to the movement of data storage and processing onto remote cloud servers. This book is dedicated to a technology particularly appropriate for this application – superconductive electronics, in particular, rapid single flux quantum circuits. The primary purpose of this book is to introduce and systematize recent developments in superconductive electronics into a cohesive whole to support the further development of large scale computing systems.

A brief background into the physics of superconductivity and the operation of common superconductive devices is provided, followed by an introduction into different superconductive logic families, including the logic gates, interconnect, and bias current distribution. Synchronization, fabrication, and electronic design automation methodologies are presented, reviewing both widely established concepts and techniques as well as recent approaches. Issues related to memory, synchronization, bias networks, and testability are described, and models, circuits, algorithms, and design methodologies are discussed and placed in context. The aim of this book is to provide insight and engineering intuition into the design of large scale digital superconductive circuits and systems.

Gleb Krylov graduated from the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI in Moscow, Russia, in 2014, with the Specialist degree in computer science and engineering. He received the M.S. degree from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, in 2017, where he is currently completing the Ph.D. degree, both in electrical and computer engineering. His current research interests include superconductive and cryogenic electronics, quantum computing, and electronic design automation.

Eby G. Friedman received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Lafayette College and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California at Irvine. He was with Hughes Aircraft Company for a dozen years where he was responsible for the design and test of high performance digital and analog ICs. He has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester since 1991, where he is a Distinguished Professor and the Director of the High Performance VLSI/IC Design and Analysis Laboratory. He is also a Visiting Professor with the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology. He has authored over 500 papers and book chapters, 22 patents, and authored or edited 19 books in the fields of high speed and low power CMOS design techniques, 3-D design methodologies, high speed interconnect, superconductive circuits, and the theory and application of synchronous clock and power distribution networks. His current research and teaching interests include high performance synchronous digital and mixed-signal circuit design and analysis with application to high speed portable processors, low power wireless communications, and server farms.

Dr. Friedman is a recipient of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Mac Van Valkenburg Award, IEEE Circuits and Systems Charles A. Desoer Technical Achievement Award, the University of Rochester Graduate Teaching Award, and the College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award. He was previously the Editor-in-Chief and Chair of the steering committee of the IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems, Editor-in-Chief of the Microelectronics Journal, and Regional Editor of the Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers, an editorial board member of numerous journals, and a program and technical chair of several IEEE conferences. He is an IEEE Fellow, Senior Fulbright Fellow, National Sun Yat-sen University Honorary Chair Professor, and an inaugural member of the UC Irvine Engineering Hall of Fame.