Commentary on Ann Mutschler’s paper in Semiconductor Engineering “Heat-Related Issues Impact Reliability In Advanced IC Designs”

My comment to Ann Mutschler’s paper in Semiconductor Engineering “Heat-Related Issues Impact Reliability In Advanced IC Designs” – “It was mentioned in the article that variable refresh rate is one tool for mitigating the effect of temperature on DRAM data retention. Has variable power supply voltage also been considered? Adjusting voltage could address short term workload demands, and over a longer time frame could mitigate transistor and EM aging. Variable power would certainly necessitate a robust design for thermal management, as well as DFR. But guaranteeing 10-year lifetime may leave one with few choices.”