low power via sub-threshold circuits
DESCRIPTION
Low Power via Sub-Threshold Circuits. Mike Pridgen. “Logic Circuits Operating in Subthreshold Voltages” Jabulani Nyathi and Brent Bero “Sub-Threshold Design: The Challenges of Minimizing Circuit Energy” B.H. Calhoun, A. Wang, N. Verma, and A. Chandrakasan. 2. Goal of Sub-Threshold Circuits. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Low Power viaSub-Threshold Circuits
Mike Pridgen
• “Logic Circuits Operating in Subthreshold Voltages”– Jabulani Nyathi and Brent Bero
• “Sub-Threshold Design: The Challenges of Minimizing Circuit Energy”– B.H. Calhoun, A. Wang, N. Verma, and A.
Chandrakasan
2
Goal of Sub-Threshold Circuits
• Minimize energy– Utilize leakage currents– Sacrifice speed
3
Uses of Sub-Threshold Circuits
• Standalone, low power devices– Wireless sensor nodes– RFID tags
• Burst-mode applications– Short, intensive bursts– Long, near-idle periods
4
Sub-Threshold FFT
• 16 bit FFT• FFT lengths of 128 to 1024• 350mV VDD
• 10kHz• 155nJ / FFT– 350x better than microprocessor– 8x better than ASIC
5
Improving Performance by Changing VBULK
• nMos– VBULK = 600mV
• pMos– VBULK = 0V
• 0 – 380mV • ID increases by 10x• Never “OFF”– ID > 0.1nA
6
Body Biasing Types
• Traditional• Three main variations– SBB– DTMOS– ABB
• Plus many others
7
Traditional Biasing
• nMos VBULK = GND
• pMOS VBULK = VDD
Traditional CMOS Inverter
8
Switched Body Biasing
• nMos VBULK = VDD
• pMos VBULK = GND
• VDD < VTH
SBB CMOS Inverter
9
Dynamic Threshold
• VBULK = VG
• Off if VDD > VTH
DTMOS Inverter
10
Adjustable Bulk Bias
• VDD < VTH
• VDD > VTH • Tunable– Low Power– High Speed– TBB TBB Inverter
11
Shorter Delays
12
• 6 – 10x speedup
Improving Performance
• Increased VDD = Increased Speed
• VDD = .75VTH versus VDD = .5VTH – 8x faster• Bias scheme irrelevant
– More power
13
Noise Effects
• TBB versus Traditional• VDD = 376.2mV• Logic 0– 0 to 200mV
• Logic 1– 225 to 376.2mV
• SBB noise margins worse
14
Standard (6T) SRAM
• Adjacent cells leakage current• Fails Static Noise Margins
15
Conclusions
• Bias schemes increase performance• Speed versus Power• Slight increase in noise• 6T SRAMS unusable
16
Questions