Serial sub-threshold circuits for ultra-low-power systems

Authors:
Sudhanshu Khanna;Benton H. Calhoun
Affiliations:
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA;University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Venue:
Proceedings of the 14th ACM/IEEE international symposium on Low power electronics and design
Year:
2009

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Sub-threshold Design for Ultra Low-Power Systems (Series on Integrated Circuits and Systems)

Sub-threshold Design for Ultra Low-Power Systems (Series on Integrated Circuits and Systems)

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Abstract

This paper explores the use of serial circuits for ultra-low-power sub-threshold systems. A serial system leads to a smaller design and higher utilization, yielding 40% active energy, 15x active power, and 32x leakage power benefits. Further, we show that using a serial system in the sub-threshold regime decreases both active energy and leakage power even at the same speed as a parallel system. This is in sharp contrast to strong inversion, where larger bit widths give lower energy and power for the same delay. We identify the unique properties of sub-threshold operation that creates these differences.