Evaluation of Fully-Integrated Switching Regulators for CMOS Process Technologies

Author

Lee, Jaeseo ; Hatcher, Geoff ; Vandenberghe, Lieven ; Yang, Chih-Kong Ken

Author_Institution

Adv. Micro Devices, Santa Clara, CA, USA

Volume

15

Issue

9

fYear

2007

Firstpage

1017

Lastpage

1027

Abstract

This paper presents a feasible study of fully-integrated switching voltage regulators for power-optimized systems-on-chip (SoCs). In order to evaluate the power efficiency across a number of design variables, a compact macro-model of a regulator is created and validated. A key focus of the study is on the characteristics of the active and passive devices that are needed in order to maximize the efficiency of an on-chip regulator. With the macro-model, geometric programming is used to find the optimal characteristics for a given set of constraints such as load condition, process technology, and area. The achievable efficiencies for various current loads and across a range of technologies from 0.35-mum to 90-nm CMOS process are analyzed. The power efficiency is found to be strongly dependent on the inductor technology and over 70% efficiency is possible with advanced inductor technologies.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; geometric programming; low-power electronics; system-on-chip; voltage regulators; CMOS process technologies; SoC; fully-integrated switching voltage regulators; geometric programming; macromodel; on-chip regulator; power efficiency; power-optimized systems-on-chip; size 0.35 micron to 90 nm; CMOS process; CMOS technology; DC-DC power converters; Inductors; Integrated circuit technology; Paper technology; Power supplies; Regulators; Switching converters; Voltage; CMOS integrated circuits; dc-dc converters; low power; on-chip power regulation; switching regulators;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1063-8210

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TVLSI.2007.902204

Filename

4292161