Characterizing and modeling minimum energy operation for subthreshold circuits

Author

Calhoun, Benton H. ; Chandrakasan, Anantha

Author_Institution

MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

fYear

2004

Firstpage

90

Lastpage

95

Abstract

Subthreshold operation is emerging as an energy-saving approach to many new applications. This paper examines energy minimization for circuits operating in the subthreshold region. We show the dependence of the optimum V_DD for a given technology on design characteristics and operating conditions. Solving equations for total energy provides an analytical solution for the Optimum VDD and V_T to minimize energy for a given frequency in subthreshold operation. SPICE simulations of a 200K transistor FIR filter confirm the analytical solution and the dependence of the minimum energy operating point on important parameters.

Keywords

CMOS logic circuits; FIR filters; SPICE; VLSI; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit modelling; leakage currents; low-power electronics; threshold logic; FIR filter; SPICE simulation; design characteristics; energy minimization; energy-saving approach; gate leakage; minimum energy operation; operating conditions; subthreshold circuits; subthreshold model; transregional model; Analytical models; Circuit simulation; Equations; Finite impulse response filter; Frequency; Gate leakage; Minimization; Permission; SPICE; Threshold voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Low Power Electronics and Design, 2004. ISLPED '04. Proceedings of the 2004 International Symposium on

Print_ISBN

1-58113-929-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/LPE.2004.1349316

Filename

1349316