A 1-GHz/0.9-mW CMOS/SIMOX divide-by-128/129 dual-modulus prescaler using a divide-by-2/3 synchronous counter

An extremely low-power CMOS/SIMOX divide-by-128/129 dual-modulus prescaler that operates at up to 1 GHz and dissipates 0.9 mW at a supply voltage of 1 V is presented. The prescaler is capable of 2-GHz performance with dissipation of 7.2 mW at 2 V. This superior performance is primarily achieved by using an advanced ultrathin-film CMOS/SIMOX process technology combined with a circuit configuration that uses a divide-by-2/3 synchronous counter. Using these same technologies, a single-chip CMOS phase-locked-loop (PLL) LSI that uses the developed prescaler was fabricated. It can operate at up to 2 GHz while dissipating only 8.4 mW at a supply voltage of 2 V. Even at a lower supply voltage of 1.2 V, 1-GHz operation can be obtained with a corresponding power consumption of 1.4 mW. These results indicate that the high-speed and very-low-power features of CMOS/SIMOX technology could have an important impact on the development of future personal communication systems