Analysis of Leakage Power Reduction in Dual-V_th Technologies in the Presence of Large Threshold Voltage Variation

Authors: Wang, Wei-Shen; Liu, Michael; Orshansky, Michael

Source: Journal of Low Power Electronics, Volume 2, Number 1, April 2006 , pp. 1-7(7)

Publisher: American Scientific Publishers

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Abstract:

Low-power circuits are especially sensitive to the increasing levels of process variability and uncertainty. In this paper we study the problem of leakage power minimization through dual V_th design techniques in the presence of significant V_th variation. For the first time we consider the optimal selection of V_th under a statistical model of threshold variation taking into account die-to-die and within-die variability. Probabilistic analytical models are introduced to account for the impact of V_th uncertainty on leakage power and timing slack. From this analysis we find that the dual V_th technique is significantly less effective in reducing power in the presence of variability. We also show that in the presence of variability the optimal value of the second V_th is typically higher compared to that of the variation-free scenario. The model provides a way to compute the optimal value of the second threshold voltage for a variety of process conditions.

Keywords: POWER MINIMIZATION; LEAKAGE; RELIABILITY; VARIABILITY; YIELD

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1166/jolpe.2006.001

Publication date: 2006-04-01

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The electronic systems that can operate with very low power are of great technological interest. The growing research activity in the field of low power electronics requires a forum for rapid dissemination of important results: Journal of Low Power Electronics (JOLPE) is that international forum which offers scientists and engineers timely, peer-reviewed research in this field.
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