Development of A Near-Threshold Digital Cell Library and a Design Flow for IoT Sensor Systems
Jörg Doblaski
X-FAB, DE
ABSTRACT
Optimized digital standard cells which efficiently operate in the near-threshold voltage (NTV) region are one basic enabler for the next generation of smart sensor systems especially of IoT. While a significant reduction of both dynamic power and leakage power is necessary to meet the power requirements of such systems, a reasonable performance still needs to be supported, to enable on-chip pre-processing and analysis of the sensor data.
The presentation will provide an overview about the development of a near-threshold digital library implemented in X-FAB's 0.18 µm Silicon-on-Insulator technology carried out in the framework of the BMBF-funded project RoMulus [1]. A digital ultra-low-power logic library was developed based on the standard CMOS technique, which operates in NTV region with 700 ⃛ 900mV operating voltage at -20 °C ⃛ 85 °C. Additionally supporting cells like level shifters and an NTV I/O pad cell library with ESD protection have been developed. The cells have been implemented with a NTV test chip, using a power-aware digital implementation flow. The test chip has been manufactured and characterized. The test results prove the function of the NTV logic cells in the specified voltage and temperature range and demonstrate the feasibility and possibilities of the development of further NTV logic cells.
