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1 – 10 of over 3000Muhammad Yasir Faheem, Shun'an Zhong, Xinghua Wang and Muhammad Basit Azeem
There are many types of the ADCs implemented in the mobile and wireless devices. Most of these devices are battery operated and operational at low input voltage. SAR ADC is…
Abstract
Purpose
There are many types of the ADCs implemented in the mobile and wireless devices. Most of these devices are battery operated and operational at low input voltage. SAR ADC is popular for its low power operations and simple architecture. Scientists are still working to make its working faster under the same low power area. There are many SAR-ADC implemented in the past two decades, but still, there is a big room for dual SAR-ADC.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors are presenting a dual SAR-ADC with a smaller number of components and blocks. The proposed ultra-low-power circuit of the SAR-ADC consists of four major blocks, which include Bee-bootstrap, Spider-Latch dual comparator, dual SAR-logic and dual digital to analog converter. The authors have used the 90-nm CMOS library for the construction of the design.
Findings
The power breaks down of the comparator are dramatically improved from 0.006 to 0.003 uW. The ultimate design has 5 MHz operating frequency with 25 KS/s sampling frequency. The supply voltage is 1.2 V with 35.724 uW power consumption. Signal-to-noise and distortion ratio and spurious-free dynamic range are 65 and 84 dB, respectively. The Walden's figure of merits calculated 7.08 fj/step.
Originality/value
The authors are proposing two-in-one circuit for SAR-ADC named as “dual SAR-ADC”, which obeys the basic equation of duality, derived and proved under the heading of proposed solution. It shows a clear difference between the performance of two circuit-based ADC and one dual circuit ADC. The number of components is reduced by sharing the work load of some key components.
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Kumar Neeraj, Mohammed Mahaboob Basha and Srinivasulu Gundala
Smart ubiquitous sensors have been deployed in wireless body area networks to improve digital health-care services. As the requirement for computing power has drastically…
Abstract
Purpose
Smart ubiquitous sensors have been deployed in wireless body area networks to improve digital health-care services. As the requirement for computing power has drastically increased in recent years, the design of low power static RAM-based ubiquitous sensors is highly required for wireless body area networks. However, SRAM cells are increasingly susceptible to soft errors due to short supply voltage. The main purpose of this paper is to design a low power SRAM- based ubiquitous sensor for healthcare applications.
Design/methodology/approach
In this work, bias temperature instabilities are identified as significant issues in SRAM design. A level shifter circuit is proposed to get rid of soft errors and bias temperature instability problems.
Findings
Bias Temperature Instabilities are focused on in recent SRAM design for minimizing degradation. When compared to the existing SRAM design, the proposed FinFET-based SRAM obtains better results in terms of latency, power and static noise margin. Body area networks in biomedical applications demand low power ubiquitous sensors to improve battery life. The proposed low power SRAM-based ubiquitous sensors are found to be suitable for portable health-care devices.
Originality/value
In wireless body area networks, the design of low power SRAM-based ubiquitous sensors are highly essential. This design is power efficient and it overcomes the effect of bias temperature instability.
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Major area of a die is consumed in memory components. Almost 60-70% of chip area is being consumed by “Memory Circuits”. The dominant memory in this market is SRAM, even though…
Abstract
Purpose
Major area of a die is consumed in memory components. Almost 60-70% of chip area is being consumed by “Memory Circuits”. The dominant memory in this market is SRAM, even though the SRAM size is larger than embedded DRAM, as SRAM does not have yield issues and the cost is not high as compared to DRAM. At the same time, the other attractive feature for the SRAM is speed, and it can be used for low power applications. CMOS SRAM is the crucial component in microprocessor chips and applications, and as the said major portion of the area is dedicated to SRAM arrays, CMOS SRAM is considered to be the stack holders in the memory market. Because of the scaling feature of CMOS, SRAM had its hold in the market over the past few decades. In recent years, the limitations of the CMOS scaling have raised so many issues like short channel effects, threshold voltage variations. The increased thrust for alternative devices leads to FinFET. FinFET is emerging as one of the suitable alternatives for CMOS and in the region of memory circuits.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, a new 11 T SRAM cell using FinFET technology has been proposed, the basic component of the cell is the 6 T SRAM cell with 4 NMOS access transistors to improve the stability and also makes it a dual port memory cell. The proposed cell uses a header scheme in which one extra PMOS transistor is used which is biased at different voltages to improve the read and write stability thus, helps in reducing the leakage power and active power.
Findings
The cell shows improvement in RSNM (read static noise margin) with LP8T by 2.39× at sub-threshold voltage 2.68× with D6T SRAM cell, 5.5× with TG8T. The WSNM (write static noise margin) and HM (hold margin) of the SRAM cell at 0.9 V is 306 mV and 384 mV. It shows improvement at sub-threshold operation also. The leakage power is reduced by 0.125× with LP8T, 0.022× with D6T SRAM cell, TG8T and SE8T. The impact of process variation on cell stability is also discussed.
Research limitations/implications
The FinFet has been used in place of CMOS even though the FinFet has been not been a matured technology; therefore, pdk files have been used.
Practical implications
SRAM cell has been designed which has good stability and reduced leakage by which we can make an array and which can be used as SRAM array.
Social implications
The cell can be used for SRAM memory for low power consumptions.
Originality/value
The work has been done by implementing various leakage techniques to design a stable and improved SRAM cell. The advantage of this work is that the cell has been working for low voltage without degrading the stability factor.
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Kanika Monga, Nitin Chaturvedi and S. Gurunarayanan
Emerging event-driven applications such as the internet-of-things requires an ultra-low power operation to prolong battery life. Shutting down non-functional block during standby…
Abstract
Purpose
Emerging event-driven applications such as the internet-of-things requires an ultra-low power operation to prolong battery life. Shutting down non-functional block during standby mode is an efficient way to save power. However, it results in a loss of system state, and a considerable amount of energy is required to restore the system state. Conventional state retentive flip-flops have an “Always ON” circuitry, which results in large leakage power consumption, especially during long standby periods. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the emerging non-volatile memory element spin transfer torque-magnetic tunnel junction (STT-MTJ) as one the prospective candidate to obtain a low-power solution to state retention.
Design/methodology/approach
The conventional D flip-flop is modified by using STT-MTJ to incorporate non-volatility in slave latch. Two novel designs are proposed in this paper, which can store the data of a flip-flip into the MTJs before power off and restores after power on to resume the operation from pre-standby state.
Findings
A comparison of the proposed design with the conventional state retentive flip-flop shows 100 per cent reduction in leakage power during standby mode with 66-69 per cent active power and 55-64 per cent delay overhead. Also, a comparison with existing MTJ-based non-volatile flip-flop shows a reduction in energy consumption and area overhead. Furthermore, use of a fully depleted-silicon on insulator and fin field-effect transistor substituting a complementary metal oxide semiconductor results in 70-80 per cent reduction in the total power consumption.
Originality/value
Two novel state-retentive D flip-flops using STT-MTJ are proposed in this paper, which aims to obtain zero leakage power during standby mode.
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C.M.R. Prabhu and Ajay Kumar Singh
Low power static‐random access memories (SRAM) has become a critical component in modern VLSI systems. In cells, the bit‐lines are the most power consuming components because of…
Abstract
Purpose
Low power static‐random access memories (SRAM) has become a critical component in modern VLSI systems. In cells, the bit‐lines are the most power consuming components because of larger power dissipation in driving long bit‐line with large capacitance. The cache write consumes considerable large power due to full voltage swing on the bit‐line. The aim of the paper is to propose a new SRAM cell architecture to reduce the power consumption during write 0 and write 1 operation.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed circuit includes two tail transistors in the pull‐down path of inv‐A and inv‐B. The simulated results of the proposed cell is compared with Conventional 6T SRAM cell and zero‐asymmetric SRAM cell.
Findings
The proposed SRAM cell consumes less power than the conventional SRAM cell during write operation. The write access delay is reported to be lower than conventional and ZA SRAMs in the proposed circuit. The read operation is similar to Conventional SRAM cell but due to tail transistors the read access delay and stability is poor in the present circuit which can be improved by careful transistors sizing.
Originality/value
The paper proposes a SRAM cell to reduce the power in write “0” as well as write “1”operation by introducing two tail transistors.
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Mercedes Crego‐Calama, Sywert Brongersma, Devrez Karabacak and Mieke Van Bavel
The purpose of this paper is to present a novel approach for fabricating electronic nose (e‐nose) systems for adaptation into autonomous wireless sensor nodes. Such systems must…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a novel approach for fabricating electronic nose (e‐nose) systems for adaptation into autonomous wireless sensor nodes. Such systems must fulfill a combination of requirements that currently cannot be met by existing technologies. The paper also contains an overview of the various application domains that are envisaged for such miniaturized electronic nose systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach makes use of micromechanical systems that are an ideal technology for fabricating miniaturized sensor arrays for low‐power applications. An array of doubly clamped micromechanical beams with integrated piezoelectric transducers is presented.
Findings
The presented approach fulfills the requirements of sensitivity, arrayability, integratability and low‐power operation.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is required to integrate the structures with low‐power analog readout circuits and to demonstrate simultaneous measurements from multiple structures.
Practical implications
The presented technology makes use of established micromachining techniques and deploys commercial inkjet printing for functionalization of the individual detection elements. This enhances its potential adaptation by industry.
Originality/value
The innovative concept paves the way for autonomous electronic nose systems.
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Elham Ali Shammar and Ammar Thabit Zahary
Internet has changed radically in the way people interact in the virtual world, in their careers or social relationships. IoT technology has added a new vision to this process by…
Abstract
Purpose
Internet has changed radically in the way people interact in the virtual world, in their careers or social relationships. IoT technology has added a new vision to this process by enabling connections between smart objects and humans, and also between smart objects themselves, which leads to anything, anytime, anywhere, and any media communications. IoT allows objects to physically see, hear, think, and perform tasks by making them talk to each other, share information and coordinate decisions. To enable the vision of IoT, it utilizes technologies such as ubiquitous computing, context awareness, RFID, WSN, embedded devices, CPS, communication technologies, and internet protocols. IoT is considered to be the future internet, which is significantly different from the Internet we use today. The purpose of this paper is to provide up-to-date literature on trends of IoT research which is driven by the need for convergence of several interdisciplinary technologies and new applications.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive IoT literature review has been performed in this paper as a survey. The survey starts by providing an overview of IoT concepts, visions and evolutions. IoT architectures are also explored. Then, the most important components of IoT are discussed including a thorough discussion of IoT operating systems such as Tiny OS, Contiki OS, FreeRTOS, and RIOT. A review of IoT applications is also presented in this paper and finally, IoT challenges that can be recently encountered by researchers are introduced.
Findings
Studies of IoT literature and projects show the disproportionate importance of technology in IoT projects, which are often driven by technological interventions rather than innovation in the business model. There are a number of serious concerns about the dangers of IoT growth, particularly in the areas of privacy and security; hence, industry and government began addressing these concerns. At the end, what makes IoT exciting is that we do not yet know the exact use cases which would have the ability to significantly influence our lives.
Originality/value
This survey provides a comprehensive literature review on IoT techniques, operating systems and trends.
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Afreen Khursheed and Kavita Khare
This paper is an unprecedented effort to resolve the performance issue of very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI) interconnects encountered because of the scaling of device…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is an unprecedented effort to resolve the performance issue of very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI) interconnects encountered because of the scaling of device dimensions. Repeater interpolation technique is an effective approach for enhancing speed of interconnect network. Proposed buffers as repeater are modeled by using dual chirality multi-Vt technology to reduce delay besides mitigating average power consumption. Interconnects modeled with carbon nanotube (CNT) technology are compared with copper interconnect for various lengths. Buffer circuits are designed with both CNT and metal oxide semiconductor technology for comparison by using various combination of (CMOSFET repeater-Cu interconnect) and (CNTFET repeater-CNT interconnect). Compared to conventional buffer, ProposedBuffer1 saves dynamic power by 84.86%, leakage power by 88% and offers reduction in delay by 72%. ProposedBuffer2 brings about dynamic power saving of 99.94%, leakage power saving of 93%, but causes delay penalty. Simulation using Stanford SPICE model for CNT and silicon-field effective transistor berkeley short-channel IGFET Model4 (BSIM4) predictive technology model (PTM) for MOS is done in H simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis for 32 nm.
Design/methodology/approach
Usually, the dynamic power consumption dominates the total power, while the leakage power has a negligible effect. But with the scaling of device technology, leakage power has become one of the important factors of consideration in low power design techniques. Various strategies are explored to suppress the leakage power in standby mode. The adoption of a multi-threshold design strategy is an effective approach to improve the performance of buffer circuits without compromising on the delay and area overhead. Unlike MOS technology, to implement multi-Vt transistors in case of CNT technology is quite easy. It can be achieved by varying diameter of carbon nanotubes using chirality control.
Findings
An unprecedented approach is taken for optimizing the delay and power dissipation and hence drastically reducing energy consumption by keeping proper harmony between wire technology and repeater-buffer technology. This paper proposes two novel ultra-low power buffers (PB1 and PB2) as repeaters for high-speed interconnect applications in portable devices. PB1 buffer implemented with high-speed CML technique nested with multi-threshold (Vt) technology sleep transistor so as to improve the speed along with a reduction in standby power consumption. PB2 is judicially implemented by inserting separable sized, dual chirality P type carbon nanotube field effective transistors. The HSpice simulation results justify the correctness of schemes.
Originality/value
Result analysis points out that compared to conventional Cu interconnect, the CNT interconnects paired with Proposed CNTFET buffer designs are more energy efficient. PB1 saves dynamic power by 84.86%, reduces propagation delay by 72% and leakage power consumption by 88%. PB2 brings about dynamic power saving of 99.4%, leakage power saving of 93%, with improvement in speed by 52%. This is mainly because of the fact that CNT interconnect offers low resistance and CNTFET drivers have high mobility and ballistic mode of operation.
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Chan‐Soo Lee, Ho‐Yong Choi, Yeong‐Seuk Kim and Nam‐Soo Kim
The purpose of this paper is to present a fully integrated power converter. A stacked spiral inductor is applied in a voltage‐mode CMOS DC‐DC converter for the chip…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a fully integrated power converter. A stacked spiral inductor is applied in a voltage‐mode CMOS DC‐DC converter for the chip miniaturization and low‐power operation.
Design/methodology/approach
The three‐layer spiral inductor is simulated with an equivalent circuit and applied to the DC‐DC converter. The DC‐DC buck converter has been fabricated with a standard 0.35 μm CMOS process. The power converter is measured in both experiment and simulation in terms of frequency and electrical characteristics.
Findings
Experimental results show that the converter with the stacked spiral inductor operates properly with the inductance of 7.6 nH and mW power range. The measured inductance of the stacked spiral inductor is found to be almost half of the circuit designed value because of the parasitic resistances and capacitances in the spiral inductor.
Originality/value
This paper first introduces the application of the integrated stacked spiral inductor in DC‐DC buck converter for display driver circuit, which requires a low‐power operation. It also shows the fully integrated DC‐DC converter for chip miniaturization.
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Muhammad Yasir Faheem, Shun'an Zhong, Xinghua Wang and Muhammad Basit Azeem
Successive approximation register (SAR) analogue to digital converter (ADC) is well-known with regard to low-power operations. To make it energy-efficient and time-efficient…
Abstract
Purpose
Successive approximation register (SAR) analogue to digital converter (ADC) is well-known with regard to low-power operations. To make it energy-efficient and time-efficient, scientists are working for the last two decades, and it still needs the attention of the researchers. In actual work, there is no mechanism and circuitry for the production of two simultaneous comparator outputs in SAR ADC.
Design/methodology/approach
A small-sized, low-power and energy-efficient circuitry of a dual comparator and an amplifier is presented, which is the most important part of SAR ADC. The main idea is to design a multi-dimensional circuit which can deliver two quick parallel comparisons. The circuitry of the three devices is combined and miniaturized by introducing a lower number of MOSFET’s and small-sized capacitors in such a way that there is no need for any matching and calibration.
Findings
The supply voltage of the proposed comparator is 0.7 V with the overall power consumption of 0.257mW. The input and clock frequencies are 5 and 50 MHz, respectively. There is no requirement for any offset calibration and mismatching concerns due to sharing and centralization of spider-latch circuitry. The total offset voltages are 0.13 0.31 mV with 0.3VDD to VDD. All the components are small-sized and miniaturized to make the circuit cost-effective and energy-efficient. The rise and response time of comparator is around 100 ns. SNDR improved from 56 to 65 dB where the input-referred noise of an amplifier is 98mVrms.
Originality/value
The proposed design has no linear-complexity compared with the conventional comparator in both modes (working and standby); it is ultimately intended and designed for 11-bit SAR ADC. The circuit based on three rapid clock pulses for three different modes includes amplification and two parallel comparisons controlled and switched by a latch named as “spider-latch”.
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