Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B.

Nikolic
Power Dissipation
Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Where Does Power Go in CMOS?
Dynamic Power Consumption
Short Circuit Currents
Leakage
Charging and Discharging Capacitors
Short Circuit Path between Supply Rails during Switching
Leaking diodes and transistors
Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Dynamic Power Dissipation
2
0 0 0
) ( Vdd C dv C dt
dt
dv
C Vdd dt Vdd t i E
L
Vdd
out L
out
L Vdd Vdd
} } }
= = = =

Vin Vout
C
L
Vdd
2
) (
2
0 0 0
Vdd C
dv v C dt v
dt
dv
C dt v t i E
L
Vdd
out out L out
out
L out Vdd C
} } }
= = = =

Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Dynamic Power Dissipation
Energy/transition = C
L
* V
dd
2
Power = Energy/transition * f = C
L
* V
dd
2
* f
Need to reduce C
L
, V
dd
, and f to reduce power.
Vin Vout
C
L
Vdd
Not a function of transistor sizes!
Dependence with supply voltage is quadratic !!!
Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Node Transition Activity and Power
Consider switching a CMOS gate for N clock cycles
E
N
C
L
V
dd
-
2
n N ( ) - =
n(N): the number of 0->1 transition in N clock cycles
E
N
: the energy consumed for N clock cycles
P
avg
N
lim
E
N
N
-------- f
clk
- =
n N ( )
N
------------
N
lim
\ .
| |
C -
L
V
dd
-
2
f
clk
- =
o
0 1
n N ( )
N
------------
N
lim =
P
avg
= o
0 1
C -
L
V
dd
-
2
f
clk
-
Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Vin Vout
C
L
Vdd
I
V
D
D

(
m
A
)
0.15
0.10
0.05
V
in
(V)
5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0
Short Circuit Currents
I peak is a function of
transistor sizes.
It is also a strong
function of the input and
output slopes
Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Short Circuit Currents
If the output is too slow, then the P transistor is off and theres
no direct current
Vin Vout
C
L
Vdd
Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Short Circuit Current
If the output is too fast, then the P transistor goes quickly to
saturation (Vds = Vcc) and power consumption is maximum
Vin Vout
C
L
Vdd
Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Short Circuit Current
Graph of direct current versus
output capacitance


Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Leakage
Vout
Vdd
Sub-Threshold
Current
Drain Junction
Leakage
Sub-Threshold Current Dominant Factor
Sub-threshold current one of most compelling issues
in low-energy circuit design!
Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Reverse-Biased Diode Leakage
N
p
+ p
+
Reverse Leakage Current
+
-
V
dd
GATE
I
DL
= J
S
A
J
S

= 1-5pA/m
2
for a 1.2m CMOS technology
J
s
double with every 9
o
C increase in temperature
J S =10-100 pA/m2 at 25 deg C for 0.25m CMOS
J S doubles for every 9 deg C!

Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Subthreshold Leakage Component
Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Static Power Consumption
V
in
=5V
V
out
C
L
Vdd
I
stat
P
stat
= P
(In=1)
.V
dd
. I
stat
Dominates over dynamic consumption
Not a function of switching frequency
Wasted energy
Should be avoided in almost all cases,
but could help reducing energy in others (e.g. sense amps)
Modified From "Digital Integrated Circuits", by J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan and B. Nikolic
Principles for Power Reduction
Prime choice: Reduce voltage!
Recent years have seen an acceleration in supply voltage reduction
Design at very low voltages still open question (0.6 0.9 V by
2010!)
Reduce switching activity
Reduce physical capacitance