High performance energy efficient radiation hardened latch for low voltage applications

Energy efficiency is considered to be the most critical design parameter for IoT and other ultra low power applications. However, energy efficient circuits show a lesser immunity against soft error, because of the smaller device node capacitances in nanoscale technologies and near-threshold voltage operation. Due to these reasons, the tolerance of the sequential circuits to SEUs is an important consideration in nanoscale near threshold CMOS design. This paper presents an energy efficient SEU tolerant latch. The proposed latch improves the SEU tolerance by using a clocked Muller- C and memory elements based restorer circuit. The parasitic extracted simulations using STMicroelectronics 65 nm CMOS technology show that by employing the proposed latch, an average improvement of ∼40% in energy delay product (EDP), is obtained over the recently reported latch. Moreover, the proposed latch is also validated in a TCAD calibrated PTM 32 nm framework and PTM 22 nm CMOS technology nodes. In 32 nm and 22 nm technologies, the proposed latch improves the EDP ∼12% and 59% over existing latches respectively.     

Low cost and highly reliable hardened latch design for nanoscale CMOS technology

With technology node shrinking, the susceptibility of a single chip to soft errors increases. Hence, the critical charge (Qcrit) of circuit decreases and this decrease is expected to continue with further technology scaling. In this paper previous hardened latch circuits are analyzed and it is found that previous designs offer limited protection against soft error especially for soft error caused by high energy particles and not all the nodes are under soft error protection. Therefore, in this paper we propose a low cost hardened latch design in 45 nm CMOS technology with full protection for all internal nodes as well as output node against soft error. Moreover, the proposed hardened approach is technology independent. Compared to previous hardened latch designs, the proposed design reduces cost in terms of power delay product (PDP) 59% on average.     

40 nm CMOS工艺下的低功耗容软错误锁存器

为了降低集成电路的软错误率,该文基于时间冗余的方法提出一种低功耗容忍软错误锁存器。该锁存器不但可以过滤上游组合逻辑传播过来的SET脉冲,而且对SEU完全免疫。其输出节点不会因为高能粒子轰击而进入高阻态,所以该锁存器能够适用于门控时钟电路。SPICE仿真结果表明,与同类的加固锁存器相比,该文结构仅仅增加13.4%的平均延时,使得可以过滤的SET脉冲宽度平均增加了44.3%,并且功耗平均降低了48.5%,功耗延时积(PDP)平均降低了46.0%,晶体管数目平均减少了9.1%。     

An SEU resilient,SET filterable and cost effective latch in presence of PVT variations

This paper presents a single event upset (SEU) resilient, single event transient (SET) filterable and cost effective latch (referred to as RFEL) using 45 nm CMOS commercial technology. By means of triple mutual feedback CMOS structures, one of which is an input-split Schmitt trigger, and two of which are Muller C-elements, the internal nodes and output node of the latch are self-recoverable from single event upset regardless of the energy of a striking particle. The latch filters a much wider spectrum of single event transient on account of hysteresis property of the embedded input-split Schmitt trigger, and temporal redundancy in the grouped inputs of the Muller C-element at output stage. The latch performs with lower overheads regarding area, power, and delay than most of the single event upset and single event transient simultaneously tolerated latches as well. Simulation results show that the area-power-delay-pulse product of the latch is 65.58% saving on average, and Monte Carlo simulation results demonstrate the equivalent or even less sensitivity of the latch to process, and temperature variations, compared with the previous radiation hardened latches.     

一种容SEU的新型自恢复锁存器

针对单粒子翻转(SEU)的问题,提出了一种容SEU的新型自恢复锁存器。采用1P-2N单元、输入分离的钟控反相器以及C单元,使得锁存器对SEU能够实现自恢复,可用于时钟门控电路。采用高速通路设计和钟控设计,以减小延迟和降低功耗。相比于HLR-CG1,HLR-CG2,TMR,HiPer-CG锁存器,该锁存器的功耗平均下降了44.40%,延迟平均下降了81%,功耗延迟积(PDP)平均下降了94.20%,面积开销平均减少了1.80%。     

一种低开销的三点翻转自恢复锁存器设计

随着集成电路特征尺寸的不断缩减,在恶劣辐射环境下,纳米级CMOS集成电路中单粒子三点翻转的几率日益增高,严重影响可靠性。为了实现单粒子三点翻转自恢复,该文提出一种低开销的三点翻转自恢复锁存器(LC-TNURL)。该锁存器由7个C单元和7个钟控C单元组成,具有对称的环状交叉互锁结构。利用C单元的阻塞特性和交叉互锁连接方式,任意3个内部节点发生翻转后,瞬态脉冲在锁存器内部传播,经过C单元多级阻塞后会逐级消失,确保LC-TNURL锁存器能够自行恢复到正确逻辑状态。详细的HSPICE仿真表明,与其他三点翻转加固锁存器(TNU-Latch, LCTNUT, TNUTL, TNURL)相比,LC-TNURL锁存器的功耗平均降低了31.9%,延迟平均降低了87.8%,功耗延迟积平均降低了92.3%,面积开销平均增加了15.4%。相对于参考文献中提出的锁存器,LC-TNURL锁存器的PVT波动敏感性最低,具有较高的可靠性。     

MISO current mode bi-quadratic filter employing high performance inverting second generation current conveyor circuit

This paper presents static and dynamic studies of a new CMOS realization for the inverting second generation current conveyor circuit (ICCII). The proposed design offers enhanced functionalities compared to ICCII circuits previously presented in the literature. It is characterized by a rail to rail dynamic range with high accuracy, a low parasitic resistor at terminal X (1.6 Ω) and low power consumption (0.31 mW) with wide current mode (3.32 GHz) and voltage mode (3.9 GHz) bandwidths.Furthermore, a new MISO current mode bi-quadratic filter based on using ICCII circuits as active elements is proposed. This filter can realize all standard filter responses without changing the circuit topology. It is characterized by active and passive sensitivities less than unity and an adjustment independently between pole frequency and quality factor. The operating frequency limit of this filter is about 0.8 GHz with 0.674 mW power consumption.The proposed current conveyor circuits and bi-quadratic filter are tested by TSPICE using CMOS 0.18 µm TSMC technology with ±0.8 V supply voltage to verify the theoretical results.     

低面积与低延迟开销的三节点翻转容忍锁存器设计

随着纳米级CMOS集成电路的不断发展,锁存器极易受恶劣的辐射环境影响,由此引发的多节点翻转问题越来越严重。该文提出一种基于双联互锁存储单元(DICE)和2级C单元的3节点翻转(TNU)容忍锁存器,该锁存器包括5个传输门、2个DICE和3个C单元。该锁存器具有较小的晶体管数量,大大减小了电路的硬件开销,实现低成本。每个DICE单元可用来容忍并恢复单节点翻转,而C单元具有错误拦截特性,可屏蔽由DICE单元传来的错误值。当任意3个节点翻转后,借助DICE单元和C单元,该锁存器可容忍该错误。基于集成电路仿真程序(HSPICE)的仿真结果表明,与先进的TNU加固锁存器设计相比,该锁存器的延迟平均降低了64.65%,延迟功耗面积积平均降低了65.07%。     

一种新型抗多节点翻转加固锁存器

在纳米锁存器中,由电荷共享效应导致的多节点翻转(MNU)正急剧增加,成为主要的可靠性问题之一。尽管现有的辐射加固锁存器能够对MNU进行较好的容错,但是这些加固锁存器只依赖于传统的冗余技术进行加固,需要非常大的硬件开销。基于辐射翻转机制(瞬态脉冲翻转极性)设计了一种新型抗MNU锁存器。该锁存器可有效减少需保护的节点数(敏感节点数)和晶体管数,因此可减少电路的硬件开销。由于至少存在2个节点可以保存正确的值,因此任何单节点翻转(SNU)和MNU都可以被恢复容错。基于TSMC 65 nm CMOS工艺进行仿真,结果显示,设计的加固锁存器的电路面积、传播延迟和动态功耗分别为19.44μm²,16.96 ps和0.91μW。与现有的辐射加固锁存器相比,设计的锁存器具有较小的硬件开销功耗-延迟-面积乘积(PDAP)值,仅为300.02。     

Single event double node upset tolerance in MOS/spintronic sequential and combinational logic circuits

Spin-transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM) is an emerging storage technology that is considered widely thanks to its attractive features such as low power consumption, nonvolatility, scalability and high density. STT-RAMs are comprised of a hybrid design of CMOS and spintronic units. Magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) as the basic element of such hybrid technology is inherently robust against radiation induced faults. However, the peripheral CMOS component for sensing the resistance of the MTJs are prone to be affected by energetic particles. This paper proposes low power, nonvolatile and radiation hardened latch and lookup table circuits based on hybrid CMOS/MTJ technology for the next generation integrated circuit devices. Simulation results revealed that, the proposed circuits are fully robust against single event upsets (SEU) and also single event double node upsets (SEDU) that are of the main reliability challenging issues in current sub-nanometer CMOS technologies.     

A digital predistortion assisted hybrid supply modulator for envelope tracking power amplifiers

In this paper, a novel digital predistortion assisted supply modulator is presented. The proposed modulator is suitable for envelope tracking power amplifiers. In this topology, a digitally controlled linear power amplifier is used to compensate the switching noise ripples of the switching modulator. The proposed structure is evaluated with a 0.18 µm CMOS process technology. The results show up to 9% static efficiency improvement in comparison with previous one-phase and two-phase architectures. It is shown that for a 5 MHz WiMAX signal with a 6.7 dB PAPR at 26.8 dBm output power, a maximum average efficiency of 73.5% is achieved in the proposed design.     

一种基于三联锁结构的单粒子翻转加固锁存器

本文提出了一种基于三联锁结构的单粒子翻转加固锁存器。该锁存器使用保护门和反相器在其内部构建三路反馈,以此获得对发生在任一电路节点上的单粒子效应的自恢复能力,有效抑制由粒子轰击半导体引发的电荷沉积带来的影响。本文在详细分析已报道的三种抗辐射锁存器结构可靠性的基础上,针对其在单粒子效应作用下,或单粒子效应和耦合串扰噪声的共同作用下依然可能发生翻转的问题,指出本文提出的锁存器可通过内部的三联锁结构对上述问题进行有效的消除。所有结论均得到电路级单粒子效应注入仿真结果,以及基于经典串扰模型模拟串扰耦合和单粒子效应共同作用的仿真结果的支持和验证。     

Novel radiation hardened latch design considering process, voltage and temperature variations for nanoscale CMOS technology

As CMOS technology is scaled down, the supply voltage and gate capacitance are reduced, which results in the reduction of charge storing capacity at each node and increase of the susceptibility to external noise in radiation environments. The traditional error tolerant circuit design methods provide very limited protection against the environment noise for storage cells such as latches and memories. In this paper, a novel hardened latch design is proposed and compared with the previous hardened latch designs using 32 nm technology node. Extensive simulation results using HSPICE are reported to show that the proposed hardened latch design achieves 15× improvement of critical charge (Qcrit) with comparable cost in terms of speed and power compared to the most up to date hardened latch design. Moreover, PVT variations have great impact on the reliability of hardened circuit. The proposed latch circuit is also evaluated with the presence of PVT variations and demonstrates higher robustness than other considered robust latch under severe PVT variation condition.     

一种低开销的抗SEU锁存器

随着微电子技术的不断进步,集成电路工艺尺寸不断缩小,工作电压不断降低,节点的临界电荷越来越小,空间辐射引起的单粒子效应逐渐成为影响芯片可靠性的重要因素之一。针对辐射环境中高能粒子对锁存器的影响,提出了一种低开销的抗SEU锁存器(LOHL)。该结构基于C单元的双模冗余,实现对单粒子翻转的防护,从而降低软错误发生的概率。Spice模拟结果显示,与其他相关文献中加固锁存器相比,LOHL在电路面积、延迟和延迟-功耗积上有优势。     

基于C单元反馈回路的容SEU锁存器设计

随着电子技术的不断发展,集成电路的特征尺寸不断缩小,导致电路对宇宙高能粒子引发的单粒子翻转愈发敏感。提出了一种对单粒子翻转完全免疫的抗辐射加固锁存器。该锁存器利用具有过滤功能的C单元构建反馈回路,并在锁存器末端使用钟控C单元来阻塞传播至输出端的软错误。HSPICE仿真结果显示,在与TMR锁存器同等可靠性的情况下,该锁存器面积下降50%,延迟下降92%,功耗下降47%,功耗延迟积下降96%。     

Low-Power Resonant Clocking Using Soft Error Robust Energy Recovery Flip-Flops

An energy recovery or resonant clocking scheme is very attractive for saving the clock power in nanoscale ASICs and systems-on-chips, which have increased functionality and die sizes. The technology scaling followed Moore’s law, that lowers node capacitance and supply voltage, making nanoscale integrated circuits more vulnerable to radiation-induced single event upsets (SEUs) or soft errors. In this work, we propose soft-error robust flip-flops (FFs) capable of working with a sinusoidal resonant clock to save the overall chip power. The proposed conditional-pass Quatro (CPQ) FF and true single phase clock energy recovery (TSPCER) FF are based on a unique soft error robust latch, which we refer to as a Quatro latch. The proposed C²-DICE FF is based on a dual interlocked cell (DICE) latch. In addition to the storage cell, each FF consists of a unique input-stage and a two-transistor, two-input output buffer. In each FF with a sinusoidal clock, the transfer unit passes the data to the Quatro and DICE latches. The latches store the data values at two storage nodes and two redundant nodes, the latter enabling recovery from a particle-induced transient with or without multiple-node charge sharing. Post-layout simulations in 65nm CMOS technology show that the FF exhibits as much as 82% lower power-delay product compared to recently reported soft error robust FFs. We implemented 1024 proposed FFs distributed in an H-tree clock network driven by a resonant clock-generator that generates a 1–5 GHz sinusoidal clock signal. The simulation results show a power reduction of 93% on the clock tree and total power saving of up to 74% as compared to the same implementation using the conventional square-wave clocking scheme and FFs.     

Reliability for nanomagnetic logic (NML) readout circuit under single event effect

In the application for the space radiation environment, NML circuits face a reliability challenge mainly from their CMOS peripheral circuits, suffering from single event effects (SEE). An on-chip readout interface circuit (RIC) for NML circuit is designed based on dual-barrier magnetic tunnel junction (DB-MTJ). The sensitive nodes to SEE in RIC are analyzed. The SEU required critical charge in RIC is described. The impacts of energetic particle hitting time and technology node on the critical charge are studied. As the technology node scales down, the critical charge will significantly decrease. Two efficient hardening technologies for RIC are presented: local transistors׳ size and symmetrical load capacitances. By increasing local transistors׳ size or decreasing the load capacitance, the critical charge will be improved, which enhances the immunity to SEE.     

High Efficiency Time Redundant Hardened Latch for Reliable Circuit Design

In a modern high density VLSI design, with higher operating frequency and technology scaling, small critical charge in circuit nodes significantly increases susceptibility to radiation induced transient faults. In this paper, we propose a high efficiency hardened latch using the undesired delay of Schmitt trigger circuit and a special feedback loop to a comparator to build a low overhead time redundancy scheme. The proposed structure masks internal node transient faults also improves the recovery of the output node by transferring the faulty output in two different paths to the comparison circuit’s inputs. Experimental results, simulated in 45 nm CMOS technology, show an acceptable increase in the critical charge compared with the previous hardened latches, with a fair increase in power, delay and area. Monte Carlo simulations have also confirmed the proposed latch resistance to the process, voltage and temperature variations.     

Design of CMOS Ternary Latches

This paper describes the design methodology of latches with three stable operating points. Open-loop analysis is used to obtain insight into how a conventional binary latch structure can be modified to yield a ternary latch. Four novel ternary latch structures, compatible with a standard CMOS process, are presented. Properties of each latch, including robustness of the ternary behavior, speed, and power dissipation, are described. Measurement results of four RS ternary flip-flops based on the proposed latch structures, fabricated in a standard 0.18-mum CMOS process, are presented. Maximum operating frequency and skew tolerance are reported for each of the four latches     

Voltage reference architectures for low-supply-voltage low-power applications

This paper presents a voltage reference generator architecture and two different realizations of it that have been fabricated within a standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The architecture takes the advantage of utilizing a sampled-data amplifier (SDA) to optimize the power consumption. The circuits achieve output voltages on the order of 190 mV with temperature coefficients of 43 ppm/°C and 52.5 ppm/°C over the temperature range of 0 to 120°C without any trimming with a 0.8 V single supply. The power consumptions of the circuits are less then 500 nW while occupying an area of 0.2 mm² and 0.08 mm², respectively.