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RobustLowPowerVLSI
RobustLowPowerVLSI
Sub-threshold Sense Amplifier (SA) Compensation Using Auto-zeroing Circuitry
01/21/2014
Peter BeshayDepartment of Electrical EngineeringUniversity of Virginia, Charlottesville
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Outline Motivation Introduction DAZ Circuit 16kB SRAM Chip Measurements Conclusion
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Motivation
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Source: IdeaConnection.com
Source: groups.csail.edu/
Source: Implantable-device.com
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Motivation
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SRAM are used in implantable devices Contribute significantly to the total
System-on-chip (SOC) power consumption
SRAM Power Consumption (1)
(1) N. Verma, Phd thesis
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Motivation
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Minimum Energy occurs in sub-threshold [1]
Eactive = CVDD2
Etotal/operation minimized in sub-VT
Main LimitationsProcess Variations effect, Slow Speed
VDD (V)
Nor
mal
ized
Ene
rgy
(1) N. Verma, Phd thesisEnergy Consumption vs. VDD (1)
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Motivation
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Work Focus
Minimizing the energy of the read operation of sub-threshold SRAMs.
Sense Amplifier are utilized during the read operation of the SRAMs.
The intrinsic offset voltage of the SAs causes increased read energy and degraded performance of the SRAM read operation [2].
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Outline Introduction DAZ Circuit 16kB SRAM Chip Measurements Conclusion
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Sense Amplifier
=1 if =0 Otherwise
๐ 2
๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 1
๐ ๐๐ข๐ก
Enable
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SA Offset Voltage
=1 if =0 Otherwise
๐ 2
๐๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ญ
๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐
=1 if =0 Otherwise
๐ 1
๐ 2
๐ 1
๐ ๐๐ข๐ก
๐ ๐๐ข๐ก
Enable
Enable
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=1 if =0 Otherwise
๐ 2
๐๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ญ
๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐
=1 if =0 Otherwise
๐ 1
๐ 2
๐ 1
๐๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ญ
๐ ๐๐ข๐ก
๐ ๐๐ข๐ก
Enable
Enable
๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ
SA Offset Voltage
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
6T Bitcell 6T Bitcell 6T Bitcell
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
6T Bitcell 6T Bitcell 6T Bitcell
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
BL= =
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
BL= =
WL=
WL
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
BL= =
01
WL=
WL
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
BL= =
01
WL=
WL
B L ,BL
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
BL= =
01
WL=
WL
B L ,BL
โV >
โV
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
BL= =
01
WL=
WL
B L ,BL
SAE
โV >
โV
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
BL= =
01
WL=
WL
B L ,BL
SAE
โV >
โV
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
BL= =
01
WL=
WL
B L ,BL
SAE
Pre-charge
โV
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
BL= =
01
WL=
WL
B L ,BL
SAE
Pre-charge
โV
6T SRAM Read Operation
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...
SAE
Row
Dec
oder
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
6T Bitcell
......โฆ
BL= =
01
WL=
WL
B L ,BL
SAE
Pre-charge
โV
๐ฌ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐=๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐6T SRAM Read Operation
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PMOS-input Latch SA
๐๐BL ๐๐
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐Cross coupled inverter to latch the output
Sense the input voltage
Enable the SA
Precharge the output to VDD 25
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๐๐BL=0.45V ๐๐=๐ .๐๐
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐
EN
OUT,
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PMOS-input Latch SA
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๐๐BL=0.45V ๐๐=๐ .๐๐
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐
EN
OUT,
V=
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PMOS-input Latch SA
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Offset Voltage
๐๐BL=0.5 =0.5
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐
๐๐=๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐โ๐๐ญ๐ก
๐ง๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ (๐โ๐๐๐๐
๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ )
โ mismatch causes the currents to Be different, for zero differential input(BL=)
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Digital Auto-zeroing (DAZ)โข We propose a digital auto-zeroing (DAZ) scheme
inspired by analog amplifier offset correction.
โข The main advantages of the approach areโข Near-zero offset after cancellation.โข Suitable for sub-threshold operation due to the
repeated offset compensation phase.
โข Several attempts have been made before to tackle the problem including:โข Redundancy [3]
โข Transistor upsizing [4]
โข Digitally controlled compensation [5]
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Outline Introduction DAZ Circuit 16kB SRAM Chip Measurements Conclusion
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Auto-zeroing in analog amplifiersโข Amplification is done
in two phases
โข ฮฆ1: Sample the offset on a capacitor
โข ฮฆ2: Subtract the offset from the input signal
(2) K Kang et al, โDynamic Offset Cancellation Techniqueโ cse.psu.edu/~chip/course/analog/insoo/S04AmpOffset.ppt
Dynamic Offset Cancellation (2)
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DAZ Scheme
โข Phase1 (ENR1)A zero differential input is applied to the sense amp.
โข Phase2 (ENO)The SA resolves based on its intrinsic offset.
๐ ๐๐ข๐ก
=0
๐ ๐๐ข๐ก
=1
๐๐ข๐๐ h๐ก ๐๐๐ด
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DAZ Scheme
โข Phase3 (ENR2)The differential input is applied to the sense amp.
โข Phase4 (ENI)The SA resolves based on the differential input.
๐ ๐๐ข๐ก
=0
๐ ๐๐ข๐ก
=1
BL
BL
BL
BL
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DAZ Circuit
๐๐
ENR1
๐๐
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐
ENR1
ENR2
ENI
BL
ENR2
ENI
MC2
MC1
โข DAZ circuit applied to a latch-based sense amp with PMOS inputs
โข DAZ circuit uses a split-phase clock and charge pump (CP) feedback circuit for repetitive compensation.
Charge Pump
๐๐ฉ
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DAZ Circuit
๐๐
ENR1
๐๐
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐
ENR1
ENR2
ENI
BL
ENR2
ENI
MC2
MC1
Charge Pump
๐๐ฉ
โข Transistors MC1 and MC2 control the drive strength of the right side of the SA.
โข The CP controls the drive current in both MC1 and MC2 to equalize the strength of the SA right and left sides.
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DAZ Circuit
๐๐
ENR1
๐๐
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐
ENR1
ENR2
ENI
BL
ENR2
ENI
MC2
MC1
๐๐๐M11
ENO
ENR2
๐๐๐๐
M9
M10
M12
M13
CpCharge Pump
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Phase 1
๐๐
ENR1
๐๐
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐
ENR1
ENR2
ENI
BL
ENR2
ENI
MC2
MC1
๐๐๐M11
ENO
ENR2
๐๐๐๐ M12
M13
Cp
M9
M10
ER1: A zero differential input is applied to the sense amp.
Charge Pump
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Phase 2
๐๐
ENR1
๐๐
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐
ENR1
ENR2
ENI
BL
ENR2
ENI
MC2
MC1
๐๐๐M11
ENO
ENR2
๐๐๐๐ M12
M13
Cp
M9
M10
ENO: The SA resolves based on its intrinsic offset.
Charge Pump
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Phase 3
๐๐
ENR1
๐๐
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐
ENR1
ENR2
ENI
BL
ENR2
ENI
MC2
MC1
๐๐๐M11
ENO
ENR2
๐๐๐๐ M12
M13
Cp
M9
M10
ER2: The differential input is applied to the sense amp.
Charge Pump
โv
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Phase 4
๐๐
ENR1
๐๐
๐๐
OUT ๐๐๐
M5 M6
M1 M2
M3 M4
๐๐
ENR1
ENR2
ENI
BL
ENR2
ENI
MC2
MC1
๐๐๐M11
ENO
ENR2
๐๐๐๐ M12
M13
Cp
M9
M10
ENI: The SA resolves based on the differential input.
Charge Pump
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Precisionโข The precision of the scheme depends on the accuracy
of setting the voltage on the output capacitor (Cp).
Settling Time= 60us
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Offset Tuning โข Accuracy (offset voltage) vs. settling time trade-off
through Cp tuning.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 205
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Min Achieved Offset (mV)
Settl
ing
Tim
e (u
s)
Cp=0.74pF
Cp=0.43pF
Cp=0.24pF
Cp=0.14pFCp=0.13pF
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Outline Introduction DAZ Circuit 16kB SRAM Chip Measurements Conclusion
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16kB SRAM Test-caseโข A 20mV DAZ SA is used in a 16kB SRAM with
1bank, 512 rows and 256 columns using commercial 45nm technology node [6].
โข 10% reduction of the read energyโข 24% reduction of the read delay
โข 45nm technology test chip. โข One regular SA array for benchmarkingโข DAZ SA array with Cp=32fF.
โข DAZ circuit limits the absolute value of the maximum offset to 50 mV and provided 80% improvement in ฯ [6].
Chip Measurements
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Limitationโข Area overhead (major concern in SRAM designs)
โข 2.5X for 50mV offset compensationโข Can be significant for small offsets
โข Energy overhead of the continuous calibration (split phases, charge pump)โข 3.5X the energy of a regular SA
โข Sensitivity to split phase frequency.
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Outline Introduction DAZ Circuit 16kB SRAM Chip Measurements Conclusion
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Conclusionโข We proposed a circuit that is capable of improving sense-amp offset to
near zero, which is valuable for sub-threshold operation due to the repeated calibration phase.
โข Applying the scheme on a 16 kB SRAM in 45nm technology node showed a reduction in the total energy and delay of 10% and 24% respectively.
โข Measurements from a test chip fabricated in 45 nm technology showed the circuitโs ability to limit the absolute maximum value of the offset voltage to 50 mV using a 32fF output capacitance.
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References 1. B. H. Calhoun et al. "Sub-threshold circuit design with shrinking CMOS
devices." ISCAS 2009. 2. J. Ryan et al. โMinimizing Offset for Latching Voltage-Mode Sense Amplifiers
for Sub-threshold Operationโ ISQED 2008. 3. N. Verma et al. โA 256 kb 65 nm 8T Sub-threshold SRAM Employing
Sense-Amplifier Redundancyโ ISSCC 2008. 4. L. Pileggi et al. โMismatch Analysis & Statistical Designโ CICC 2008. 5. M. Bhargava et al. โLow-Overhead, Digital Offset Compensated, SRAM Sense
Amplifiersโ CICC 2009. 6. P. Beshay et al. "A Digital Auto-Zeroing Circuit to Reduce Offset in Sub-
Threshold Sense Amplifiers." JLPEA 2013
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Questions