1. Introduction to Low Power Circuit Design with CMOS and FinFETs
This chapter introduces low-power circuit design focusing on CMOS and FinFET technologies, emphasizing the critical importance of energy efficiency in modern battery-powered devices. It discusses the sources of power dissipation in digital circuits and highlights various low-power design techniques. Also, it outlines the advantages of FinFET technology over traditional CMOS, particularly for smaller technology nodes.
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Sections
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What we have learnt
- Power consumption in integrated circuits has three components: dynamic power, static power, and short-circuit power.
- Multiple techniques exist to reduce power in CMOS circuits, including voltage scaling, clock gating, and power gating.
- FinFET technology significantly reduces leakage and improves dynamic performance at scales smaller than 22nm.
Key Concepts
- -- Dynamic Power
- The power consumed due to the charging and discharging of capacitors in a circuit during switching.
- -- Static Power
- The power consumed due to leakage current when the circuit is not actively switching.
- -- FinFET
- A type of transistor technology that improves switching performance and reduces leakage current, useful for smaller nodes in circuit design.
- -- Voltage Scaling
- A technique used to reduce power consumption by lowering the supply voltage.
- -- Power Gating
- A design technique that disconnects the power supply from inactive blocks to save power.
Additional Learning Materials
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