Error-Tolerant Reconfigurable VDD 10T SRAM Architecture for IoT Applications
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- A reconfigurable VDD (R-VDD) scaled architecture is proposed considering supply scaling technique, where the read power and hold power are significantly reduced.
- An algorithm for voltage controller and decision circuit has been designed for better representation.
- We analyzed the modeling of failure probability in read, write and hold mode and performed 5000 Monte Carlo (MC) simulations to examine the effect of failure probability.
- The read and hold power consumption is determined for the VDD scaled architecture using the proposed 10T cell and compared with a conventional architecture.
2. Proposed D2LP10T SRAM Cell Design
- The power controlling circuit (PCC) isolates the circuit from the power supply and inherently reduces the write power of the cell.
- The isolated read path is used to separate the read and write operation, which is resolved the read/write trade-off and enhanced the read stability.
- The write stability is enhanced with the support of a pull up inverter pair, and leakage power is reduced due to stacking combination design.
- The half-select issue is resolved by enabling the bit-line select signal, which is powered by the power controlling circuit.
3. Proposed Reconfigurable VDD (R-VDD) Scaled Memory Architecture
3.1. R-VDD Scaled Circuit (Voltage Controller and Decision Circuit)
Algorithm 1 Voltage controller (VC) and decision circuit (DC) operation in SRAM cells | |
if Operation = Write then | |
WR ← 1 | //Activate write signal |
RD ← 0 | //Deactivate read signal |
EN1 ← 1 and EN2 ← 1 | //Select MUX1 and MUX2 |
VDDS ← VDD | |
else | |
if Operation = Read then | |
WR ← 0 | //Disable write signal |
RD ← 1 | //Enable read signal |
EN1 ← 0 and EN2← 1 | //Select MUX1 and MUX2 |
VDDS ← | |
else | |
if Operation = Hold then | |
WR ← 0 or 1 | //Disable or enable write signal |
RD ← 0 or 1 | //Enable or disable read signal |
EN1 ← 0 and EN2 ← 0 | //Select MUX1 and MUX2 |
VDDS ← | |
end if | |
end if | |
end if |
3.2. Controller Block
3.3. R-VDD Scaled Architecture
4. Mechanism of Failure in SRAM Cell
- Read Failure— Due to the cause of random fluctuations in the threshold voltage (Vt); if the strength of access transistor increases (reduction in Vt) and the strength of pull-down NMOS transistor is reduced (increase in Vt), the circuit leads to read failure. Conversely, when reducing the strength of pull-up PMOS transistors, the chance to flip the cell content increases, which causes read failure.
- Write Failure— When a pull-up PMOS transistor is stronger and the access transistor is weaker, it can significantly degrade the discharging process and thereby cause a write failure. However, the write time of the cell is increased due to random variations in the device strength, leading to the inability to write data into the memory.
- Hold Failure— In standby mode, the supply voltage reduction causes the chance to disturb the stored data. Then it can be said that the cell has failed in hold mode. Either the Vt of M1 reduces when M3 increases or Vt of M2 increases when M4 reduces, so that the possibility of data flipping in the hold mode increases as shown in Figure 2.
5. Simulation Results and Discussion
5.1. Stability Analysis
5.2. Dynamic Read Noise Margin
5.3. Write Trip Point
5.4. Failure Probability
5.4.1. Read Failure Probability
5.4.2. Hold Failure Probability
5.4.3. Write Failure Probability
5.5. Leakage Power
5.6. Write and Read PDP
5.7. Cell Area Comparison
5.8. Quality Factor (QF)
5.9. Power Consumption in Memory Architecture
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Control Signals | Operation | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Write 0 | Write 1 | Read | Hold | |
WLA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
WLB | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
RWL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
BL | 0 | 1 | 1 (floating) | 1 (floating) |
BLB | 1 | 0 | 1 (floating) | 1 (floating) |
Supply Voltage (V) | Conventional Architecture | R-VDD Scaled Architecture | Reduction (in %) |
---|---|---|---|
0.4 | 1.183 | 0.638 | 46.07 |
0.6 | 40.14 | 22.87 | 43.02 |
0.8 | 279 | 164 | 41.22 |
1.0 | 936.4 | 559 | 40.3 |
1.2 | 2343 | 1410 | 39.82 |
Supply Voltage (V) | Conventional Architecture | R-VDD Scaled Architecture | Reduction (in %) |
---|---|---|---|
0.4 | 0.275 | 0.071 | 74.55 |
0.6 | 1.917 | 0.521 | 72.82 |
0.8 | 12.24 | 3.47 | 71.65 |
1.0 | 48.74 | 15.57 | 68.05 |
1.2 | 147.84 | 54.51 | 63.13 |
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Gupta, N.; Shah, A.P.; Khan, S.; Vishvakarma, S.K.; Waltl, M.; Girard, P. Error-Tolerant Reconfigurable VDD 10T SRAM Architecture for IoT Applications. Electronics 2021, 10, 1718. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10141718
Gupta N, Shah AP, Khan S, Vishvakarma SK, Waltl M, Girard P. Error-Tolerant Reconfigurable VDD 10T SRAM Architecture for IoT Applications. Electronics. 2021; 10(14):1718. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10141718
Chicago/Turabian StyleGupta, Neha, Ambika Prasad Shah, Sajid Khan, Santosh Kumar Vishvakarma, Michael Waltl, and Patrick Girard. 2021. "Error-Tolerant Reconfigurable VDD 10T SRAM Architecture for IoT Applications" Electronics 10, no. 14: 1718. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10141718
APA StyleGupta, N., Shah, A. P., Khan, S., Vishvakarma, S. K., Waltl, M., & Girard, P. (2021). Error-Tolerant Reconfigurable VDD 10T SRAM Architecture for IoT Applications. Electronics, 10(14), 1718. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10141718