Mr. D. Shivaprasad, Assistant professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, conducted Online Seminar on Low Power VLSI Design for Fourth year students of ECE. Mr.D. Shivaprasad, Assistant professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering introduced and Hand over the Section to Mr B. Shivalal Patro
An integrated circuit's overall dynamic and static power consumption can be decreased by using a variety of approaches and processes together referred to as low power design.
The aim oflow power VLSI design is to minimize the individual components of power as much as possible, hence decreasing the total power consumption. Switching’ and short-circuit power niake up the dynamic power, whereas leakage current that passes through a transistor makes up the‘static pówer.
Industries are always pushing the envelope with regard to brand-new features and functionality that are all fitted into portable, handheld, and battery-operated products. For
such products, increasing battery life by reducing power consumption is a significant differentiator and crucial to the applications used by theír‘ end users. In order to provide
the end user with a smooth experience and longer batterylife, it is equally crucial to reduce - the time it takes for a device to transition from the OFF/SLEEP state to the ON/ACTIVE state.
Power consumptiori is crucial for“plug-in” devices since it can raise system costs by necessitating complex cooling systems and heat sinks by demanding more energy. For instance, when massively parallel computers are used in server firms, a single chip's power consumption can be significantly reduced because it is used by the whole system. Upgrading these systems with newer, more power- efficient ICs can result in considerable power and cost savings.
Many low-power design methods are available, spme of which are relatively user-friendly while others need rfiore effort and complexity.
Ï. System specification: The objective of the desired final product is written in this step. During system specificatiOli, the designated cost of the system, its performance, architecture, and how the system will cominunicate with.the external world are to be deterinined. During this step, the design specilication should be provided by the users or clients.
- Architectural design: The basic architecture of the desired design must meet the system specificatious of the desired design: The architecture of the desired design is decided and the layout for the saine is designed by design engineers. Architectural design includes the integration of anàlog and mixed-signal blocks, memory rrianagement, internal and external commiinication, power requireinents, and choice of process technology and layer stacks.
- Functional design or Behavioural design: lt consists of refining the design specification of the desired design in order to design the functional behavior of the desired system. The main objective of this is to generate design a high-performance architectural. design within the cost requireinents-posed by the specifications.
- Logic Design: In this step, the structure of the desired design is added to the behavioral representation of the desired design. The main speGifications to be considered for logic design are logic minimization, performance enhancement, and testability. Logic design must also
„consider the problems associated with test vector generation, error- detection, and error correction. Many logic synthesis tools have been developed for the automation of the process of logic design. "
- Circuit D.esign: In this step, the logic blocks of the desired design are replaced by the electronic ciicuits, which are consists of electronic .devises such as resistors, capacitors, and transistors. Circuit simulation of the desired design is done at this stage, in order to verify the timing‘behavior of'the desired systèin. Kirchhoff s laws are used to know the behavior of the electronic circuit in terms of node voltages and branch circuits. The result of integrodifferential equations is then solved in discrète- time. SPICE is a well-known program for circuit simulation.
- Physical Design: In this step, the actual layout of the desired system is done, where all the components will be placed in the circuit and all thèse components are interconnected. The actual layout ofthe desired systern can affect the area, correctness, and performance‘ofthe final desired product. The correctness of the chip is also controlled by the physical design. A circuit dësign that passes tli'e test ofa circuit simulator may be faulty after it has been packaged. This is because of geometric design rule errors. Thèse design rules must be followed to ensure the correctness ofthe chip fabrication. Errors such as short circuits, open circuits, open channels, etc may result ifthe design yules are not respected.
