Journal of Xidian University

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Near-threshold non-precharged SRAM

CAI Jiangzheng1,2;HEI Yong1,2;YUAN Jia1,2;CHEN Liming1,2   

  1. (1. Smart Sensing R&D Centre, Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China;
    2. School of Microelectronics, Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China)
  • Received:2017-02-14 Online:2018-02-20 Published:2018-03-23

Abstract:

In order to save the power consumed by the static random access memory when it deals with voice or video data, a novel memory cell is proposed which eliminates the precharge mechanism in the read operation, thus suppressing the invalid power compared with the conventional 6T and 8T cell. Furthermore, multiple threshold technology is employed in the cell, which not only guarantees the read static noise margin, but also enhances read ability. In addition, a Schmitt trigger based inverter is also applied in the cell array and hence it improves the read speed. Two memories including the proposed one and the conventional one are fabricated in 130nm process, respectively. Test results indicate that the proposed memory is excellent in reducing power consumption compared with the conventional 8T memory, and hence it becomes a suitable choice for the low power chips.

Key words: static random access memory, non-precharged, voice and video, low power