A 0.4V 7T SRAM with write through virtual ground and ultra-fine grain power gating switches

• Main Authors: Kim, Tony Tae-Hyoung, Yeoh, Yuan Lin, Wang, Bo, Yu, Xiangyao
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105330; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/16579; http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ISCAS.2013.6572517
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper presents a 7T near-threshold SRAM with design techniques for improving cell stability and energy efficiency. The proposed write through virtual ground (WTVG) scheme decreases the period of write disturbance by 6.1×. A PVT tracking sensing scheme is presented to track variation and sense small RBL swing. The ultra-fine grain power gating switches are implemented to minimize the redundant leakage caused by the storage of garbage data. The leakage suppression of 52% is achieved after the initial power-up. A 16 kb SRAM test chip was fabricated in a 65nm CMOS technology and showed the minimum energy of 2.01 pJ at 0.4 V.