Cross-over current suppressing latch compared to state-of-the-art for low-power low-frequency applications with resonant clocking

摘要

Eleven latch circuits for ultra-low-power applications with resonant clocking are compared in terms of energy dissipation (the main focus of this work), propagation delay, set-up, and hold time in a wide range of operating frequencies and supply voltages. Transistor-level simulations in a 0.18 μm process point out that the ratioless circuit Cut Cross-over current latch (CC-Latch) saves up to 15% energy towards the second best competitor in low- to mid-frequency applications. The improved efficiency is due to the suppression of the excess of cross-over current, by switching of the pull-up or the pull-down network alternatively in the forward inverter of the latch.