Low-power operation using self-timed circuits and adaptive scalingof the supply voltage

摘要

Recent research has demonstrated that for certain types ofnapplications like sampled audio systems, self-timed circuits can achievenvery low power consumption, because unused circuit parts automaticallynturn into a stand-by mode. Additional savings may be obtained byncombining the self-timed circuits with a mechanism that adaptivelynadjusts the supply voltage to the smallest possible, while maintainingnthe performance requirements. This paper describes such a mechanism,nanalyzes the possible power savings, and presents a demonstrator chipnthat has been fabricated and tested. The idea of voltage scaling hasnbeen used previously in synchronous circuits, and the contributions ofnthe present paper are: 1) the combination of supply scaling andnself-timed circuitry which has some unique advantages, and 2) thenthorough analysis of the power savings that are possible using thisntechnique