Reducing power in memory decoders by means of selective precharge schemes

Abstract

Two novel memory decoder designs for reducing energy consumption and delay are presented in this paper. These two decoding schemes are compared to the conventional NOR decoder. Fewer word lines are charged and discharged by the proposed schemes which leads to less energy dissipation. Energy, delay, and area calculations are provided for all three designs under analysis. The two novel decoder schemes range from dissipating 3.9% to 23.6% of the energy dissipated by the conventional decoder. The delays of these designs are 80.8% of the conventional decoder delay. Simulations of the three decoders are performed using a 90 nm CMOS technology.