Low-power area-efficient delay element with a wide delay range

Abstract

A low-power, area-efficient delay element with a wide tunable delay range is proposed. A novel circuit topology is used, where the delay is set using a single control-voltage that controls both the charging and discharging time of a capacitor. A positive feedback mechanism minimizes and keeps the energy consumption constant for a wide delay range. Figure of merits are presented and comparison with previous works illustrates the improvements obtained.