Intermittent resonant clocking enabling power reduction at any clock frequency for 0.37V 980kHz near-threshold logic circuits

Abstract

In order to improve the energy efficiency of logic circuits, reductions in capacitance (C) and power supply voltage (VDD) are required, as energy consumption is proportional to CVDD2. Near-threshold (Vt) operation achieves an energy minimum. Resonant clocking can reduce the effective capacitance of the clock distribution network. In this work, a new resonant clocking scheme enabling power reduction at any clock frequency is proposed and applied to a 0.37V 980kHz near-Vt logic circuit in 40nm CMOS.