Temperature-adaptive voltage scaling for enhanced energy efficiency in subthreshold memory arrays

Static random access memory (SRAM) circuits optimized for minimum energy consumption typically operate in the subthreshold regime with ultra low-power-supply voltages. Both the read and the write propagation delays of a subthreshold memory circuit are significantly reduced with an increase in the die temperature. The excessive timing slack observed in the clock period of constant-frequency subthreshold memory circuits at elevated temperatures provides new opportunities to lower the activemode energy consumption. Temperature-adaptive dynamic supply voltage tuning (TA-DVS) technique is proposed in this paper to reduce the high-temperature energy consumption of ultra low-voltage subthreshold SRAM arrays. Results indicate that the energy consumption can be lowered by up to 32.8% by dynamically scaling the supply voltage at elevated temperatures. The impact of the temperatureadaptive dynamic supply voltage scaling technique on the data stability of the subthreshold SRAM bit-cells is presented. The effectiveness of the TA-DVS technique under process parameter and supply voltage variations is evaluated. An alternative technique based on temperature-adaptive reverse body bias (TA-RBB) to exponentially reduce the subthreshold leakage currents at elevated temperatures is also investigated. The active-mode energy consumption characteristics of the two temperature-adaptive voltage tuning techniques are compared. & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.