Threshold-Logic Devices Consisting of Subthreshold CMOS Circuits

A threshold-logic gate device consisting of subthreshold MOSFET circuits is proposed. The gate device performs threshold-logic operation, using the technique of current-mode addition and subtraction. Sample digital subsystems, i.e., adders and morphological operation cells based on threshold logic, are designed using the gate devices, and their operations are confirmed by computer simulation. The device has a simple structure and operates at low power dissipation, so it is suitable for constructing cell-based, parallel processing LSIs such as cellular-automaton and neural-network LSIs. key words: subthreshold, MOS, circuit, threshold logic, majority logic, gate, current mode