Sharif Digital Repository

Based on the dynamic criteria for data stability, we introduce segmented virtual grounding architecture with extended read, write noise margin to realize a low leakage current, energy efficient SRAM module. The architecture offers subthreshold operation for the entire module, except for the selected segments. In addition, a new operational mode for the SRAM cell is introduced which allows only the bitlines of the selected columns to be discharged in an operation. The stability of the cells is enhanced in both read and write operation by controlling the cell access time and cell supply voltage, respectively. A 2048$, imes,$20 bit eSRAM unit is implemented in a regular 0.13 $muhbox{m} $ CMOS... 

SRAM cell stability assessment is traditionally based on static criteria of data stability requiring three coincident points in DC butterfly curves. This definition is based on static (DC) characteristics of the cell transistors. We introduce the dynamic criteria of cell data stability knowing that the cell operates in a dynamic environment alternating between access and non-access conditions. The proposed definition of the dynamic data stability criteria introduces a new bound for the cell static noise margin (SNM). It reveals that the true noise margin of the cell can be made considerably higher than the conventional SNM once the cell access time is sufficiently shorter than the cell... 

A comparator comprises a cross coupled circuit which produces a positive feedback. In conventional comparators, the mismatch between the cross coupled circuits determines the trade-off between the speed, offset and the power consumption of the comparator. A new low-offset low-power dynamic comparator for analog-to-digital converters is introduced. The comparator benefits from two stages and two operational phases to reduce the offset voltage caused by the mismatch effect inside the positive feedback circuit. Rigorous statistical analysis yields the input referred offset voltage and the delay of the comparator based on the circuit random parameters. The derivations are verified with... 

An efficient low-complexity VLSI architecture for timing synchronization of a real-time intensity modulation direct detection optical OFDM (IMDD-OOFDM) system is proposed, which results in a significant area reduction. This architecture calculates the correlation among cyclic prefix (CP) regions to estimate the beginning of the OFDM symbol. The proposed architecture utilizes only one functional unit for this purpose, while the throughput is devised for high data-rate optical OFDM systems. Synthesis results of this architecture proves an area saving of 31% compared to the previous work. Moreover, the performance of the correlation method is significantly improved due to a modification applied... 

A Bandgap circuit capable of generating a reference voltage of less than 1 V with high PSRR and low temperature sensitivity is proposed. High PSRR achieved by means of an improved current mode regulator which isolates the bandgap voltage from the variations and the noise of the power supply. A vigorous analytical approach is presented to provide a universal design guideline. The analysis unveils the sensitivity of the circuit characteristic to device parameters. The proposed circuit is fabricated in a 0.18μm CMOS technology and operates down to a supply voltage of 1.2 V. The circuit yields 20 ppm/°C of temperature coefficient in typical case and 50 ppm/°C of temperature coefficient in worst... 

In this paper, a new search algorithm in heterogeneous hierarchical unstructured p2p networks is presented which takes into account heterogeneity of peers such as upload bandwidth, life time in the network and process capacity in its peer discovery policy as factors that influence download performance and user satisfaction. One advantage of this algorithm is that it can be performed in a completely unstructured network without imposing any change on network topology and file replication. However, it obviously decreases file download time as it is designed to discover broad-bandwidth nodes with a higher probability. This property results in a fair distribution of load over heterogeneous p2p... 

Since the emergence of peer to peer networks, search efficiency in such networks has been a matter of great concern, as it directly effects resource management of the network and influences users' satisfaction. In unstructured p2p networks, various search algorithms have been proposed so far that offer a tradeoff between scalability, congestion and user's satisfaction. In this paper, we survey newly introduced approaches to overcome search process problems. By reviewing these strategies and comparing them with previous search methods, we propose a new classification of informed search algorithms and we conclude that regarding this classification, informed search algorithms should be applied... 

Success rate, query hit rate and speed of search are some common metrics for evaluating p2p search algorithms. Yet, these metrics do not consider properties of discovered sources and their impact on download performance. A requesting peer is interested in stable serving peers with high upload bandwidth to minimize its download time and therefore, this is the superiority of a search algorithm to find sources with higher upload bandwidth in the p2p heterogeneous environment. In this paper, a new bio-inspired metric for comparing p2p search algorithms is introduced which takes the upload bandwidth of supplying nodes into account as a factor influencing quality of a search algorithm and user... 

Signal to Noise and Distortion Ratio (SNDR) is widely chosen for dynamic characterization of ADC. For pipelined ADC in which the inner circuits' errors accumulate at the output, analysis of the origins of SNDR and its characterization can be very hard. However, due to a relationship between maximum INL of ADC and the distortion in its output codes, SNDR can be derived as a function of maximum INL value and its position in output codes. Utilizing this relationship, this paper develops two methods for SNDR enhancement that do not cost much power. The 50k sampled Monte-Carlo simulation in the behavioral level indicates 75% increase in the possibility of having SNDR > 60db just by utilizing... 

A novel architecture for QR decomposition-based recursive least squares is presented. It offers low latency for applications where the channel equalization and adaptive filtering are mandatory. This approach reduces the computations by rewriting the equations in a manner that lets intense hardware resource sharing by reusing similar values in different computations. Moreover, precision range conversion allows for combining complex operations such as root square and division with minimum effect on the overall quantization error. Hence, an efficient lookup table-based solution has highly enhanced the performance of the design by 2.7 times with respect to the previous works  

This paper presents a new architecture for VCO-based Continuous Time Delta Sigma Modulators. This approach is based on the differential configuration for the quantizer while maintains its inherent dynamic element matching property. Consuming no additional power and area compared to the conventional scheme, this architecture can eliminate the even orders of harmonic distortion and achieve higher linearity. Theoretical analysis for signal to quantization noise, power and area consumption and mismatch effect is provided. To illustrate the effectiveness of the new architecture in continuous time modulators, a modulator with 640 MHz sampling rate utilizing the mentioned quantizer is simulated in... 

An ultra-efficient switching method for successive approximation register ADCs is proposed. In this method, the input signals are sampled in a special fashion to reduce the switching energy. Owing to the sampling method, only one reference voltage (Vq=Vref/4) is required to implement the switching steps. Therefore, in addition to reduction in the switching energy (due to the lower supply voltage), the precision of the DAC is improved. The proposed method reduces the switching energy and area by 99.41 and 50%, respectively, compared with the conventional method. © 2016 The Institution of Engineering and Technology  

Advance Encryption Standard (AES), has received significant interest over the past decade due to its performance and security level. In this paper, we propose a compact 8-bit AES crypto-processor for area constrained and low power applications where both encryption and decryption is needed. The cycle count of the design is the least among previously reported 8-bit AES architectures and the throughput is 203 Mbps. The AES core consumes 5.6k gates in 0.18 μm standard-cell CMOS technology. The power consumption of the core is 49 μW/MHz at 128 MHz which is the minimum power reported thus far  

A highly energy-efficient switching method for capacitor-splitting digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) in successive approximation register (SAR) analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) is presented. In the proposed DAC, a bottom-plate sampling method is introduced which requires only one reference voltage (Vcm = 1/2Vref) during the entire DAC switching steps. Therefore, in addition to the switching energy reduction, the precision of the DAC is increased since only one reference voltage is used. The DAC average switching energy and the area are reduced by 98.44% and 50% compared with the conventional binary weighted DAC  

A sampling and switching method for a binary weighted digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) in successive approximation register (SAR) analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) is presented. This sampling method is proposed to reduce the switching energy. Thanks to the proposed switching method, only one reference voltage (Vcm = 1/2 Vref) is required which helps to improve the precision of the DAC along with energy reduction compared with those methods that use more than one reference voltage. The switching energy and area of the DAC reduce by 97.66% and 50% compared with the conventional binary weighted DAC  

A novel structure of Capacitive Digital to Analog Converters (CDAC) for Successive Approximation Register Analog to Digital Converters (SAR ADC) is presented. In this CDAC, a number of pre-charged capacitors are placed in different series configurations to produce a desired voltage level. Therefore, given an input code, a series configuration of the capacitors is created to produce a voltage. Current is drawn from the supply voltage only in one step of the ADC conversion to reduce the power consumption. Therefore, the proposed CDAC consumes a fixed and small amount of power regardless of the input code. The output common mode voltage (Vcm) of the DAC remains fixed for all the digital codes.... 

Pipeline Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) design processes include several redesign steps to achieve the optimum solution. Hence, designers prefer to use automated algorithms for this purpose. In this paper, an automated algorithm for CAD tool is presented considering the trade-off between yield and power consumption for pipeline ADCs. This automated algorithm benefits from multiple degrees of freedom including the system level down to transistor level parameters, which helps CAD tools to find the optimized solution. It allows designers to choose an optimum scenario considering the trade-off between yield and power consumption. To evaluate the capabilities of this algorithm, a 10-bit... 

In this paper, a low-power method for double-tail comparators is introduced. Using the proposed method, the power consumption of the pre-amplifier which is the dominant part is reduced considerably. Thanks to this method, the pre-amplifier is not able to draw more than required amount of power, therefore, the power is saved. Post layout and corner simulation results show the power consumption is reduced by about 40%. Moreover, several Monte-Carlo (M) simulations suggest the proposed method results in about 20% offset reduction at the cost of 5% area and 10% speed degradation. © 2019 Elsevier B.V  

A hybrid current/voltage sense amplification scheme is proposed for high speed SRAMs. The scheme includes an offset cancellation technique which makes it robust against the current sense amplifier (CSA) mismatch. The offset cancellation allows for fast open loop operation of the differential CSA. A fourfold reduction of the cell access time is achieved compared to the conventional scheme under similar cell current and bitline capacitance. Thanks to its automatic turn off nature, the proposed CSA incurs zero static power without an auxiliary turn off circuit. The reduction of the charge redistribution on the bitlines offers a low bitline dynamic power consumption as well. In this work, the... 

A highly energy-efficiency switching procedure for the capacitor-splitting digital-To-Analog converter (DAC) is presented for successive approximation register (SAR) analogue-To-digital converters (ADCs). In this procedure, the MSB capacitor is divided into its binary constituents. All output digital bits, except the least significant bit (LSB), is determined using reference voltage (Vref), while the common-mode voltage (Vcm) is used to determine the LSB. Therefore, the precision of the proposed SAR ADC is independent of the precision of Vcm except in the LSB. This method reduces the area by 75% compared to the conventional binary weighted DAC and reduces the switching energy by 96.89%. ©...