The Phoenix Processor: A 30pW platform for sensor applications

Abstract

An integrated platform for sensor applications, called the Phoenix Processor, is implemented in a carefully-selected 0.18 mum process with an area of 915 times 915 mum <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> , making on-die battery integration feasible. Phoenix uses a comprehensive sleep strategy with a unique power gating approach, an event-driven CPU with compact ISA, data memory compression, a custom low leakage memory cell, and adaptive leakage management in data memory. Measurements show that Phoenix consumes 29.6 pW in sleep mode and 2.8 pJ/cycle in active mode.