Design of standard cells used in low-power ASIC's exploiting the multiple-supply-voltage scheme

Abstract

ASIC design utilizing the multiple-supply-voltage (MSV) scheme has been shown to be efficient in reducing the power consumption. A new layout style of standard cells to be used in ASIC designs is proposed to effectively exploit the advantages afforded by the MSV scheme. Each standard cell is designed to use two power rails that are fed with different supply voltages. Then, the cells can be butted together arbitrarily no matter whether the cells are supplied from a high or low voltage, and the existing P&R tool can place and route the circuit as usual. As compared to the design with only one supply voltage, the average saving of power consumption of the new design (using the new cells and adopting the MSV scheme) is over 30%, but the average area overhead is only about 8%. Meanwhile, the average interconnection length is only increased by about 7.5%.