Stacked inverter delay chain
First Claim
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1. A circuit comprising:
- a first stacked inverter including a first plurality of active devices of a first type and a second plurality of active devices of a second type; and
a second stacked inverter including a third plurality of active device of the first type and a fourth plurality of active devices of the second type, wherein the output of the first stacked inverter is coupled to the input of the second staked inverter, and wherein a total number of the third plurality is not equal to the fourth plurality in the second stacked inverter.
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Abstract
Stacked inverter delay chains. In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, a series stack of two p-type devices is coupled to a series stack of three n-type devices, forming a stacked inverter comprising desirable delay, die area and power characteristics. Two stacked inverters are coupled together to form a stacked inverter delay chain that is more efficient in terms of die area, active and passive power consumption than conventional delay chains comprising conventional inverters.
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14 Claims
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1. A circuit comprising:
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a first stacked inverter including a first plurality of active devices of a first type and a second plurality of active devices of a second type; and a second stacked inverter including a third plurality of active device of the first type and a fourth plurality of active devices of the second type, wherein the output of the first stacked inverter is coupled to the input of the second staked inverter, and wherein a total number of the third plurality is not equal to the fourth plurality in the second stacked inverter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A stacked inverter comprising:
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a first plurality of transistors of a first type coupled in series with each other, wherein a first end of the first plurality of transistors is coupled to a first potential; and a second plurality of transistors of a second type coupled in series with each other, wherein a first end of the second plurality of transistors is coupled to a second potential, the gates of the first and second plurality of transistors are coupled together as an input, the second end of the first and second plurality of transistors are coupled together as an output and a total number of transistors of the first type is different than a total number of the second type. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of fabricating a stacked inverter comprising:
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forming a first plurality of transistors from sequential p-type diffusions in an n-well; forming a second plurality of transistors from sequential n-type diffusions in a p-well, wherein a total number of the first plurality is different from a total number of the second plurality; forming a first metallization coupling a first end of the sequential p-type diffusions and a first end of the sequential n-type diffusions as an output of the stacked inverter; forming a second metallization coupling a second end of the sequential p-type diffusions to a first potential; forming a third metallization coupled a second end of the sequential n-type diffusions to a second potential; and forming a fourth metallization coupling a gate of each of the first and second plurality of transistors as an input of the staked inverter. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification