Method for selectively implementing low threshold voltage transistors in digital logic designs
First Claim
1. A method for selectively replacing standard threshold voltage devices with low threshold voltage devices in a digital logic design, comprising the operations of:
- identifying at least one path in a digital logic design, the at least one path having a plurality of standard threshold voltage devices, the at least one path having a first timing value determined by a timing engine;
reverse traversing the path to identify at least one of the plurality of standard threshold voltage devices to replace with a corresponding low threshold voltage device, wherein the low threshold voltage device has a lower threshold voltage needed to activate the device than the standard threshold voltage device;
determining, utilizing the timing engine, at least one second timing value for the path associated with replacing the at least one standard threshold voltage device with the corresponding low threshold voltage device; and
replacing the at least one standard threshold voltage device with the corresponding low threshold voltage device when the second timing value is less than the first timing value.
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Abstract
A system and method for selectively replacing standard threshold voltage devices with low threshold voltage devices in a digital logic design. The system identifies at least one path having a first timing value, the path having a plurality of standard threshold devices. The path is reverse traversed, or otherwise analyzed or traversed, to identify at least one of the standard threshold devices to possibly replace with a corresponding low threshold device. The system also determines a timing value for the path associated with replacing the at least one standard threshold device with the corresponding low threshold device. Depending the analysis, the standard threshold device may be replaced with a low threshold device, such as when the path timing improves by replacement. Such replacement may be used in various paths, such as paths considered critical paths in a digital logic design.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for selectively replacing standard threshold voltage devices with low threshold voltage devices in a digital logic design, comprising the operations of:
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identifying at least one path in a digital logic design, the at least one path having a plurality of standard threshold voltage devices, the at least one path having a first timing value determined by a timing engine; reverse traversing the path to identify at least one of the plurality of standard threshold voltage devices to replace with a corresponding low threshold voltage device, wherein the low threshold voltage device has a lower threshold voltage needed to activate the device than the standard threshold voltage device; determining, utilizing the timing engine, at least one second timing value for the path associated with replacing the at least one standard threshold voltage device with the corresponding low threshold voltage device; and replacing the at least one standard threshold voltage device with the corresponding low threshold voltage device when the second timing value is less than the first timing value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for selectively replacing standard threshold voltage devices with low threshold voltage devices in a digital logic design comprising:
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a timing engine configure to obtain a first timing value for at least one path in a digital logic design, the at least one path having a plurality of standard threshold voltage devices; the timing engine further configured to reverse traverse the path to identify at least one of the plurality of standard threshold voltage devices to replace with a corresponding low threshold voltage device provided in a database of low threshold voltage devices, wherein the low threshold voltage device has a lower threshold voltage needed to activate the device than the standard threshold voltage device; the timing engine further configured to determine at least one second timing value for the path associated with replacing the at least one standard threshold voltage device with the corresponding low threshold voltage device in order to replace the at least one element with the corresponding element when the second timing value is less than the first timing value. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification