Bias temperature instability-resistant circuits
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorPalkesh Jain
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Standard cells that include transistors subject to aging as a result of BTI-related operating conditions are identified and replaced with BTI-resistant standard cells, for example. The BTI-resistant standard cells are typically functionally equivalent circuits (such as circuits included in standard cells in a design library) and are arranged to ensure that critical transistors are protected (e.g., by either extending recovery times and/or turning the transistor off in response to a critical edge transition).
Claims16
A Bias Temperature Instability—(BTI-) resistant circuit, comprising a first group of one or more first type transistors that is arranged to cause a first direction transition wherein the state of an output signal of the BTI-resistant circuit is switched from a first state to a second state;
- a second group of one or more second type transistors that is arranged to cause a second direction transition wherein the state of an output signal of the BTI-resistant circuit is switched from the second state to the first state, wherein the second type is complementary to the first type;
- and
- a selector that is arranged to cause a first transistor of the first group of one or more first type transistors to transition in a first direction in between each first direction transition caused by a second transistor of the first group of one or more first type transistors, such that active states of the first transistor and the second transistor of the first group are alternated after one or more second direction transitions, which reduces duty cycle of a critical state of the first group of transistors;
- and wherein the selector is arranged to cause a first transistor of the second group of one or more second type transistors to transition in a second direction in between each second direction transition caused by a second transistor of the second group of one or more second type transistors.
A Bias Temperature Instability—(BTI-) resistant circuit, comprising:
- a first transistor of a first type that is arranged to cause a first direction transition wherein the state of an output signal of the BTI-resistant circuit is switched from a first state to a second state;
- a second transistor of a second type that is arranged to cause a second direction transition wherein the state of an output signal of the BTI-resistant circuit is switched from the second state to the first state, wherein the second type is complementary to the first type;
- a selector that is arranged to detect the first direction transition and in response to the detection of the first direction transition to change the logic state of the gate of the first transistor before an occurrence of a next second direction transition;
- and that is arranged to detect the second direction transition and in response to the detection of the second direction transition to change the logic state of the gate of a third transistor of first type before the occurrence of the next first direction transition such that the next first direction transition is done by the third transistor;
- and
- a hold circuit that is arranged to hold the output signal in the second state until the occurrence of the next second direction transition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.