Architecture and circuit techniques for a 1.1-GHz 16-kb reconfigurable memory in 0.18-μm CMOS

This paper presents the architecture and circuit techniques for a reconfigurable SRAM building block. The memory block can emulate many memory structures including a cache tag or data array, a FIFO, and a simple scratchpad memory. We choose the block size based on the optimal partition size for large SRAM structures, use self-resetting and replica timing circuit techniques, and add flexible status bits and a few hardwired functional blocks to support reconfigurability. A 16-kb prototype design fabricated in a 0.18 μm technology cycles at 1.1 GHz at the nominal 1.8 V supply and room temperature. The additional logic used for reconfigurability consumes 32 % of the area and 23 % of the power of the memory block. We project that these overhead percentages would fall below 15% and 10%, respectively, for a 64-kb memory.