Power characteristics of inductive interconnect

The width of an interconnect line affects the total power consumed by a circuit. The effect of wire sizing on the power characteristics of an inductive interconnect line is presented in this paper. The matching condition between the driver and the load affects the power consumption since the short-circuit power dissipation may decrease and the dynamic power will increase with wider lines. A tradeoff, therefore, exists between short-circuit and dynamic power in inductive interconnects. The short-circuit power increases with wider linewidths only if the line is underdriven. The power characteristics of inductive interconnects therefore may have a great influence on wire sizing optimization techniques. An analytic solution of the transition time of a signal propagating along an inductive interconnect with an error of less than 15% is presented. The solution is useful in wire sizing synthesis techniques to decrease the overall power dissipation. The optimum linewidth that minimizes the total transient power dissipation is determined. An analytic solution for the optimum width with an error of less than 6% is presented. For a specific set of line parameters and resistivities, a reduction in power approaching 80% is achieved as compared to the minimum wire width. Considering the driver size in the design process, the optimum wire and driver size that minimizes the total transient power is also determined.