13% Power reduction in 16b integer unit in 40nm CMOS by adaptive power supply voltage control with parity-based error prediction and detection (PEPD) and fully integrated digital LDO

Scaling power supply voltages (V_DD´s) of logic circuits down to the sub/near-threshold region is a promising approach to achieve significant power reductions. Circuit delays in the ultra-low voltage region, however, are extremely sensitive to process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations, and hence, large timing margins are required for worst-case design. Since such large timing margins reduce the energy efficiency benefits of lower V_DD, adaptive V_DD control to cope with PVT variations is indispensable for ultra-low voltage circuits. In this paper, an adaptive V_DD control system with parity-based error prediction and detection (PEPD) and 0.5-V input fully-integrated digital LDO (DLDO) is proposed.