CHAPTER 15 CMOS DIGITAL LOGIC CIRCUITS

Chapter Outline
15.1 CMOS Logic-Gate Circuits
15.2 Digital Logic Inverters
15.3 The CMOS Inverter
15.4 Dynamic Operation of the CMOS Inverter
15.5 Transistor Sizing
15.6 Power Dissipation

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 15.1 CMOS Logic-Gate Circuits

Switch-Level Transistor Model

 NMOS and PMOS transistors as switches
 Switch on: small resistance Ron or rDS
 Switch off: open circuit

The CMOS Inverter

 Invert the logic value of the input
 Represented by Boolean expression Y  X
 When X = 1 (VX = VDD)
 Y = 0 (VY = 0V)
 When X = 0 (VX = 0V)
 Y = 1 (VY = VDD)

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General Structure of CMOS Logic
 NMOS pull-down network (PDN) and PMOS pull-up network (PUN) operated by input variables in
a complementary fashion

Alternative Circuit Symbols for MOSFETS in Digital Circuits

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Two-Input Logic Gates
 Two-input NOR gate, two-input NAND gate and Exclusive-OR gate

NOR gate NAND gate XOR gate

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Synthesis Method for PUN and PDN
 The PDN can be directly synthesized by expressing the inverted Boolean function in
uncomplemented variables (inverters are needed if complemented variables appear in the
expression)
 The PUN can be directly synthesized by expressing the nonverted Boolean function in
complemented variables (inverters are needed if uncomplemented variables appear in the
expression)
 The PUN can be also obtained from the PDN (and vice versa) using the duality property

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Examples for CMOS Logic Gates

Y  AB

Y  AB  AB Y  A( B  CD )

Y  A B

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 15.2 Digital Logic Inverters

The Voltage-Transfer Characteristic (VTC)

 The function of the inverter is to invert the logic value of its input signal
 The voltage-transfer characteristic is used to evaluate the quality of inverter operation

 VTC parameters
 VOH: output high level
 VOL: output low level
 VIH: the minimum value of input interpreted by the inverter as a logic 1
 VIL: the maximum value of input interpreted by the inverter as a logic 0
 Transition region: input level between VIL and VIH

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Noise Margins
 The VTC is generally non-linear
 VIH and VIL are defined as the points at which the slope of the VTC is -1
 Robustness (noise margin at a high level): NMH = VOHVIH
 Robustness (noise margin at a low level): NML = VILVOL
 Static inverter characteristics for ideal VTC:
 VOH = VDD
 VOL = 0
 VIH = VIL = VDD/2
 NMH = NML = VDD/2

Ideal VTC

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Propagation Delay
 tPHL : high-to-low propagation delay
 tPLH : low-to-high propagation delay
 tP (propagation delay) = (tPLH+tPHL)/2
 Maximum switching frequency fmax = 1/2tP
 The output transient of the inverter can be characterized by a RC charge/discharge model

vO (t )  V  (V  V0 )e t / RC

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Inverter Implementation
 Simplest implementation of the inverter with a MOSFET and a load

 Inverter implementation with complementary switches

 Inverter implementation with a double-throw switch

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 15.3 The CMOS Inverter

Circuit Operation
 A CMOS inverter consists of an n-channel and a p-channel MOSFET
 The n-channel device turns on and the p-channel device turns off as the input level goes high
 The p-channel device turns on and the n-channel device turns off as the input level goes low
 The turn-on device is modeled by a resistance: rDSN  kn' W / L n (VDD  Vtn ) and rDSP  k p' W / L  p (VDD  | Vtp |)
1 1

 VOH = VDD and VOL = 0 for any CMOS inverter

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 The transistors go through five different operation regions as the input goes from 0 to VDD
 Region I: (QN off; QP tri.) iDN ( 0)  iDP
1  1 
 Region II: (QN sat.; QP tri.) iDN  kn (vI  Vtn ) 2  iDP  k p (VDD  vI  | Vtp |)(VDD  vO )  (VDD  vO ) 2 
2  2 
1 1
 Region III: (QN sat; QP sat) iDN  kn (vI  Vtn ) 2  iDP  k p (VDD  vI  | Vtp |) 2
2 2
 1  1
 Region IV: (QN tri.; QP sat.) iDN  k n (vI  Vtn )vO  vO2   iDP  k p (VDD  vI  | Vtp |) 2
 2  2
 Region V: (QN tri.; QP off) iDN  iDP ( 0)

Region I Region II Region III

Region IV Region V

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Static Characteristics of the CMOS Inverter
 Ratioless logic: VOH and VOL are independent of ratio of the transistors
 VOH = VDD
 VOL = 0
 Static power dissipation is zero for both states
 Noise margins can be determined by the VTC
 The switching voltage (when vI = vO) is defined by
r (VDD  | Vtp |)  Vtn kp  p (W / L) p
VM 
r 1 where r  kn

 n (W / L) n
 VM increases with r (not a strong function)
 NML increases and NMH decreases as r increases
 NML decreases and NMH increases as r decreases

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The Matched Inverter
 A matched inverter has equivalent pull-up and pull-down device with kn = kp and Vtn = |Vtp| = Vt
 The VTC is symmetric
 Determine VIL from the VTC in Region II:
1  1 
(vI  Vt ) 2  (VDD  vI  Vt )(VDD  vO )  (VDD  vO ) 2 
2  2 
dvO dv
vI  Vt  (VDD  vO )  (VDD  vI  Vt )  (VDD  vO ) O
dvI dvI
1
VIL  (3VDD  2Vt )
8
 Determine VIH from the VTC in Region IV:
1 1
(vI  Vt )vo  vO2  (VDD  vI  Vt ) 2
2 2
dv dv
vO  (vI  Vt ) O  vO O  (VDD  vI  Vt )
dvI dvI
1
VIH  (5VDD  2Vt )
8
 Noise margins: NMH = NML = (3VDD+2Vt)/8
 Switching voltage: VM = VDD/2

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 15.4 Dynamic Operation of the CMOS Inverter

Determining the Propagation Delay

 Evaluated by charging/discharge the output capacitor C through QP and QN
 Average current method:
 tPHL:

1
I av  iDN ( E )  iDN (M )
2
1
iDN ( E )  k n (VDD  Vtn ) 2
2
  VDD  1  VDD  
2

iDN ( M )  kn (VDD  Vtn )    

  2  2  2  
CVDD C
t PHL   n
2 I av knVDD
 7 3Vtn Vtn2 
where  n  2 /    2 
 4 VDD VDD 
 tPLH:
CVDD  C
t PLH   p
2 I av k pVDD
 7 3 | Vtp | Vtp2 
where  p  2 /    2 
 4 VDD VDD 
 Propagation delay: tP = (tPHL+tPLH)/2

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 An alternative approach:
 Modeling the turn-on device as a resistance
 Use RC charge/discharge behavior to evaluate the propagation delay
 The empirical values of the resistors are given by
12.5 and 30
RN  (k) RP  (k)
(W / L) n (W / L) p
 tPHL= 0.69RNC and tPLH= 0.69RPC
 Step function at input may underestimate propagation delay  tPHL  RNC and tPLH  RPC

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Determining the Equivalent Load Capacitance
 Components accountable for the equivalent load capacitance
 Transistor parasitic capacitances from Q1 and Q2 (intrinsic component)
 Input capacitance of the following stages (extrinsic component)
 Wiring capacitance or interconnect capacitance (extrinsic component)

C  ( 2C gd 1  2C gd 2  Cdb1  Cdb 2 )  (C g 3  C g 4  Cw )  Cint  Cext

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 15.5 Transistor Sizing

Inverter Sizing
 Minimum length permitted by the technology is usually used as the length for all channels
 Device aspect ratio (W/L)n is usually selected in the range 1 to 1.5
 The selection of (W/L)p is relative to (W/L)n
 Matched inverter by (W/L)p : (W/L)n = n: p
 (W/L)p = (W/L)n: minimum area, small propagation delay
 (W/L)p = 2(W/L)n: a frequently used compromise
 Transistor sizing (aspect ratios are increased by a factor of S) versus propagation delay
 Load capacitance: C  Cint  Cext  SCint 0  Cext

1 RN RP Req 0
 Equivalent resistance: Req  (  )
2 S S S
 Req 0   1 
 Propagation delay: t P  0.69 ( SCint 0  Cext )  0.69 Req 0Cint 0  Req 0Cext 
 S   S 

 The propagation decreases as S increases for cases where Cext dominates

 The propagation is nearly independent of the transistor sizing (S) for cases where Cint dominates

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Transistor Sizing
The (W/L) ratios are chosen for a worst-case gate delay equal to
that of the basic inverter (assuming C is constant)
The derivation of equivalent (W/L) ratio is based on the equivalent
resistance of the transistors

1
 1 1 
Series Connection  (W / L) eq     ...
rDS  (W / L) 1  (W / L)1 (W / L) 2 
Parallel Connection  (W / L) eq  (W / L)1  (W / L) 2  ...

Effects of Fan-In and Fan-Out

Each additional input to a CMOS gate requires two additional transistors
Increases the chip area and the propagation delay due to excess capacitive loading
The number of NAND gate is typically limited to 4
Redesign the logic design may be required for a higher number of inputs
Advantages of using CMOS logic: static power dissipation, ratioless design, noise margin
Disadvantage of using CMOS logic: area, complexity, capacitive loading, propagation delay

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Driving a Large Capacitance
 A large capacitive load drastically increases the propagation delay
 Use a large inverter to drive the load could alleviate the propagation delay
 The input capacitance increases accordingly equivalently shifting the burden forward
 Chain of scaled inverters in cascade to alleviate the problem with large capacitive load

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 15. 6 Power Dissipation

Power Dissipation
 Static power dissipation: power dissipated when the inverter stays in logic 0 or logic 1
 Dynamic power dissipation: power dissipated as the output is switching
 0.5C(VDD)2 is dissipated in the PUN in each cycle
 0.5C(VDD)2 is dissipated in the PDN in each cycle
 Dynamic power dissipation: PD = f C(VDD)2
 Another component of power dissipation during switching results from the current conduction
through QP and QN and the peak current for a matched inverter is given by

2
1 V 
I peak  k n  DD  Vtn 
2  2 

Power-Delay Product and Energy-Delay Product

 Power and delay are often in conflict for inverter operation
 Power-delay product is a figure-of-merit for comparing logic-circuit technologies or families
 Power-delay product is defined as PDP  PDt P  CVDD
2
/2
 Energy-delay product (energy per transition) is defined as EDP  CVDD
2
tP / 2

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