Lecture 9: Combinational Circuit Design
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 2
Outline Bubble Pushing Compound Gates Logical Effort Example Input Ordering Asymmetric Gates Skewed Gates Best P/N ratio
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 3
Example 1module mux(input s, d0, d1,
output y);
assign y = s ? d1 : d0;
endmodule
1) Sketch a design using AND, OR, and NOT gates.
D0S
D1S
Y
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 4
Example 22) Sketch a design using NAND, NOR, and NOT gates.
Assume ~S is available.
Y
D0S
D1S
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 5
Bubble Pushing Start with network of AND / OR gates Convert to NAND / NOR + inverters Push bubbles around to simplify logic
– Remember DeMorgan’s Law
Y Y
Y
D
Y
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 6
Example 33) Sketch a design using one compound gate and one
NOT gate. Assume ~S is available.
Y
D0SD1S
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 7
Compound Gates Logical Effort of compound gates
ABCD
Y
ABC
Y
A
BC
C
A B
A
B
C
D
A
C
B
D
2
21
4
44
2
2 2
2
4
4 4
4
gA = 6/3
gB = 6/3
gC = 5/3
p = 7/3
gA = 6/3
gB = 6/3
gC = 6/3
p = 12/3
gD = 6/3
YA
A Y
gA = 3/3
p = 3/3
2
1YY
unit inverter AOI21 AOI22
A
C
DE
Y
B
Y
B C
A
D
E
A
B
C
D E
gA = 5/3
gB = 8/3
gC = 8/3
gD = 8/3
2
2 2
22
6
6
6 6
3
p = 16/3
gE = 8/3
Complex AOI
Y A B C Y A B C D Y A B C D E Y A
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 8
Example 4 The multiplexer has a maximum input capacitance of
16 units on each input. It must drive a load of 160 units. Estimate the delay of the two designs.
2 2 4
(4 / 3) (4 / 3) 16 / 9
160 / 9
ˆ 4.2
ˆ 12.4
N
P
G
F GBH
f F
D Nf P
Y
D0S
D1S
Y
D0SD1S
H = 160 / 16 = 10 B = 1 N = 2
4 1 5
(6 / 3) (1) 2
20
ˆ 4.5
ˆ 14
N
P
G
F GBH
f F
D Nf P
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 9
6
6 6
6
10
10Y
24
12
10
10
8
8
88
8
8
88
25
25
2525Y
16 16160 * (4/3) / 4.2 = 50 160 * 1 / 4.5 = 36
Example 5 Annotate your designs with transistor sizes that
achieve this delay.
Y
8
8
88
8
8
88
25
25
2525Y
16 160 * (4/3) / 4.2 = 50
YY
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 10
Input Order Our parasitic delay model was too simple
– Calculate parasitic delay for Y falling• If A arrives latest? 2• If B arrives latest? 2.33
6C
2C2
2
22
B
Ax
Y
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 11
Inner & Outer Inputs Inner input is closest to output (A) Outer input is closest to rail (B)
If input arrival time is known– Connect latest input to inner terminal
2
2
22
A
B
Y
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 12
Asymmetric Gates Asymmetric gates favor one input over another Ex: suppose input A of a NAND gate is most critical
– Use smaller transistor on A (less capacitance)– Boost size of noncritical input– So total resistance is same
gA = 10/9
gB = 2
gtotal = gA + gB = 28/9
Asymmetric gate approaches g = 1 on critical input But total logical effort goes up
Areset
Y
4
4/3
22
reset
A
Y
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 13
Symmetric Gates Inputs can be made perfectly symmetric
A
B
Y2
1
1
2
1
1
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 14
Skewed Gates Skewed gates favor one edge over another Ex: suppose rising output of inverter is most critical
– Downsize noncritical nMOS transistor
Calculate logical effort by comparing to unskewed inverter with same effective resistance on that edge.
– gu = 2.5 / 3 = 5/6
– gd = 2.5 / 1.5 = 5/3
1/2
2A Y
1
2A Y
1/2
1A Y
HI-skewinverter
unskewed inverter(equal rise resistance)
unskewed inverter(equal fall resistance)
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 15
HI- and LO-Skew Def: Logical effort of a skewed gate for a particular
transition is the ratio of the input capacitance of that gate to the input capacitance of an unskewed inverter delivering the same output current for the same transition.
Skewed gates reduce size of noncritical transistors– HI-skew gates favor rising output (small nMOS)– LO-skew gates favor falling output (small pMOS)
Logical effort is smaller for favored direction But larger for the other direction
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 16
1/2
2A Y
Inverter
1
1
22
B
AY
B
A
NAND2 NOR2
1/21/2
4
4
HI-skew
LO-skew1
1A Y
2
2
11
B
AY
B
A
11
2
2
gu = 5/6gd = 5/3gavg = 5/4
gu = 4/3gd = 2/3gavg = 1
gu = 1gd = 2gavg = 3/2
gu = 2gd = 1gavg = 3/2
gu = 3/2gd = 3gavg = 9/4
gu = 2gd = 1gavg = 3/2
Y
Y
1
2A Y
2
2
22
B
AY
B
A
11
4
4
unskewedgu = 1gd = 1gavg = 1
gu = 4/3gd = 4/3gavg = 4/3
gu = 5/3gd = 5/3gavg = 5/3
Y
1/2
2A Y
Inverter
1
1
22
B
AY
B
A
NAND2 NOR2
1/21/2
4
4
HI-skew
LO-skew1
1A Y
2
2
11
B
AY
B
A
11
2
2
gu = 5/6gd = 5/3gavg = 5/4
gu = 4/3gd = 2/3gavg = 1
gu = gd =gavg =
gu = gd = gavg =
gu = gd = gavg =
gu = gd =gavg =
Y
Y
1
2A Y
2
2
22
B
AY
B
A
11
4
4
unskewedgu = 1gd = 1gavg = 1
gu = 4/3gd = 4/3gavg = 4/3
gu = 5/3gd = 5/3gavg = 5/3
Y
1/2
2A Y
Inverter
B
AY
B
A
NAND2 NOR2
HI-skew
LO-skew1
1A Y
B
AY
B
A
gu = 5/6gd = 5/3gavg = 5/4
gu = 4/3gd = 2/3gavg = 1
gu = gd =gavg =
gu =gd = gavg =
gu =gd =gavg =
gu =gd =gavg =
Y
Y
1
2A Y
2
2
22
B
AY
B
A
11
4
4
unskewedgu = 1gd = 1gavg = 1
gu = 4/3gd = 4/3gavg = 4/3
gu = 5/3gd = 5/3gavg = 5/3
Y
Catalog of Skewed Gates
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 17
Asymmetric Skew Combine asymmetric and skewed gates
– Downsize noncritical transistor on unimportant input
– Reduces parasitic delay for critical input
Areset
Y
4
4/3
21
reset
A
Y
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 18
Best P/N Ratio We have selected P/N ratio for unit rise and fall
resistance ( = 2-3 for an inverter). Alternative: choose ratio for least average delay Ex: inverter
– Delay driving identical inverter
– tpdf = (P+1)
– tpdr = (P+1)(/P)
– tpd = (P+1)(1+/P)/2 = (P + 1 + + /P)/2
– dtpd / dP = (1- /P2)/2 = 0
– Least delay for P =
1
PA
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 19
Inverter NAND2 NOR2
1
1.414A Y
2
2
22
B
AY
B
A
11
2
2
fastest P/N ratio gu = 1.15
gd = 0.81gavg = 0.98
gu = 4/3gd = 4/3gavg = 4/3
gu = 2gd = 1gavg = 3/2
Y
Inverter NAND2 NOR2
1
1.414A Y
2
2
22
B
AY
B
A
11
2
2
fastest P/N ratio gu =
gd = gavg =
gu = gd =gavg =
gu = gd = gavg =
Y
P/N Ratios In general, best P/N ratio is sqrt of equal delay ratio.
– Only improves average delay slightly for inverters– But significantly decreases area and power
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design 4th Ed.10: Combinational Circuits 20
Observations For speed:
– NAND vs. NOR– Many simple stages vs. fewer high fan-in stages– Latest-arriving input
For area and power:– Many simple stages vs. fewer high fan-in stages