• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.265-273
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• 2012

Data stability and leakage power dissipation have become a critical issue in scaled SRAM design. In this paper, an advanced 8T SRAM cell improving the read and write stability of data storage elements as well as reducing the leakage current in the idle mode is presented. During the read operation, the bit-cell keeps the noise-vulnerable data 'low' node voltage close to the ground level, and thus producing near-ideal voltage transfer characteristics essential for robust read functionality. In the write operation, a negative bias on the cell facilitates to change the contents of the bit. Unlike the conventional 6T cell, there is no conflicting read and write requirement on sizing the transistors. In the standby mode, the built-in stacked device in the 8T cell reduces the leakage current significantly. The 8T SRAM cell implemented in a 130 nm CMOS technology demonstrates almost 100 % higher read stability while bearing 20 % better write-ability at 1.2 V typical condition, and a reduction by 45 % in leakage power consumption compared to the standard 6T cell. The stability enhancement and leakage power reduction provided with the proposed bit-cell are confirmed under process, voltage and temperature variations.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.19-23
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• 2013

This paper deals with the analysis of 6T SRAM cell stability for Hi-speed processing Ternary Content Addressable Memory. The higher the operation frequency, the smaller CMOS technology required in the designed TCAM because the purpose of TCAM is high-speed data processing. Decrease of Supply voltage is one cause of unstable TCAM operation. Thus, We should design TCAM through analysis of SRAM cell stability. In this paper we propose methodology to characterize the Static Noise Margin of 6T SRAM. All simulations of the TCAM have been carried out in 180nm CMOS process technology.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.118-129
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• 2010

A lower-threshold-voltage (LVth) SRAM cell with an elevated cell biasing scheme, which enables to reduce the random threshold-voltage (Vth) variation and to alleviate the stability-degradation caused by word-line (WL) and cell power line (VDDM) disturbed accesses in row and column directions, has been proposed. The random Vth variation (${\sigma}Vth$) is suppressed by the proposed LVth cell. As a result, the LVth cell reduces the variation of static noise margin (SNM) for the data retention, which enables to maintain a higher SNM over a larger memory size, compared with a conventionally being used higher Vth (HVth) cell. An elevated cell biasing scheme cancels the substantial trade-off relationship between SNM and the write margin (WRTM) in an SRAM cell. Obtained simulation results with a 45-nm CMOS technology model demonstrate that the proposed techniques allow sufficient stability margins to be maintained up to $6{\sigma}$ level with a 0.5-V data retention voltage and a 0.7-V logic bias voltage.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2013

Negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) and positive bias temperature instability (PBTI) are critical circuit reliability issues in highly scaled CMOS technologies. In this paper, we analyze the impacts of NBTI and PBTI on SRAM $V_{MIN}$, and present a design solution for mitigating the impact of NBTI and PBTI on SRAM $V_{MIN}$. Two different types of SRAM $V_{MIN}$ (SNM-limited $V_{MIN}$ and time-limited $V_{MIN}$) are explained. Simulation results show that SNM-limited $V_{MIN}$ is more sensitive to NBTI while time-limited $V_{MIN}$ is more prone to suffer from PBTI effect. The proposed NBTI/PBTI-aware control of wordline pulse width and woldline voltage improves cell stability, and mitigates the $V_{MIN}$ degradation induced by NBTI/PBTI.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.293-302
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• 2015

Degraded data stability, weaker write ability, and increased leakage power consumption are the primary concerns in scaled static random-access memory (SRAM) circuits. Two new SRAM cells are proposed in this paper for achieving enhanced read data stability and lower leakage power consumption in memory circuits. The bitline access transistors are asymmetrically gate-underlapped in the proposed SRAM cells. The strengths of the asymmetric bitline access transistors are weakened during read operations and enhanced during write operations, as the direction of current flow is reversed. With the proposed hybrid asymmetric SRAM cells, the read data stability is enhanced by up to 71.6% and leakage power consumption is suppressed up to 15.5%, while displaying similar write voltage margin and maintaining identical silicon area as compared to the conventional memory cells in a 15 nm FinFET technology.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.954-961
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• 2019

This paper suggests an advanced 8T SRAM which can operate properly in subthreshold voltage regime. The memory cell consists of symmetric 8 transistors, in which the latch storing data is controlled by a column-wise assistline. During the read, the data storage nodes are temporarily decoupled from the read path, thus eliminating the read disturbance. Additionally, the cell keeps the noise-vulnerable 'low' node close to the ground, thereby improving the dummy-read stability. In the write, the boosted wordline facilitates to change the contents of the memory bit. At 0.4 V supply, the advanced 8T cell achieves 65% higher dummy-read stability and 3.7 times better write-ability compared to the commercialized 8T cell. The proposed cell and circuit techniques have been verified in a 16-kbit SRAM array designed with an industrial 180-nm low-power CMOS process.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics A
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• v.32A no.11
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• pp.71-78
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• 1995

Based on the popular 4-transistor SRAM cell, an analytical expression of the minimum cell ratio was derived by modeling the static read operation. By analyzing the relatively simple expression for the minimum cell ratio, which was derived assuming the ideal transistor characteristics, effects of the changes in supply voltage and process parameters on the minimum cell ratio was predicted, and the minimum power supply voltage for read operation was determined. The results were verified by simulations utilizing the suggested simulation method, which is suitable for monitoring the lower limit of supply voltage for proper cell operation. From the analysis, it was shown that the worst condition for cell operation is low temperature and low supply voltage, and that the operation margin can be effectively improved by reducing the threshold voltage of the cell transistors.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.152-157
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• 2024

In this study, we propose a novel 8T ternary SRAM that can process three logic values (0, 1, and 2) with only two additional transistors, compared with the conventional 6T binary SRAM. The circuit structure consists of positive and negative ternary inverters (PTI and NTI, respectively) with carbon-nanotube field-effect transistors, replacing conventional cross-coupled inverters. In logic '0' or '2,' the proposed SRAM cell operates the same way as conventional binary SRAM. For logic '1,' it works differently as storage nodes on each side retain voltages of V_DD/2 and V_DD, respectively, using the subthreshold current of two additional transistors. By applying the ternary system, the data capacity increases exponentially as the number of cells increases compared with the 6T binary SRAM, and the proposed design has an 18.87% data density improvement. In addition, the Synopsys HSPICE simulation validates the reduction in static power consumption by 71.4% in the array system. In addition, the static noise margins are above 222 mV, ensuring the stability of the cell operation when V_DD is set to 0.9 V.