Semiconductor integrated circuits with power reduction mechanism
January 6, 2014. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.Patent ReferencesSemiconductor integrated circuit device in which difficulties caused by parasitic transistors are eliminated Semiconductor including signal processor and transient detector for low temperature operation Decoder circuit of a semiconductor memory device MOS no-leak circuit Semiconductor integrated circuit having a built-in power voltage generator Integrated circuit having an internal reference circuit to supply internal logic circuits with a reduced voltage Semiconductor integrated circuit Semiconductor device incorporating internal power supply for compensating for deviation in operating condition and fabrication process conditions CMOS clocked logic decoder Power source voltage tracking circuit for stabilization of bit lines Patent #: 5305259 InventorsAssigneeApplicationNo. 178020 filed on 01/06/1994US Classes:326/21, SIGNAL SENSITIVITY OR TRANSMISSION INTEGRITY326/98, MOSFET327/544, Power conservation or pulse type327/546, With field-effect transistor365/226POWERINGExaminersPrimary: Hudspeth, DavidAttorney, Agent or FirmInternational ClassH03K 017/16Foreign Application Priority Data1993-01-07 JPAbstractThis invention is to reduce the power dissipation of a semiconductor integrated circuit chip when it is operated at an operating voltage of 2.5 V or below. To achieve the object, a switching element is provided in each circuit block within the semiconductor integrated circuit chip. The constants of the switching element are set so that the leak current in the switching element of each circuit block in their off-state is smaller than the subthreshold current of the MOS transistors within the corresponding circuit block. The active current is supplied to the active circuit blocks, while the switching elements of the non-active circuit blocks are turned off. Thus, the dissipation currents of the non-active circuit blocks are limited to the leak current value of the corresponding switching elements. As a result, the sum of the dissipation currents of the non-active circuit blocks is made smaller than the active current in the active circuit blocks. Since the dissipation currents of the non-active circuit blocks can be reduced while the active current is caused to flow in the active circuit blocks, the power dissipation in the semiconductor integrated circuit chip can be reduced even in the active state. | |
