[February 21, 2013]

Toshiba Develops Low Power Technology for Embedded SRAM

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced the development of an innovative low-power technology for embedded SRAM for application in smart phones and other mobile products. The new technology reduces active and standby power in temperatures ranging from room temperature (RT) to high temperature (HT) by using a bit line power calculator (BLPC) and a digitally controllable retention circuit (DCRC). A prototype has been confirmed to reduce active and standby power consumption at 25°C by 27% and 85%, respectively.

Toshiba (News - Alert) presented this development at the 2013 International Solid-State Circuit Conference in San Francisco, CA (News - Alert) on February 20⁽¹⁾.

Longer battery life requires lower power consumption in both high performance and low performance modes (MP3 decoding, background processing, etc.). As low performance applications require only tens of MHz operation, SRAM temperature remains around RT, where active and leakage power consumptions are comparable. Given this, the key issue is to reduce active and standby power from HT to RT.

Toshiba's new technology applies a BLPC and DCRC. The BLPC predicts power consumption of bit lines by using replicated bit lines to monitor the frequency of the ring oscillator. It minimizes the active power of the SRAM in certain conditions by monitoring the current consumption of the SRAM rest circuits. The DCRC greatly decreases standby power in the retention circuit by periodically activating itself to update the size of the buffer of the retention driver.

Toshiba will continue to develop technologies that contribute to high performance, low power system LSI for mobile products.

Notes: (1) Number: 18.3, "A 27% Active and 85% Standby Power Reduction in Dual-Power-Supply SRAM Using BL Power Calculator and Digitally Controllable Retention Circuit"

About Toshiba

Toshiba is a world-leading diversified manufacturer, solutions provider and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products and systems. Toshiba Group brings innovation and imagination to a wide range of businesses: digital products, including LCD TVs, notebook PCs, retail solutions and MFPs; electronic devices, including semiconductors, storage products and materials; industrial and social infrastructure systems, including power generation systems, smart community solutions, medical systems and escalators & elevators; and home appliances.

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