Algorithms for minimizing standby power in deep submicrometer, dual - V _t CMOS circuits

In this paper we address the problem of delay constrained minimization of standby power of CMOS digital circuits that are implemented with dual-V _t technology. The availability of two or more threshold voltages on the same chip provides a new opportunity for circuit designers to make tradeoffs between power and delay. Three efficient algorithms that operate on a gate level netlist are described. Each algorithm assigns one of two threshold voltages (high and low V _t) to each transistor so that the standby power dissipation is minimized without violating a user specified delay constraint. Experimental results on the MCNC91 benchmark circuits show that up to one order of magnitude power reduction can be achieved without any increase in delay when compared to the configuration in which all devices are at the low V _t.