Resistive Random Access Memories (ReRAMs) fabricated in the back-end-of-line are a promising breakthrough for including permanent retention mechanisms in embedded systems. This low-cost solution opens the way to advanced power management schemes. In this paper, we propose novel design architecture of a non-volatile flip-flop based on Bipolar ReRAMs (Bi-RNVFF). Compared to state-of-the-art DataRetention flip-flop (with Balloon latch), the proposed design is 25% smaller due to 6T structure compared to the 8T structure of Data-Retention flip-flop. Moreover, being non-volatile, the proposed architecture exhibits a zero leakage compared to a Data-Retention Flip-Flop, which consumes ~3.2µW in sleep mode (leakage) for a 10K Flip-Flop design implemented in 22nm FDSOI technology. Our simulation results show that Bi-RNVFF is a true alternative for future "Power-on, Power-off" application adding Non-Volatility without significant burdening of the existing architectures.
Normally off, instantly on" applications are becoming common in our environment. They range from healthcare to video surveillance. As the number of applications and their associated performance requirements grow rapidly, more and more powerful, flexible and power efficient computing units are necessary. In such a context, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) architectures present a good trade-off between performance and flexibility. However, they consume high static power and can hardly be associated with power gating techniques due to their long context restoring phase. In this paper, we propose to integrate non-volatile resistive memories in configuration cells in order to instantly restore the FPGA context. We then show that if the circuit is in 'ON' state for less than 42% of time, non-volatile FPGA starts saving energy compared to classical FPGA. Finally, for a typical application with only 1% of time spent in 'ON' state, the energy gain reaches 50%.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.