학술논문

A 28nm High-κ metal-gate single-chip communications processor with 1.5GHz dual-core application processor and LTE/HSPA+-capable baseband processor
Document Type
Conference
Source
2013 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference Digest of Technical Papers Solid-State Circuits Conference Digest of Technical Papers (ISSCC), 2013 IEEE International. :156-157 Feb, 2013
Subject
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Computing and Processing
Engineered Materials, Dielectrics and Plasmas
Random access memory
Clocks
Program processors
Mobile communication
Leakage currents
Control systems
MOS devices
Language
ISSN
0193-6530
2376-8606
Abstract
The increase in the use and number of smartphone devices is causing heavy data traffic volumes on existing 3G mobile wireless networks. LTE, often referred to as 4G, offers true mobile broadband. It is a new network and access technology that provides new spectrum resources, much increased spectral efficiency, higher throughputs (150Mb/s with higher rates to come), at lower latency and it uses an IP-based infrastructure. LTE is the solution to mitigate the traffic load issue and it is being rolled out around the world. The proposed communication processor R-Mobile U2 (RMU2) achieves single-chip integration of a 1.5GHz dual-core application processor and a triple mode (GSM/WCDMA/LTE) base-band processor. Key design highlights of the RMU2 are: 1) A 28nm HKMG high-performance and low-leakage (HPL) CMOS bulk process achieves an optimal balance between both low leakage current and high performance. 2) A CPU clock control mechanism, called the “power saver”, limits the CPU power so as not to exceed a threshold level and to reduce IR drop. 3) The internal power domain is separated into 33 sub-blocks with I/O NMOS power switches [1] to minimize leakage current of any unused sub-block. 4) A dual-mode low-leakage SRAM [2] achieves low standby current in addition to conventional memory characteristics.