A dynamic timing control technique utilizing time borrowing and clock stretching

Abstract

In this paper, a dynamic timing control technique employing a time-borrowing flip-flop with a time-borrowing detection and a clock shifter is presented to prevent timing errors of a system with a minimized performance penalty. The proposed flip-flop allows time borrowing during a time-borrowing window (TBW) on critical paths and generates a time-borrowing detection signal used by the clock shifter to stretch the clock period by TBW. This makes the system delay-error tolerant at a lower voltage or a higher frequency without any error management. To validate the proposed technique, we designed a prototype in a 180-nm CMOS technology. At a 10% activation probability of critical paths, the measurement results show a power reduction of up to 22% (at the same clock frequency) or an operating frequency increase of up to 10% (at the same power) compared to those of a conventional design.