A new nano-structure design of a 2 × 2 crossbar switch based on quantum dots for a nano-communication network

Abstract

One of the novel nano-domain computing structures is Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA). QCA is an evaluation paradigm that does not utilize transistors and could be a viable replacement for CMOS-based technologies. It is one of the most promising nano-devices aimed at replacing CMOS technology. The tunneling of electrons with a particular voltage within the quantum cell is used to execute QCA. On the other hand, implementing hardware communication in the nanoscale is critical and one of the most fundamental aspects of any nanotechnology. Also, a switched network is considered a basic element in transmitting the input signal among diverse subscribers of a disseminated communication network. Crossbars are the leading and most important circuit for secure and fast communication at the nanoscale. However, in the designs that have been presented for this circuit up to now, some items such as low consumption cells, high speed, and low space have not been considered entirely. The main purpose of providing these circuits is to facilitate the process of nano-communication based on QCA with low cell consumption, low space, and high speed. Thus, in the present article, two designs are demonstrated for crossbar circuits depending on QCA. The first design is attained in an individual layer, and the second one is achieved in multi-layers. To design these circuits, multiplexer circuits are used. The simulation results using QCADesigner approved that the suggested crossbars work well and can be employed as a high-efficiency layout. The comparison outcomes illustrate that the suggested construction contains better efficiency regarding cell number, area, and clock cycle than previous proposals. Furthermore, the simulation findings demonstrate that the coplanar design improves cell numbers by about 17%. The multi-layer design improves cell number by around 7%, compared to the best-presented QCA crossbar designs. Furthermore, 51 QCA cells are employed in the suggested coplanar design, whereas 58 QCA cells are used in the multi-layer architecture. Additionally, the baseline network was created with 1319 cells and an area of 2.14 µm2 to demonstrate the effectiveness of circuits employing the provided crossbar switches.