CCS: A low-power capacitively charge-sharing transmitter for NoC links

Abstract

In this letter, a capacitively charge-sharing transmitter (CCS) is proposed as a novel design to replace the traditional differential capacitive pre-emphasis transmitter (CPE), for the purpose of reducing the dynamic power consumption by half. The CCS functions as a transmitter for mesh NoC links to achieve high-speed and low-power transmission. CCS generates a pair of differential low-swing signals at a time through charge-sharing. Its capacitively driven mode enables high-speed transmission and provides pre-emphasis to extend the bandwidth. Simulation shows that CCS can achieve 9Gb/s data rate over 2mm twisted differential interconnects with only 56.4fJ/b power consumption. With a clockless hysteresis receiver, the transceiver for NoC links enables a data rate of 7Gb/s with at least 70% eye-opening while consumes only 90.8fJ/b.