Embedded memory options for ultra-low power IoT devices

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) connects everyday devices to the internet to gather information using sensors and embedded systems. Emerging low power for Internet of Things wearables, and medical electronic devices has an ultimate goal to reduce overall system power and increase battery life. These applications require efficient memory solutions. Ultra-low energy dissipation for Internet of things devices enables prolonged battery life. Minimizing energy consumption requires correct architectural choice. This paper presents the selection of memory options for Ultra-low power IoT devices. Three type of memories which are flip-flop base memory, latch-based memory and SRAM based memory has been evaluated for 65 nm low power foundry technology. The result of the study shown that latch based memory has better resource utilization in terms of power−area product. The latch based RAM saved 60% in power-area product, relative to an SRAM based memory and more than 90% relative to a flip-flop based RAM. The study is targeting wearable electronics for ECG monitoring which requires 2 KB of RAM.