Short Course: Modeling for Ultra-Low-Power Analog Design

“A critical dominant trend in the evolution of the electronics industry is the incredible growth in the sheer number of devices that are being deployed annually across a wide range of applications. Many of these devices are being leveraged to provide interfaces between the analog world and the digital infrastructure that supports the Internet of Everything, providing environmental sensing data to drive more effective pollution management, component data to enhance equipment lifetime and automate repair scheduling, process data to improve manufacturing effectiveness, and much, much more. The proliferation of devices also extends to enabling health care applications, improved logistics capability, and, very broadly, enabling the optimization of compute workloads across complete application stacks. Low power analog circuits are the critical enablers for such applications, and nano-powered analog circuits are and will be the critical enablers for a further wide range of emerging applications. In this short course, we explore ultra-low power analog circuits from modeling strategies to their implementation in the context of critically significant macro-level elements. The first presentation examines modeling approaches suited to ultra-low power analog design, describing the methodology in the context of several deep submicron processes. Circuit design examples are used extensively in the presentation to clarify the presented concepts. The second presentation takes up a key block in any low power system, namely, the DC-DC converter, with primary focus on the path from bulky to compact regulator solutions that enable the penetration of electronics into an ever-widening set of applications. The third presentation focuses on references and oscillators, both of which are central to almost any low-power electronic implementation. Key elements discussed in detail include ultra-low power bandgap circuits and ultra-low power timer implementations. Finally, the last presentation turns to the challenge of micropower data converters, which must provide an efficient interface between the analog world and the digital back end for a host of applications. The presentation interleaves the discussion of core ultra-low power techniques with design examples that elucidate these techniques. Broadly, the four presentations explore ultralow power analog design, an integral part of creating efficient, pervasive solutions for the problems of today and tomorrow.”