A Direct Current-to-digital converter (DCDC) for Advanced Current Measurement in System-on-Chip (SOC) Designs

• Published in: Conference proceedings : Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems pp. 1051 - 1055
• Main Authors: Karimpour, Saeid, Bruce, Isaac, Sekyere, Michael, Yang, Ruohan, Darko, Emmanuel Nti, Chen, Degang
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 11.08.2024
• Subjects: ADC; Circuits and systems; CMOS; Current measurement; DCDC; Energy efficiency; Industries; measurement; Power demand; reliability; Semiconductor device measurement; System-on-chip; VLSI
• ISSN: 1558-3899
• DOI: 10.1109/MWSCAS60917.2024.10658768

This work introduces a novel, compact, and power-efficient Direct Current-to-digital converter (DCDC) designed to advance current measurement techniques in System-on-Chip (SoC) designs. By eliminating the need for traditional analog-to-digital conversion, the DCDC converter simplifies the mea-surement procedure, reduces power consumption, and minimizes space requirements. Implemented using TSMC 180 nm process, Its post-layout simulations demonstrate remarkable energy effi-ciency, with an energy per conversion of just 1.52 pJ, a power consumption of 117 μW, and a total area of 0.016mm 2 . This con-verter stands out by enabling online measurements both during normal SoC operations and in-field conditions. This capability ensures that SoCs can be monitored and managed effectively throughout their operational lifecycle, thereby enhancing both performance and reliability.