EECE481

3/16/2005

Lecture 18 SRAM Cell and Column I/O Design

Res Saleh Dept. of ECE University of British Columbia res@ece.ubc.ca

RAS

EECE481 Lecture 18

Architecture of 64Kb SRAM

2m =256 Row decoder Column Pullups word line

bitline 2n
=256

n=8

Address input m=8

Column decoder

2m

Column Mux

Read/Write

Sense en Write en Read-write control

Sense amplifier

Write driver
Data In RAS EECE481 Lecture 18 Data Out 2

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SRAM Storage Cell

Uses six transistors (called 6T memory cell):
wordline
a

inverter 1
Single Stage Noise Margin

2 1 a a inverter 2

Bitline

Bitline

VOL VS

VOH

Read and write operations use the same port. There is one wordline and two bit lines. The bit lines carry complementary data, a fact that will be used to reduce access time. The cell layout is small since it has a small number of wires (but large relative to DRAM).
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CMOS SRAM Cell Design

Vdd b wp wa a wd a wd wp wa b

Cell Design
Problem: Find wa, wd, wp such that 1) minimize cell area 2) obtain good read and write cell margins 3) good soft error immunity 4) good cell read current in that order

wl
Vdd wp a wa a wd Vdd Vdd

Since the cell is symmetric we need only design three transistor sizes

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EECE481 Lecture 18

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CMOS SRAM cell design - read

Make sure that internal node a does not go high enough to turn on M2 Use threshold voltage as a maximum allowable voltage at internal node during read; Make current ratio between M1 and M3 about 3 to 4 Want to design device sizes such that read current is high enough to create desired differential voltage on bit lines ~200mV within a specified amount of time
Vdd b

Icell =
b M6 M4

Cbit V

wl
trigger

Icell
M3

M5 a (=0)

b,b
Cbit

(1=) a M2

a a

Cbit

M1

wl
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Rule-of-Thumb: W1/W3 = 1-1.5

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CMOS SRAM cell design - write

Vdd
b

Need to make sure M4 is strong enough to pull internal node a low while M6 is trying to pull it high Use switching threshold as trigger point for regenerative switch point; usually want to make it less than the switching threshold This will force inverter M5-M1 switch to new state Make ratio of currents between M4 and M6 about 3 to 4
Vdd

M5 M3 a M1 ( = 0)

M6 M4 (1=) a M2

wl b a a b

Vdd

~Gnd

Rule-of-Thumb: W4/W6 = 1-1.5

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SRAM Cell Layout

Layout of SRAM cell word line running horizontally bit lines running vertically cross-coupled inverters on top access transistors on bottom Portion of the core array using SRAM cell scaled in dimensions compared to single bit cell 2 cells across, 3 cells high replicated in this manner to build the core array
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Wordline Capacitance
Word line presents a large capacitance to the decoder Each cell loads the word line with two transistor capacitances and one wire capacitance (plus wire resistance) Total capacitance is the capacitance per cell x number of cells on word line clock
b b b b b b w1
Row Address Bits

w2 x x x w3
1 wordline 2 a a

decoder

w4 w5
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Bitline

Bitline

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Column I/O Operation

Circuits that perform read and write on the array are column I/O Bitline load Can be static or precharged Proper configuration depends on amplifier design For read Bit lines must start at around Vdd Swings should be small for fast operation Involves Mux and sense amplifier design For write Need to drive one of the bitlines to Gnd Mux and write driver design Often use different I/O lines for read and write
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Bitline Capacitance
Load capacitance is mostly self-loading of the cells Drain cap and drain contacts (0.5-1 fF) of transistors are shared Junctions are biased at Vdd (lower cap than normal) Wire capacitance ~ .2fF/micron of wire
clock

b b

b w1

wordline 2 1 a a wordline Bitline Bitline 2 1 a a

Row Address Bits

w2 w3 w4

decoder

Bitline

Bitline

w5
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Bitline Load Options

PC PC PC

Important to equalize bitline voltage before reads cell wl wl cell

b b,b PC

Latch-based Sense amplifier

b
VDD

Latch-based

Sense amplifier

Analog differential Sense amplifier

b,b PC wl
EECE481 Lecture 18

VDD

wl
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PC

VDD VDD-VTN

11

Write Circuitry
M7 M8 clk

Precharge bitlines high Pull one column line low Turn on word line Wait until internal values of cell are established Turn off word line Design precharge transistors to pull bit lines high Design write drivers to pull one side low depending on data value
RAS

pre

cell pre
Cbit Cbit

addr data
wl

b a WL

cell a

col
b, b

M13

M14

Write Driver

col.sel.
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M15
12

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Read Circuitry
Precharge bitlines high Turn on word line One line will slowly discharge Wait until bit line reaches required low voltage level Turn on column select Amplify difference with sense amplifier
WL
Cbit Cbit

pre

M7 cell

M8 clk pre addr data

cell a a

wl
trigger

b,b a M10 a col/sense enable Sense Amplifier

EECE481 Lecture 18

Design sense amplifier M9 based on desired response time and power col.enable requirements Use precharge based on enable type of sense amp used.
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Sense

out Output
13

Column Decoder/Mux
Need decoder for column address followed by a mux to select column for input or output operations Require two outputs to drive complementary pass gates Since the requirements for read and write are different can use separate read and write IO lines Have PMOS access for the read IO lines, since the read happens near Vdd Have NMOS devices for the write IO lines, since you need to drive bitlines to Gnd (see next slide)
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cell

cell

cell

cell

cell

cell

cell

cell

1
C O L U M N D E C O D E R

2 3

col addr

2M

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Column Muxing Separate I/O

Write Driver Sense Amp Write Driver Sense Amp

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Multi-Level Column Decoding

Alternatives for column selection are tree decoder, regular decoder + pass transistor, or some combination of the two Shown on the right is a tree decoder switches driven directly by address bits and their complements total of 2M+1 devices large devices to reduce resistance long paths -> large C -> SLOW To speed up, add buffers or use adjust sizing of devices
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COLUMNS Bi
A1 A1

Bi + 1

Bi + 2

B i+ 3

A2 A
2

TREE DECODER

SENSE CIRCUIT

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Other Options for Column Decoder/Mux

Decoders 2 to 4 2 to 4
COLUMNS

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Building Amplifiers
We need an amplifier to handle small voltage swings on the bit lines for fast operation Normally you need to choose between Drawing DC power (diff. sense amplifier) Using a clock edge (latch-based amplifier)
(to turn DC power on only when the signal is present)

For CMOS logic gates When input is at VDD or Gnd, one of the transistors is off Nothing can happen until this transistor turns on
And even then you need to wait some more for gate to switch Sitting in low gain region of transfer curve

For an amplifier Want to be in high-gain region (saturation)

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Latch-based Sense Amplifier

It must sense a very small signal It must consume a small area Need one for each bitline Or sets of bitline (4 or 8) Simplest design: Two back-to-back inverters Add a clocked pulldown Once Bit and Bit_b are established, turn on pulldown device to activate inverters Side with lower voltage will drop to 0V while the other side stays high

Bit

VDD

Bit_b

SenseEnable

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Using Clocks and Regeneration

Three stages of operation Precharge Sample Regenerate At the end of sample Small bitline voltage on sense and sense_b Regenerate M2 and M3 turn on Voltage difference causes current difference Which causes larger voltage difference
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SenseEnable

Sense_b

M2

M3

Sense

M1

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