Daniel Mark Nelson

Implementation of the Cell Broadband Engine™ in 65 nm SOI Technology Featuring Dual Power Supply SRAM Arrays Supporting 6 GHz at 1.3 V

The 65 nm cell broadband enginetrade (cell BE) is a multi-core SoC, implemented in a high performance SOI technology featuring a separate dual power supply for SRAM arrays to improve stability and performance using an elevated voltage. A new method is shown to analyze the SRAM cell under application conditions which was used to tune the cell for stability, write-ability and performance. An improved write scheme is shown which widens the overall functional window and allows setting the power/performance point of the arrays independently of the surrounding logic. Hardware measurements demonstrate the advantages of the dual power supply under different aspects.