Design considerations and tools for low-voltage digital system design

Aggressive voltage scaling to 1 V and below through technology, circuit, and architecture optimization has been proven to be the key to ultra low-power design. The key technology trends for low-voltage operation are presented including low-threshold devices, multiple-threshold devices, and SOI and bulk-CMOS based variable threshold devices. The requirements on CAD tools that allow designers to choose and optimize various technology, circuit, and system parameters are also discussed.