EE-808 Fall 2024

Digital Integrated Circuit Design

Lecture # 08
Design of Sequential Logic Circuits

Muhammad Imran
muhammad.imran1@seecs.edu.pk
Acknowledgement
2

 Content from following resources has been used in these lectures

 Digital Integrated Circuits, Adam Teman, BIU, Israel
 Jan. M. Rabaey, Digital Integrated Circuits, 2nd Ed.
Contents
3

 Introduction
 What is Sequential Logic?
 Why Sequential Logic?
 Basics of Sequential Logic
 Timing Parameters in Sequential Circuits
 Other Latch and Flip-Flop Implementations
 Basic Timing Constraints
 Static Timing Analysis
What is Sequential Logic and why we need it?
Sequential Logic
5

 Output is a function of both the current state and the previous state
 Circuit has memory!
 Sequential circuits are generally Synchronous
 Use a clock to synchronize the logic paths

www.tutorialspoint.com
 Why use Sequential Logic?
6

 Accumulator Example
 An accumulator is a register that sums a list of numbers
 Therefore, it feeds back the output back to the input
 Without a register, there would be the possibility that races would
occur, causing erroneous outputs
 We need to delay the output until the original calculation is finished

IN 0 1 0 IN
OUT

OUT 0 1 2
FB
+
FB 0 1 2
Why use Sequential Logic?
7

 Accumulator Example
 Essential to use sequential logic when
 Paths have different delays but need to converge together
 We always have to slow our fast paths down so they arrive along with
our slowest path
 If we could make all paths have equal delays, we wouldn’t need
sequential logic, but this is really hard (almost impossible) to do
Why use Sequential Logic?
8

 Pipelining Example
 Small laundry has one washer, one dryer and
one operator, it takes 90 minutes to finish one
load:

 Washer takes 30 minutes

 Dryer takes 40 minutes

 “Operator folding” takes 20 minutes

Why use Sequential Logic?
9

 Pipelining Example
 Doing laundry sequentially

 Sequential laundry takes 6 hours for 4 loads

Why use Sequential Logic?
10

 Pipelining Example
 Doing laundry in a pipelined manner

 Pipelined laundry takes 3.5 hours for 4 loads

 Every 40 minutes a new load starts and a new load ends
Why use Sequential Logic?
11

 Pipelining Data
 If it takes 10 time units to process an instruction, we could perform one
instruction every 10 time units:

Instruction Output

Delay
 But if we divide the process into 5 tasks that take 2 time units each:
Instruction

Output
Delay

 We can start a new instruction every 2 time units.

 And after filling the pipe, we finish an instruction every 2 units.
Why use Sequential Logic?
12

 Pipelining Data
 But some stages may be faster than others
 So we need to hold the input to each stage constant until the previous
stage is done
 We achieve this by adding a register in between the stages

 So by using a pipeline, we can make our slowest path shorter and

therefore reduce the delay between actions
 All data paths are built using a pipeline of some sort, either to eliminate
races or to increase throughput
Basics of Sequential Logic
Bi-Stability Principle
14

 Back-to-back inverter = Cross-coupled inverter pair

 = Basic memory element

 When the gain of the inverter in the transient region is larger than 1,
 A and B are the only two stable operation points
 C is a metastable operation point V Vi2
o1

Vi1 Vo2
Vo1
A
Vi2 = Vo1
Vo2 C

 Writing new value B

 Cut the feedback loop – use mux! Vi1 = Vo2

Ratioed vs Non-Ratioed Latch
15

 A static latch can be made by using a

CLK
feedback inverter.
 The TG (with the driver before it)
must overcome the feedback
D D
inverter to write into the latch
CLK

 But it is usually more robust to create

a mux-based non-ratioed latch
CLK
 At the expense of size

CLK

CLK
Latch vs Flip Flop
16

 We relate to registers as either latches or flip flops

 Latch
 Level sensitive
transparent transparent

opaque opaque

 Flip Flop
 Edge-triggered

locked locked
sample

sample
 Latch vs Flip Flop
17

 During high clock phases, a latch is transparent

 Latching the input on the falling edge
 A Flip Flop only samples the input on the rising edge

Clock

Input (D)

Latch D

D Q
Flip Flop
Latch Based Design vs Flip Flop Based Design
18

Latch-based

Flip-Flop-based
Static vs Dynamic Latch
19

 A static latch – Stores its output in a static state

 A dynamic latch – Uses temporary capacitance to store its state
 As with logic, this provides a trade-off between area, speed and
reliability

CLK
S0
D Q
MUX
Q
2:1

D S1

CLK

Static Latch Dynamic Latch

Static vs Dynamic Latch
20

 Some basic implementations of static and dynamic latches

Static Dynamic
CLK

CLK
Q

CLK D Q

D
CLK
CLK
Multiplexer Based NMOS Latches
21
 mid
Input D Q D Q out
Making a Flip Flop
clk clk
22

 Conceptually, we can create an edge triggered flip-flop by combining

two opposite polarity latches:

Input

D Q

mid

D Q

out
Master-Slave (Edge-Triggered) Register
23

 Two opposite latches trigger on edge

 Also called master-slave latch pair
 Master-Slave Register
24

 Multiplexer-based latch pair

I2 T2 I3 I5 T4 I6 Q

QM
D
I1 T1 I4 T3

CLK

 How many transistors make up this flip-flop?

 What is its clock load?
Reduced Clock Load Master-Slave Flip Flop
25

 Writing value by overpowering feedback loop

 Feedback inverters (I2, I4) should be weaker than driving inverter (I1,
I3)
Resettable Flip Flops
26

 Asynchronous Set /
Reset Flip Flop

 Syncchronous Reset Flip

Flop
Timing Parameters in Sequential Circuits
 Timing Definitions
28

CLK Register
t D Q

tsetup thold
D DATA
CLK
STABLE t

tcq
Q DATA
STABLE t

– propagation delay
tcq
– setup time

tsetup – hold time

Clk-Q Delay – tcq
29

 tcq is the time from the clock edge until the data appears at the
output
 The tcq for rising and falling outputs is different

clk

Q
tcqLH tcqHL tcqLH
 Mux Based Flip Flop – tcq Calculation
30

 During low clock edge, data traverses slave and “waits” for the clock
at pass gate input
 When clock rises, data has to go through pass gate and inverter

I2 T2 I3 I5 T4 I6 Q

QM
D
I1 T1 I4 T3

CLK

tcq =T3 I 6
 Setup Time – tsetup
31

 Setup time is the time the data has to arrive before the clock to
ensure correct sampling

tsetup tsetup tsetup

Good! Good! BAD

!
 Mux Based Flip Flop – tsetup Calculation
32

 Before clock edge, data should have propagated to the latching pass
gate
 Else data will be restored to the previous state

I2 T2 I3 I5 T4 I6 Q

QM
D
I1 T1 I4 T3

CLK

tsetup  I1  T1  I 3  I 2  T  3I
Timing Analysis – Setup Time
33

 To obtain the setup time of the register while using SPICE, we

progressively skew the input with respect to the clock edge until the
circuit fails
 Hold Time – thold
34

 Hold time is the time the data has to be stable after the clock to
ensure correct sampling

clk

thold thold thold

Good! Good! BAD

!
 Flop n adder (
Mux Based Flip Flop – thold Calculation https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=60SBVO5susA
35 )

 When the clock rises, T1 closes, latching the data at the output of I1
 Therefore, any changes made after the clock will take tpd(I1) to
traverse
 The hold time is 0 or – tpd(I1)

I2 T2 I3 I5 T4 I6 Q

QM
D
I1 T1 I4 T3

CLK
thold  0
Characterizing Timing
36

tD -
Q
D Q D Q

Clk Clk

tC - Q tC -
Q
Registe Latch
r
Setup Time Violation
37

 Set up time
 Required time for input to be stable BEFORE clock edge

 Set up time violation

 Input switches right before clock switches
 Happens when path delay is too long

 Fixing set up time violation

 Make clock period longer (stretch clock cycle)
 Make path delay shorter (accelerate combinational logic)
Hold Time Violation
38

 Hold time
 Required time for input to be stable AFTER clock edge

 Hold time violation

 Input switches right after clock switches
 Happens when path delay is too short

 Fixing hold time violation

 Make path delay longer
 Cannot be fixed once the chip is fabricated!!!

Tcq = 1ns Thold = 2ns Tcq = 1ns Thold = 2ns

Td_buf = 2ns
Other Latch and Flip Flop Implementations
SR Latch Circuit
40

 SR latch circuit based on NOR2 gates

Clocked SR Latch
41

Level sensitive circuit

CMOS D-Latch
42

 CK : 1  Q assumes the value of the input D

 CK : 0  Q preserve its state
CMOS D-Latch
43

 Constructed by two inverter loop +

two CMOS TG

 CK:1  TG at input is activated

 CK:0  TG at inverter loop is

activated
Static vs Dynamic Latch
44

Dynamic Latch
Static Latch
(Charge-
based)

Stored value remains as long If constantly clocked,

as the supply voltage is memory can be refreshed
applied.
Dynamic Edge-Triggered Registers (F/F)
45

 Problem – Overlapping clocks can cause race conditions!

 Solution: Enforce some delay and hold time!

Clock Overlap Problem
46

CLK

CLKb

I2 T2 I3 I5 T4 I6 Q

QM
D
I1 T1 I4 T3

CLK
C2MOS – Clocked CMOS
47

 CLK = 0
 Master stage = evaluation mode,
 Slave stage = hold mode (high impedance)
 CLK = 1
 Master stage = hold mode
 Slave stage = evaluation mode
C2MOS – Clocked CMOS
48

 Insensitive to clock overlap Low Phase

Overlap

CLK

CLKb
April
T
27,
C2MOS – Clocked CMOS
49

 Insensitive to clock overlap

High Phase
Overlap

CLK

CLKb
April
T
27,
C2MOS – Clocked CMOS
50

 Tolerant to clock overlapping

 Too long clock rise/fall times could be a problem

 There exists a time slot where both the NMOS and PMOS transistors
are conducting. This creates a path between input and output that can
destroy the state of the circuit.

 Clock rise/fall time should be much smaller than propagation delay

 Buffers can be inserted to reduce rise/fall time

April
27,
TSPC – True Single-Phase Clocked Register
51

Positive latch Negative latch

(transparent when (transparent when
CLK= 1) CLK= 0)
TSPC – True Single-Phase Clocked Register
52

 TSPC enables including logic inside the latch!

Example
: AND
latch
 TSPC Flip Flop
53

VDD VDD VDD

CLK Q
M3 M6 M9
Y
Q
D X CLK
CLK M2 M5 M8

CLK
M1 M4 M7

TSPC latch malfunctions when the slope of the clock is not sufficiently steep
Pulse-Triggered Latches
54

Master-Slave Latches
 Instead of a full set of master-slave latches
 We can emulate an edge with a short clock pulse L1 L2
Data
D Q D Q

Clk Clk

Clk

Pulse-Triggered Latch
L
Data
D Q Design a clock pulse with a “clock
chopper”

Clk
Clk
Schmitt Trigger Circuits
55

 Shows hysteresis in DC characteristics

 The switching threshold depends on the direction of the transition
 This property is handy in noisy environment

In Out

<Schematic symbol>

<Voltage transfer characteristic>

CMOS Schmitt Trigger
56

<Hysteresis is useful in noisy environment>

Basic Timing Constraints
Synchronous Timing
58
Timing Constraints
59

 There are two main problems that can arise in synchronous logic:
 Max Delay: The data doesn’t have enough time to pass from one
register to the next before the next clock edge.
 Min Delay: The data path is so short that it passes through several
registers during the same clock cycle.

 Max delay violations are a result of a slow data path, including the
registers’ tsetup, therefore it is often called the “Setup” path

 Min delay violations are a result of a short data path, causing the
data to change before the thold has passed, therefore it is often
called the “Hold” path
 Setup (Max) Constraint
60

 Let’s see what makes up our clock cycle:

 After the clock rises, it takes tcq for the data to propagate to point A
 Then the data goes through the delay of the logic to get to point B
 The data has to arrive at point B, tsetup before the next clock

 In general, our timing path is a race:

 Between the Data Arrival, starting with the launching clock edge
 And the Data Capture, one clock period later

clk D Q Logic D Q
A B
D tcq

A clk

B tsetup
Setup (Max) Constraint
61

T  tcq  t 
logic
 Hold (Min) Constraint
62

 Hold problems occur due to the logic changing before thold has
passed
 This is not a function of cycle time – it is relative to a single clock edge!
 Let’s see how this can happen:
 The clock rises and the data at A changes after tcq
 The data at B changes tpd (logic) later
 Since the data at B had to stay stable for thold after the clock (for the
second register), the change at B has to be at least thold after the clock
edge
cl
k D Q Logic D Q

tcq
A B
D

clk
Hold (Min) Constraint
63

tcq  t hold
Timing Constraints – Summary
64

 For Setup constraints, the clock period has to be longer than the
data path delay:

T t t
 This sets our maximumcq frequency
logic t setup
 If we have setup failures, we can always just slow down the clock

 For Hold constrains, the data path delay has to be longer than the
hold time:

t
 This is independent
t
cq of clock t
logic hold
period.
 If there is a hold failure, you can throw your chip away!
Pipelining – Optimizing Sequential Circuits
65

 Example circuit to compute: log( a 

b)
 t DRV_CLK

Clock Nonidealities Ref_Clock

67
tskew tskew

t jit t jit

 Clock skew Received Clock Clock

tRCV_CLK uncertaint
 Spatial variation in temporally T y:
jitter+ske
equivalent clock edges; w

deterministic + random, tskew tDRVCLK

 Clock jitter
 Temporal variations in
consecutive edges of the clock
signal; modulation + random Ref_Clock
noise
 Cycle-to-cycle (short-term) tJit,S
 Long term tJit,L
tskew tskew
 Variation of the pulse width t jit
 Important for level sensitive t jit
clocking
Received
Clock

t
Positive and Negative Skew
68

R1 R2 R3
In D Q
Combinational Combinational
D Q
Logic D •••
Logic
Q
CLK
tCLK1 tCLK2 tCLK3
delay delay
Positive
skew
R1 R2 R3
In D Q
Combinational Combinational
D Q
Logic D •••
Logic
Q
tCLK1 tCLK2 tCLK3
delay delay CLK
Negative skew
Setup (Max) Constraint
69

 The Launch path (still) consists of:

 tcq+tlogic+tsetup
 But if jitter makes the launch clock later, we need to add it to the data
path delay

t t t  tsetup  t jitter
 The Capture pathlaunch cq
consists of:
logic

 The clock period (T)

 Positive skew means the capture clock path is longer
 If jitter makes the capture clock earlier, we need to subtract it

tcapture  T skew  t jitter

 Our max constraint is:

 So we get: tcapture  tlaunch

T t t t  2t  
Setup (Max) Constraint
70

 Data has to arrive before next clock edge

 tcq
T   skew t logic  tsetup  2t jitter
Hold (Min) Constraint
71

 The Launch path (still) consists of:

 tcq+tlogic
 But if jitter makes the launch clock later,
 We need to subtract it from the data path delay

tlaunch  tcq  tlogic -

 The Capture path consists of:
 t jitter
Skew that makes the clock edge arrive at the capture register later than
at the launch register
 Actually, since it is a single clock edge, jitter should effect the capture
clock the same as the launch clock
 But as a worst case, we will add it as spatial jitter
t   +t
capture skew + t
hold jitter
 Our min constraint is:
 So we get: tlaunch  tcapture
tcq  tlogic   skew  thold 
 Ada
Hold (Min) Constraint
72

 Data has to arrive after the same clock edge has arrived at capture
reg

tcq  t hold   skew 

Adding in Variation
73

 Variations in both fabrication and operating conditions occur and are

taken into account through “corner” simulation

 For global variation we have defined three primary simulation corners:

 Typical Corner: our gates operate under nominal conditions and variation
 Slow Corner: our gates slower (i.e., high VT, high temperature, low
voltage)
 Fast Corner: our gates faster (i.e., low VT, low temperature, high voltage)

 To assume worst-case conditions:

 Calculate max-delay with the slowest possible transitions  Slow Corner
 Calculate min -delay with the fastest possible transitions  Fast Corner
Static Timing Analysis Example
Static Timing Analysis – Example
75

 Given synchronous network with:

 In addition:
Static Timing Analysis – Example
76

 Let’s find setup constraints for each path:

 Path 1:
Static Timing Analysis – Example
77

 Let’s find setup constraints for each path:

 Path 2:
Static Timing Analysis – Example
78

 Let’s find setup constraints for each path:

 Path 3:
Static Timing Analysis – Example
79

 Let’s find setup constraints for each path:

 Critical path is Path 1, so the maximum frequency is 666MHz

Static Timing Analysis – Example
80

 Now let’s find hold time constraints for :

 Path 1:
Static Timing Analysis – Example
81

 Now let’s find hold time constraints for :

 Path 2:
Static Timing Analysis – Example
82

 Now let’s find hold time constraints for :

 Path 3:
Static Timing Analysis – Example
83

 If we can set , we can use them to maximize frequency!

 Equally dividing the delay of each path:

 To get max. frequency, set all delays to 1.1ns:

Clock Distribution
84

 Clock is distributed in a tree-like fashion

Zero-Skew Network by CAD
85

 An example of the zero-skew clock routing network, generated by a

computer-aided design(CAD) tool
Self-Timed and Asynchronous Design
86

 Functions of clock in synchronous design

 Act as completion signal
 Ensure the correct ordering of events
 Need global clock distribution without skew

 Asynchronous Design
 Completion is ensured by careful timing analysis
 Ordering of events is implicit in logic
 No global clock = no skew = Potentially high speed and low power
 High design complexity due to careful timing requirement

 Self-Timed Design
 Completion ensured by completion signal
 Ordering imposed by handshaking protocol
Synchronous vs Self-Timed Pipelined Datapath
87
Relevant Reading
88

 Jan. M. Rabaey, Digital Integrated Circuits, 2nd Ed.

 Chapter 7