International Business Machines Corporation

William Robert Patrick Tonti

Claude Louis Bertin

Alvar Antonio Dean

Sebastian Theodore Ventrone

Kenneth Joseph Goodnow

Wilbur David Pricer

Patrick Edward Perry

A variable power device circuit includes a plurality of devices for driving a load. Each of the devices has a body, which is electrically isolated from the substrate. All of the devices are coupled to an output node. The load is also coupled to the output node. A controller selectively turns on individual or multiple ones of the devices based on the electrical requirements of the load.

Variable power device with selective threshold control

According to the preferred embodiment, a device and method for reducing power consumption by reducing unneeded node toggling is provided. The preferred embodiment reduces unneeded node toggling in a circuit by utilizing either a pull-up or pull-down transistor to pull the input of the circuit to a state that minimizes power consumption during periods in which the circuit is inactive. By tying the circuit input high or low during inactivity, node toggling is reduced or eliminated in that circuit. In the preferred embodiment, the inputs to the circuit all pulled after a time of inactivity which is proportional to the leakage current of the leakiest transistor in the circuit. By timing the input pulling proportional to the leakage current, the power consumption is minimized without excessive power loss caused by the pulling itself.

Device and method to reduce power consumption in integrated

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Essex Junction, VT, United States of America

William Robert Patrick Tonti