Ultra-low power d flip-flop with reduced clock load

Abstract

A latch for a flip-flop or other circuit which requires fewer signal inputs than prior latch designs to reduce power consumption. The latch comprises a first transistor set is switching element and is configured to receive clock signals from a clock network and an input signal. A second transistor receives the input signal from the first transistor set and is configured as a first data buffer to create a latch output. A feedback path includes a third transistor set in series with a resistor or transistor pair. The feedback path receives the latch output and generates a feedback signal, which is provided to the first transistor set. The resistor or transistor pair is selected to establish the feedback signal at a magnitude that is sufficiently large to maintain the state of the latch but sufficiently small to allow a change in the input signal to change the latch output.