Method and system of dynamic power cutoff for active leakage reduction in circuits

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel active leakage power reduction technique, referred to as the dynamic power cutoff technique (DPCT). The DPCT method of the present invention can reduce active leakage, standby leakage, and dynamic power by applying the dynamic power cutoff technique to a circuit. In the method and system for dynamic power cutoff for active leakage reduction in circuits of the present invention, a switching window is determined for each gate, during which a gate makes its transitions. For example, the switching window can be determined by static timing analysis. Then, the circuit is optimally partitioned into different groups based on the minimal switching window (MSW) of each gate. Finally, power cutoff transistors are inserted into each group to control the power connections of that group. Each group is turned on only long enough for a wavefront of changing signals to propagate through that group. Since each gate is only turned on during a small timing window within each clock cycle, this significantly reduces active leakage power.