A Presentation on

Cascadable Adiabatic Logic Circuits

for Low-Power applications



By

Divya Yashwanth

What is an adiabatic circuit ?
Adiabatic circuits are low power circuits which use "reversible
logic" to conserve energy. The term comes from the fact that an
adiabatic process is one in which the total heat or energy in the
system remains constant. Most research has focused on
building adiabatic logic out of CMOS. However, current CMOS
technology, though fairly energy efficient compared to similar
technologies, dissipate energy as heat, mostly when switching.
Adiabatic circuits attempt to conserve charge by following two
key rules:


Never turn on a transistor when there is a voltage potential
between the source and drain.
Never turn off a transistor when current is flowing through it.









Adiabatic Logic circuits from CMOS
CMOS transistors dissipate power when they switch. The main
part of this dissipation is due to the need to charge and discharge
the gate capacitance C through a component that has some
resistivity R. The energy dissipated when charging of the gate is


where T is the time it takes the gate to charge or discharge. In
non-reversible circuits, the charging time T is proportional to RC.
Reversible logic uses the fact that a single clock cycle is
much longer then RC and thus attempts to spread the charging of
the gate over the whole cycle and thus reduces the energy
dissipated.
2
CV
T
RC
E
In order to extend the charging time of the gate never turn on a
transistor that has a potential difference between source and
drain, and furthermore, once the transistor is turned on, energy
flows through it in a gradual and controlled manner.
The second rule that adiabatic circuits must follow is
never to turn off a transistor when there is current flowing
through it because transistors are not perfect switches going
from on to off instantly. Instead, it gradually changes from on to
off when the gate voltage changes. Furthermore, the change is
proportional to the speed at which the gate voltage changes.
During this time, the voltage drop across the transistor greatly
increases yet the resistance is not high enough to bring power
dissipation to zero.

GFCAL inverter
GFCAL means glitch free and
cascadable adiabatic logic circuits.

This circuit consists of one P-
channel MOSFET and a diode in
parallel with one N-channel
MOSFET and a diode, which in turn
are connected in series with the load
capacitance C.
The supply voltage VDD is a slowly varying triangular voltage.
The P-channel MOSFET (T
1
) and diode (D
1
) provide a charging
path, and the N-channel MOSFET (T
2
) and diode (D
2
) provide a
discharging path for the load current.
Operation of the circuit
When the input is 0 (logic 0), T
1
is on and T
2
is off. Path
T
1
, D
1
allows the current flow from the supply and the capacitor
becomes charged close to the peak value of V
DD
, producing logic 1.
The diode D
1
does not allow discharge into the supply when VDD
is less than the output voltage.
When the input is logic1, T
2
is on and T
1
is off. The path
D
2
, T
2
starts conducting. The diode, D
2
prevents charging of the
capacitor since it is reverse biased when V
DD
>V
C
and allows only
discharging of the capacitor or pumping of energy back into the
supply when V
DD
< V
C
. Thus, the capacitor voltage is brought
down to a low value when the input is high irrespective of the
previous output. Hence, the output is the complement of the input.
The output voltage level is almost independent of the time at which
the input voltage is applied with respect to the supply voltage as long as
it is applied at a time before V
DD
reaches the peak value.

Features
Typical input and output waveforms
Energy dissipation in the inverter during charging

When the P-channel MOSFET is on, and as V
DD
increases
from 0 to Vo, the load capacitor is charged through the diode
in the charging path.
The voltage reaches a peak value Vo in a time period T and its
value V
DD
(t) at any time t is
when 0 t T
when T t 2T
The voltage VDD (t) reaches a value VB in a period Tth, when the
diode starts conducting. Let Rch be the total resistance in the
charging path. The voltage VC across the load capacitor C for
t> Tth, is


Assuming that Tth > CRch, Energy Ech dissipated over the period
0 T in the diode and the transistor is


]
T
T) ( t
[ 1 V ( t) V
t
T
V
( t) V
O DD
O
DD

C
C
ch B
O
V
dt
dV
C R V t
T
V

)
V
V
)(1 V
T
V
C C(R V E
O
B
B
O
ch O ch
Energy dissipation in the inverter during discharging
When the N-channel MOSFET is on, the P-channel MOSFET is
off, charging of the capacitor is prevented at the load and the capacitor
discharges through the diode in the discharge path till t1, that is, till VC is
higher than the supply by at least VB, during the period when VDD
increases from 0 to Vo. The capacitor then stops discharging at t1 and
again continues discharging from 2Tt1 until VC = VB. Let Rdis be the total
resistance in the discharging path. Assuming CRdis < t1, the energy Edc
dissipated during discharging is the sum of energy dissipated during 0 to
t1 and (2Tt1 ) to 2T which can be shown to be


where
C
2
B
2
BC V BCR
T
V
2C - ) R
C
2
T
V
(2 t E B dis
O
dis
2
O
2
1 dc
T
V
C R V V B
O
dis B CO
The total energy E
D
, dissipated during one cycle of charging and
discharging is given by

C
2
B
BC V BCR
T
V
2C ) R
C
T
V
(2 t )
V
V
)(1 V
T
V
C C(R V E E E
2
B dis
O
dis
2
2
2
O
1
O
B
B
O
ch O dc ch D
Where t
1
is given by

}
T
C
R V
)
T
C
R (V V V
Cln{ R t
dis O
dis O B CO
dis 1

Equation (1)
From equation (1)the energy dissipated decreases as T increases.
T indicates the rate at which the supply voltage varies and,
hence, the energy dissipated decreases with slowly varying the
supply voltages. The power dissipation generally changes with
parameters like V
O
, the value of the capacitance, the equivalent
series resistance because of the diode and the MOSFET.
Simulation of the inverter

Simulated using Virtuoso Spectre circuit simulator of Cadence
EDA tools.
Models used for the simulation are BSIM3V3 model parameters.
Length of the transistor=180nm, width of the transistor = 720nm.
Load capacitance=30fF.
Supply waveform is triangular with frequency=25MHz and peak
supply voltage=1.8V.
Input signal is square wave with frequency=25MHz.
The input logic 0 value is 0.45 V and input logic 1 value is 1.4 V.
The output logic values have been found to be 0.45
and 1.4 V corresponding to logic 0 and logic 1,




Name of the
circuit
Energy dissipated
Simulation
results
Theoretical
values
Adiabatic
inverter
4.0410
-14
4.3810
-14

CMOS inverter 9.1210
-14
9.7210
-14

Comparison of theoretical and simulated values of energy
dissipation for adiabatic inverter with CMOS inverter for input
data 01 at 25MHZ
From the table, for both the cases, it is clear that in adiabatic
inverter, the energy dissipation is only about 50% of that in
the CMOS inverter.
* The threshold voltage is 0.6 V for the N-channel MOSFET
and -0.5 V for the P-channel MOSFET.
* The peak value of voltage between gate and source (V
GS
) of the
P-channel MOSFET is
V
GS
=0.45 -1.8= -1.35V
* When the input is logic 1, the output does not go through
charging of the capacitor. This feature enables this circuit to be
used to drive the circuits, which follow without malfunctioning.
These aspects have been verified by connecting two, three and
four inverters in tandem.
* A single power supply for all the inverters is used.

Cascadability
Effect of variation of frequency
* The simulation is carried out by varying the input frequency
and supply frequency simultaneously (keeping the input and
supply frequencies equal) from 2.5 to 250 MHZ with all
other circuit parameters remaining the same.
The energy dissipated decreases marginally with increase in
frequency.
The output logic levels up to frequencies of 25 MHz are 1.4 V
corresponding to logic 1 and 0.45 V corresponding to logic 0.
At frequencies higher than 25 MHz, the energy dissipated
decreases gradually and the logic values vary from 1.4 to 1.35 V
for logic 1 and 0.45 to 0.47 V for logic 0 at 250 MHz
At frequencies of 2.50 GHz, the logic 1 tends to a value of 0.8 V
and logic 0 of 0.6 V. This is because the time period of the
supply waveform is small compared with the time constant of
charging and discharging, and the capacitor is unable to charge
and discharge to the required levels.
The frequency of operation is increased by increasing the width
of the transistors, which results in a decrease of the charging and
discharging time constants but large W/L ratio results in higher
power dissipation in both the CMOS and GFCAL circuits.
Energy dissipation during one cycle of charging and discharging, rise and
fall times in GFCAL inverter at different values of supply frequency with
constant input frequency of 5MHz

Supply
frequency(MHz)
Energy
dissipation
Rise
time
(ns)
Fall
time
(ns)
Sum of rise
time and fall
times(ns)
5 3.41710
-14
46 4 50
10 3.4410
-14
24 3 27
25 4.04710
-14
9 7 16
50 4.3010
-14
6 3 9
100 5.2410
-14
5 3 8
250 6.1710
-14
4 2 6
From these results it is observed that the rise and fall times are
reduced at higher values of the supply frequency but with a
marginal increase of energy dissipation.
Energy dissipated during 12 cycles of charging and discharging
when the supply voltage is a sine, clamped to a zero reference
level and a trapezium waveform of 25MHz with the same circuit
parameters. The input and the supply frequencies are
synchronised.
Supply
waveform
Energy dissipation,
J
Output voltage levels, V
Logic 1 Logic0
Triangular 4.8510
-13
1.40 0.45
Trapezium 5.0010
-13
1.5 0.45
Sine 5.3410
-13
1.44 0.40
Energy dissipated by a trapezium waveform is more than the
triangular waveform. It is because the capacitor is allowed to
charge to a higher value of voltage corresponding to logic 1 since
the duration of the peak value of supply voltage is longer
compared with that of the triangular wave form.
In the case of the sine wave, the energy dissipation is more
than that in the above cases because of the fast voltage rise
near the zero crossing. Therefore triangular waveform is more
suitable for less energy dissipation.

The circuit consists of two P channel
MOSFETS (T
5
, T
6
) in parallel and a
diode (D
3
) in series. The second branch
consists of two N-channel MOSFETS
(T
7
, T
8
) in series with a diode (D
4
).The
two parallel branches are connected in
series with the load capacitance C
GFCAL NAND GATE
The supply voltage for the proposed
gates is V
DD
, which is a slowly varying
triangular voltage
GFCAL NOR GATE

This circuit consists of two branches
in parallel. The first branch consists of
two P-channel MOSFETS (T
1
, T
2
) and a
diode (D
1
) in series. The second branch
consists of two N-channel MOSFETS
(T
3
, T
4
) in parallel, connected in series
with a diode (D
2
). The two parallel
branches are connected in series with
the load capacitance C
The circuits of CMOS NAND and NOR gates are simulated
with identical transistors and load capacitance. The supply
voltage for these circuits is 1.8 V.
Comparison of simulated values of energy dissipation for the
GFCAL NOR and NAND gates corresponding to input strings
A =101010101010101010101010 and
B = 101010101010101010101010 for one cycle of charging and
discharging at 25MHz.


Name of the
circuit
Energy dissipated, J
Proposed GFCAL CMOS
NAND gate 4.8810
-14
1.1510
-13

NOR gate 4.9410
-14
1.18010
-13

From the table, for both the cases, it is clear that in adiabatic
gates, the energy dissipation is only about 50% of that in the
CMOS gates.

GFCAL adder circuits
GFCAL half adder
It consists of one XOR gate and one AND gate. The XOR gate is
realised using two NOR gates and one AND gate. The AND gate
is realised by connecting the output of a NAND gate as input to
the inverter. The OR gate is realised by connecting the output of
a NOR gate as input to the inverter.
The load capacitance for the gate in the last stage, which has to
drive the next stage, is 30 fF and for all the other gates, the value
of the load capacitance is 10 fF (including the input capacitance of
the next stage). The supply for all the circuits is a triangular
waveform
GFCAL XOR gate circuit
If the inputs are A = 01010101 and B = 00110011. The outputs
namely the SUM and CARRY are obtained as strings 01100110
and 00010001, respectively. Using the half adder as the block, a
full adder is designed which consists of two half adders and an
OR gate.
GFCAL Full Adder
SUM and CARRY output waveforms for the input strings of
A = 101010 and B = 101010 and input carry = 101010
are shown.
GFCAL 4 bit Ripple Carry Adder
It consists of four full adders and the carry output is given as
the carry input to the following adder.
The functionality of the circuit is guaranteed by maintaining
the supply frequency higher than the frequency of the input
data.
Energy dissipation for the proposed GFCAL adder circuits and
CMOS circuits at input frequency of 25 MHZ and supply
frequency of 250MHz

Name of the circuit Energy
dissipation, J
Logic 1 Logic 0
GFCAL half adder 2.8210
-13
1.4 0.45
GFCAL full adder 7.3510
-13
1.4 0.45
GFCAL 4 bit adder 3.3210
-12
1.4 0.45
CMOS half adder 6.2110
-13
1.78 0
CMOS full adder 1.6710
-12
1.78 0
CMOS 4 bit adder

6.6810
-12
1.78 0
From the table, the energy dissipation in the GFCAL adder
circuits is about 50% of that of a CMOS adder circuits. The logic
0 in GFCAL can be reduced further by using a Schottkey diode
GFCAL JK Flip-flop
The JK flip-flop circuit consists of four GFCAL NAND gates.
The inputs are J and K along with the clock signal and Q and
are the outputs where is the complement of Q. The supply
voltage is V
DD
, which is a slowly varying triangular voltage
Q
Q
Simulation results of GFCAL JK flip-flop
When the clock is enabled, the output changes according to the
inputs, that is, outputs Q = 1 and = 0 when J = 1 and K = 0.
Similarly, Q = 0 and =1 when J = 0 and K = 1. Further,
the outputs Q and are latched to their corresponding values
when the clock input is disabled.
Q
Q
Q
Energy dissipation for the proposed GFCAL JK Flip-flop and
CMOS circuits at input frequency of 25 MHZ and supply
frequency of 250MHz
Name of the
circuit
Energy dissipation, J Logic 1 Logic 0
GFCAL JK Flip-
flop
1.2810
-13
1.4 0.45
CMOS JK Flip-
flop
2.8710
-13
1.78 0
From the table, the energy dissipation in the GFCAL JK Flip-
flop is about 50% of that of a CMOS JK Flip flop circuits.

Comparison of proposed GFCAL family with other adiabatic logic
families
Given the length and width of a transistor are 180 nm and 720
nm, respectively, and the value of load capacitance is 30 fF. The
input frequency is same as the supply frequency (25 MHZ).
A 2N-2N2D inverter uses four transistors and two-diodes. The
capacitor has to be charged first before evaluating the outputs,
which may cause unwanted switching activities at the output
nodes.
A 2N-2P inverter uses four-transistors and a 2N-2N2P inverter
uses six-transistors. A PAL inverter uses four-transistors but
requires two complementary sinusoidal power clocks in cascaded
circuits.
* A CAL inverter contains eight-transistors and needs a single clock and
two additional timing control clocks for correct operation.
* A True single phase energy recovery logic (TSEL) inverter
contains six-transistors and needs a single clock, but it has
discharge /charge and evaluation phases, which may cause
unnecessary switching activities at nodes in hierarchical circuits.
* A Quasi-static energy recovery logic (QSERL) inverter contains
four transistors and needs a single clock, but a threshold voltage
drop at MOSFETS used as diodes will occur and also the
capacitance effect exists at higher frequencies.
* An ADL inverter contains one-transistor and one diode along
with a load capacitor and needs a four-phase clock in cascaded
circuits. Since the capacitor has to be pre-charged, unwanted
switching activity may occur at the output nodes.

Type of inverter Energy dissipation, J

CMOS 9.1210
-14

GFCAL 4.0410
-14

ADL 3.4110
-14

2N-2N2D 6.6410
-14

QSERL 5.1110
-14

2N-2P 5.2110
-14

2N-2N2P 5.2610
-14

CAL 5.1910
-14

The energy dissipated by different inverters at an input
frequency of 25 MHz and a supply frequency of 25 MHz during
one cycle of charging and discharging of the load capacitor
Type of inverter Energy dissipated, J
CMOS 9.1510
-14

GFCAL 3.8410
-14

ADL 3.6410
-14

2N-2ND 6.5110
-14

The energy dissipated by different inverters at an input
frequency of 125 MHz and a supply frequency of 125 MHz during
one cycle of charging and discharging of the load capacitor
CONCLUSIONS
1. In Cascadable adiabatic circuits the energy saved is more than
50% compared with that of conventional CMOS circuits.
2.This circuit can be used in building hierarchical circuits as the
input and output logic levels are the same, just like in the case of
conventional digital circuits, and there are no glitches.
3.All the circuits can be operated with a single power supply and
there is no need of a complementary input. It has been shown
that GFCAL circuits can work well up to 250 MHZ using 0.18 m
with a reasonable W/L ratio of the transistors.
4. The number of transistors in CMOS and adiabatic circuit are
the same, except that one diode per branch is extra in adiabatic
circuit. Thus, the circuits can be easily cascaded.




5. Power saving in these circuits is because of
(i) The supply voltage is a slowly varying voltage, which results in
energy saving during charging and discharging.
(ii) The energy stored in the load capacitor is pumped back into
the supply to realise a transition from logic 1 to logic 0.
(iii) There is no short circuit current from the supply to the
ground at any time during the transition of logic 1 to logic 0 or
logic 0 to logic 1 unlike in the CMOS circuits.
(iv) The diode in the discharge path of the gate prevents the flow
of current spikes from the input data into the load capacitor.

REFERENCES
1. Cascadable adiabatic logic circuits for low-power applications
N.S.S. Reddy, M. Satyam, K.L. Kishore, IET Circuits,
Devices and Systems November 2008, Volume 2, No.6, Pages
518-526.
2. Adiabatic Logic by Benjamin Gojman, August 8, 2004
http://www.cs.caltech.edu/cbsss/finalreport/nanoscale_ind_gojman
.pdf
3. Second-order adiabatic computation with 2N-2P and 2N- 2N-
2P logic circuits by Kramer A, Denker J.S., Flower B, Moroney J,
Proc. Intern. Symposium on Low Power Design, 1995, pp.191
196