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Cadence Power Guide

This document provides guidance on measuring power dissipation in circuits using Cadence simulations. It describes how to measure static power by applying a constant input, dynamic power by applying a switching input, and total power. Static power is due to leakage and includes subthreshold conduction. Dynamic power is caused by switching currents that charge and discharge loads. The document gives examples of measuring power for a CMOS inverter and discusses considerations for analog circuits.

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621 views

Cadence Power Guide

This document provides guidance on measuring power dissipation in circuits using Cadence simulations. It describes how to measure static power by applying a constant input, dynamic power by applying a switching input, and total power. Static power is due to leakage and includes subthreshold conduction. Dynamic power is caused by switching currents that charge and discharge loads. The document gives examples of measuring power for a CMOS inverter and discusses considerations for analog circuits.

Uploaded by

Evy Foodlover
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Guide to Measuring Power Dissipation

A Cadence Help Document

Identifying Static and Dynamic Power


The total power dissipation of a circuit includes both a dynamic and a static component that can be
challenging to isolate from each other in simulations. Consider the CMOS inverter shown below. The
dynamic power is due to switching currents required to charge/discharge output loads and short circuit
(direct path) currents that flow between the pMOS and nMOS transistors as the input signal changes.
The static power is due to leakage sources in the transistors, including subthreshold conduction
between source and drain and reverse bias pn-junction leakage between the source/drain and substrate,
which are illustrated in the transistor figure below.

To measure the static power dissipation, we simply apply a static (DC) input signal so that no
switching occurs. For digital circuits, this amounts to a high (VDD) or low (ground) at the input,
which typically turns one side of the circuit off and eliminates any static short circuit current through
the transistors. For analog circuits, the input should be set to the appropriate DC operating point of the
circuit, typically somewhere between ground and VDD. This is one of the reasons that analog circuits
consume more power; in their static state many transistors are turned on and consume static power.

Example: For a CMOS inverter with pMOS 1.8u/0.6u and nMOS 1.5u/0.6u and a 5pF load
capacitance, we can use the Simple Method described below to measure the static power dissipation by
applying a high (3V) or low (0V) input signal.
if Vin = 3V Æ PVDD = 9.05E-12 W
if Vin = 0V Æ PVDD = 9.04E-12 W.

Notice that, as you should expect, the power consumption is nearly the same for both cases. The
difference is due the slightly different leakage in pMOS and nMOS transistors when they are biased
with different voltages. We could expect these results to vary more if one of the transistors were much
larger than the other.

To measure total power dissipation, we have to apply an input signal that varies with time, causing the
output node to charge/discharge. For digital circuits this simply requires applying a pulse input signal.

Example: For a CMOS inverter with pMOS 1.8u/0.6u and nMOS 1.5u/0.6u and a 5pF load
capacitance, we can use the Simple Method described below to measure the static power dissipation by
applying a pulse input that changes from VDD to ground.
if Vin is a pulse (pulse width = 5µs, period = 10µs). Æ PVDD = 8.64E-9 W.

Guide to Measuring Power Dissipation 1


Notice that if we remove the load capacitor the switching current is reduced to only that needed to
charge/discharge the parasitics at the output, and as a result the measured power will be much closer to
the value measured for static power.

For analog circuits, this approach is complicated by the fact that the inputs to analog circuits do not
typically switch from high to low like digital circuits. To use this method on analog circuits, one must
first determine the typical input signal swing and then apply the appropriate input signal, which in
many cases would be an AC signal (often with a DC bias). The Alternative Method described below
may be more useful for measuring the total power dissipation in analog circuits. However, it is
important to note that power dissipation in most analog circuits is dominated by the static power, so
applying the appropriate DC bias to all inputs and measuring static power may be sufficient in many
cases.

To measure dynamic power dissipation, we can subtract the static power from the total power to
estimate the contribution of dynamic sources.

Measuring Power Consumption Using Cadence


Simple Method
• Do the simulation in Analog Environment.
• After the waveform window pops up, Select TOOLS => RESULT BROWSER
• A window BROWSE PROJECT HIERARCHY will pop up. Click OK.
• Click on psf/ => finalTimeOP-info => vdd => pwr to get overall power consumption of a circuit.
• Alternatively, you can determine the current (i) and voltage (v) of the circuit and find out the
average power using pwr=v*i

Alternative Method
There may be a case where the above method does not provide the information you need. The steps
below illustrate how to use the results calculator tool to collect additional data.

Guide to Measuring Power Dissipation 2


• Do the simulation in Analog Environment.
• After the waveform window pops up, Select TOOLS => RESULT BROWSER
• Click psf/ => timeSweep-Tran => vdd! , A Calculator window will pop up.
• Click vdd:p in your Result Browser window

• Press “*” button from your Calculator window


• In your Calculator window press Special Functions => average

Guide to Measuring Power Dissipation 3


• Press the enter button
• Now press the plot button and you will see average power plotted in the Waveform window. If you
do not close previously opened waveform windows before you press plot, the new plot will be
added to your previous waveform window.
•

Guide to Measuring Power Dissipation 4

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