ISSCC 2012

At IDF last year Intel's Justin Rattner demonstrated a 32nm test chip based on Intel's original Pentium architecture that could operate near its threshold voltage. The power consumption of the test chip was so low that the demo was powered by a small solar panel. A transistor's threshold voltage is the minimum voltage applied to the gate for current to flow. The logical on state is typically mapped to a voltage much higher than the threshold voltage to ensure reliable and predictable operation. The non-linear relationship between power and voltage makes operating at lower voltages, especially those near the threshold very interesting. At this year's ISSCC Intel is presenting details of a number of NTV (near threshold voltage) research projects. For starters, Intel is sharing...