UFBBR: A Unified Frequency and Back-Bias Regulation Unit for Ultralow-Power Microcontrollers in 28-nm FDSOI

Sensitivity to process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations constitutes a serious obstacle in ultralow- voltage/ultralow-power (ULV/ULP) circuits and systems. To address this challenge, we propose a unified frequency/back-bias regulation (UFBBR) macro embedded in a custom ULP ARM Cortex-M4 microcontroller unit (MCU) manufactured in 28-nm FDSOI technology. The UFBBR technique combines the generation of a 32-to-80 MHz system clock and asymmetric adaptive back biasing for PVT compensation. Relying on a novel dual-output frequency-locked loop, it senses both the logic speed and the N/PMOS process imbalance using back-bias-controlled oscillators, and generates adequate forward back-bias voltages with digitally-controlled oscillators followed by switched-capacitor charge-pumps for fast current actuation. Compared to a situation with zero back biasing and appropriate frequency/voltage margins, the UFBBR provides
$15\times $
of frequency boosting at 0.4 V or 180 mV of voltage reduction at 64 MHz. It leverages software-programmable configuration knobs to achieve a fast wake-up of
$8 ~\mu \text{s}$
and an in-lock power of
$22 ~\mu \text{W}$
, with an area overhead below 0.032 mm2. In sleep, it drives the back-bias voltages towards 0 V and disables the clock for minimum power consumption. These features help the MCU system achieve a minimum energy point of
$5.5 ~\mu \text{W}$
/MHz and a sleep power of
$7.7 ~\mu \text{W}$
.