High-tension power delivery: operating 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS digital logic at 5.4V

A "high-tension" power-delivery system stacks CMOS logic domains to operate at multiples of the supply voltage without explicit downconverters. Experimental results are presented for a prototype system in a 0.18 /spl mu/m technology operating at 3.6 V and 5.4 V. Peak energy efficiencies as high as 93% are demonstrated at 3.6 V.