Temperature-Resilient Ring Oscillator Design: Achieving Frequency Stability Across Voltage Domains

Abstract

Temperature presents significant challenges in the design of VLSI circuits, particularly at lower technology nodes, as it induces variations in circuit element delays that can compromise reliability and performance. This study introduces an innovative design aimed at mitigating the impacts of temperature variations across various Process, Voltage, and Temperature (PVT) corners. A benchmarking analysis is conducted against several existing designs to assess their efficacy in addressing these thermal challenges. The results demonstrate that the proposed design, fabricated using 65nm CMOS technology, successfully maintains frequency instabilities below 3% in the worst-case scenario, representing a substantial improvement over current solutions. Notably, the design is also tailored for low-voltage applications, making it the first to effectively tackle the issue of temperature inversion in ring oscillator operation. © 2024 IEEE.