A Direct Current-to-digital converter (DCDC) for Advanced Current Measurement in System-on-Chip (SOC) Designs

This work introduces a novel, compact, and power-efficient Direct Current-to-digital converter (DCDC) designed to advance current measurement techniques in System-on-Chip (SoC) designs. By eliminating the need for traditional analog-to-digital conversion, the DCDC converter simplifies the mea-surement procedure, reduces power consumption, and minimizes space requirements. Implemented using TSMC 180 nm process, Its post-layout simulations demonstrate remarkable energy effi-ciency, with an energy per conversion of just 1.52 pJ, a power consumption of 117 μW, and a total area of 0.016mm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>. This con-verter stands out by enabling online measurements both during normal SoC operations and in-field conditions. This capability ensures that SoCs can be monitored and managed effectively throughout their operational lifecycle, thereby enhancing both performance and reliability.