IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,443,777
Granted Patent B2
US 11,443,777 · App. 17/019,030 · Granted Sep 13, 2022

Backside power rail architecture

Inventors: Andy Wangkun Chen (Austin, TX); Sriram Thyagarajan (Austin, TX); Yew Keong Chong (Austin, TX); Sony (Noida, IN); Ettore Amirante (Nice, FR); Ayush Kulshrestha (New Delhi, IN)
Assignee: Arm Limited
G11C5/14G11C8/08
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,443,777
App. No.
17/019,030
Granted
Sep 13, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

Various implementations described herein refer to a device having backside power rails including first backside power rails that supply a core voltage to memory logic and second backside power rails that supply a periphery voltage to control logic. In some implementations, at least one first backside power rail may have a rail break that interrupts continuity so as to allow at least one second backside power rail to supply the periphery voltage to the control logic.

Claims (54)

1. A device, comprising:

first backside power rails that supply a core voltage to memory logic; and

second backside power rails that supply a periphery voltage to control logic,

wherein at least one first backside power rail has a rail break that interrupts continuity so as to allow at least one second backside power rail to supply the periphery voltage to the control logic, and

wherein the rail break provides a spatial opening in the at least one first backside power rail to allow coupling of the at least one second backside power rail to the control logic.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first backside power rails provide a first net that supplies the core voltage to the memory logic, and wherein the second backside power rails provide a second net that supplies the periphery voltage to the control logic.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the core voltage refers to an internal core voltage (VDDC), and wherein the periphery voltage refers to an internal periphery voltage (VDDP).

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the memory logic has wordline headers and wordline drivers, and wherein the control logic has a wordline controller.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein:

the wordline drivers include an upper wordline driver for an upper core array and a lower wordline driver for a lower core array, and

the wordline headers include an upper wordline header that operates as an upper power-gating header for the upper wordline driver and a lower wordline header that operates as a lower power-gating header for the lower wordline driver.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein:

the control logic includes an upper controller for the upper wordline driver and a lower controller for the lower wordline driver, and the control logic includes a powergate controller for power-gating the wordline controller.

7. A device, comprising:

first backside power rails that supply a core voltage to memory logic;

second backside power rails that supply a periphery voltage to control logic, wherein at least one first backside power rail has a rail break that interrupts continuity so as to allow at least one second backside power rail to supply the periphery voltage to the control logic;

a frontside power distribution network that provides frontside power rails;

a backside power distribution network that provides the first backside power rails and the second backside power rails disposed underneath the frontside power rails; and

transition cells that provide frontside-to-backside power distribution.

8. The device of claim 7 , wherein:

the first backside power rails and the second backside power rails refer to buried power rails that are disposed underneath the frontside power rails, and

the transition cells refer to buried transition vias that are used to couple the buried power rails to the memory logic and the control logic.

9. The device of claim 7 , wherein:

the frontside power rails are formed with frontside metal, and

the backside power rails are formed with buried metal that is disposed underneath the frontside metal.

10. A device, comprising:

first backside power rails that supply a core voltage to memory logic; and

second backside power rails that supply a periphery voltage to control logic,

third backside power rails that couple the memory logic and the control logic to ground,

wherein at least one first backside power rail has multiple rail breaks that interrupt continuity so as to allow at least one second backside power rail to supply the periphery voltage to the control logic and so as to allow at least one third backside power rail to couple the memory logic and the control logic to ground.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the first backside power rails provide a first net that supplies the core voltage to the memory logic, and wherein the second backside power rails provide a second net that supplies the periphery voltage to the control logic.

12. The device of claim 10 , wherein the multiple rail breaks provide spatial openings in the at least one first backside power rail to allow coupling of the at least one second backside power rail to the control logic and to allow at least one third backside power rail to couple the memory logic and the control logic to ground.

13. The device of claim 10 , wherein the core voltage refers to an external core voltage (VDDCE), and wherein the periphery voltage refers to an external periphery voltage (VDDPE).

14. The device of claim 10 , further comprising:

a frontside power distribution network that provides frontside power rails;

a backside power distribution network that provides the first backside power rails, the second backside power rails, and the third backside power rails that are disposed underneath the frontside power rails; and

transition cells that provide frontside-to-backside power distribution.

15. A device, comprising:

memory circuitry including memory logic and control logic; and

rows of backside power rails having one or more rail breaks that allow multiple different nets to supply power to the memory logic and the control logic,

wherein alignment of the rail breaks in one or more first regions allow for core voltage in multiple domains to be supplied from different rows of the backside power rails, and

wherein alignment of the rail breaks in one or more second regions allow for periphery voltage in multiple domains to be supplied from different rows of the backside power rails.

16. The device of claim 15 , wherein:

the multiple rows of the backside power rails include a first row of backside power rails and a second row of backside power rails,

the first row of backside power rails has one or more rail breaks that allow the multiple different nets to supply power to the memory logic and the control logic, and

the second row of backside power rails has one or more rail breaks that allow multiple different nets to supply power to the memory logic and the control logic.

17. The device of claim 16 , wherein:

portions of the first row of the backside power rails in the one or more first regions are vertically aligned with corresponding portions of the second row of the backside power rails in the one or more first regions, and

portions of the first row of the backside power rails in the one or more second regions are vertically aligned with corresponding portions of the second row of the backside power rails in the one or more second regions.

18. The device of claim 15 , wherein the one or more rail breaks provide spatial openings in the backside power rails to allow the multiple different nets to supply power to the memory logic and the control logic.

19. The device of claim 15 , wherein:

the multiple domains of the core voltage include an internal core voltage domain (VDDC) and an external core voltage domain (VDDCE),

the multiple domains of the periphery voltage include an internal periphery voltage domain (VDDP) and an external periphery voltage domain (VDDPE), and

one or more backside power rails are coupled to an external ground (VSSE).

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 11, 2020
From: CHEN, ANDY WANGKUN; THYAGARAJAN, SRIRAM; CHONG, YEW KEONG; SONY; AMIRANTE, ETTORE; KULSHRESTHA, AYUSH
To: ARM LIMITED
Reel/Frame 053752/0237 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220084561A1 · Mar 17, 2022
Cited By (2)
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