What question did this study set out to answer?

This study aims to analyze low-power design strategies for 7nm FinFET technology in high-speed SerDes applications.

April 25, 2026Open Access

Low-Power FinFET 7nm VLSI Design for High-Speed SerDes Applications with PVT Variability Analysis and SRAM Static Noise Margin Optimisation

Key Points

This study aims to analyze low-power design strategies for 7nm FinFET technology in high-speed SerDes applications.
Implemented a 10 Gbps SerDes transmitter using 7nm FinFET technology with a commercial process design kit.
Conducted dynamic power scaling studies through supply voltage reduction and Vt cell library optimization.
Performed PVT corner analysis to quantify parametric variability affecting timing closure.
The study revealed significant improvements in dynamic power and energy-delay product compared to a 28nm bulk CMOS design.
Through voltage reduction and optimization techniques, the minimum operating voltage (VMIN) for SRAM was established.
PVT variability analysis illustrated how process variations impact circuit performance in high-performance applications.

Abstract

India's semiconductor ambitions, crystallised in the ₹76,000 crore Semiconductor Mission launched in 2022 and accelerated by the approval of three fabrication and ATMP facilities in 2024 — including Tata Electronics' 28nm facility in Dholera and Micron Technology's ATMP unit in Sanand — are driving unprecedented demand for domestic VLSI design talent and research capability. The transition from 28nm planar CMOS to 7nm FinFET technology, now the dominant node for high-performance mobile and edge AI processors manufactured globally, introduces fundamentally different device physics, power management strategies, and circuit design methodologies that Indian academic institutions and fabless IC design companies must master to compete in the global semiconductor supply chain. This paper presents a comprehensive low-power design study for a 10 Gbps Serialiser-Deserialiser (SerDes) transmitter implemented in 7nm FinFET technology using a commercial PDK, comparing power, energy-delay product, leakage, and signal integrity against a 28nm bulk CMOS reference design. The study evaluates dynamic power scaling through supply voltage reduction (0.6-0.9V VDD), multi-threshold voltage (Vt) cell library optimisation, clock gating efficiency, and body bias tuning. Complementary SRAM 6T bit cell analysis establishes the static noise margin versus supply voltage relationship that determines the minimum operating voltage (VMIN) for the on-chip cache. Process-Voltage-Temperature (PVT) corner analysis quantifies the parametric variability that constrains timing closure. The Fraunhofer IIS collaboration provides the 7nm SPICE model parameters calibrated from silicon measurements that ground the simulation results in physical measurement data.

Low-Power FinFET 7nm VLSI Design for High-Speed SerDes Applications with PVT Variability Analysis and SRAM Static Noise Margin Optimisation

Key Points

Abstract

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