design without level shifter

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jitendravlsi

Joined: 21 Jul 2008
Posts: 22

01 Jul 2009 17:01 design without level shifter

Hi all!

In my design one of the block which is Flash/OTP(64 kb) is designed for 1.8v,

but my other blocks and core are working at 1.2v and IO voltage is also 1.2v.

Is it possible to implement the entire design without level shifter (1.2 - 1.8 ) in

between the two blocks communicating with each other(one at 1.2v and other at

1.8v). There is a condition that I cant change the IO voltage(1.2v) and my Flash(1.8v) for my entire design.

If possible then what are the ways & how?

Will the performance degrade?

I am using Cadence SoC encounter.

Thanks in adv.

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erikl

Joined: 09 Sep 2008
Posts: 736
Helped: 139
Location: Germany

01 Jul 2009 18:03 Re: design without level shifter

jitendravlsi wrote:

Will the performance degrade?

Rather sure: 1.2V and 1.8V are too far away. From 1.8 -> 1.2V this shouldn't be a pb. (if the difference never gets more), because an overvoltage of 0.6V should be tolerable. For 1.2 -> 1.8V pullUps could be used, but this costs power - depending on speed requirements. Using level shifters is a safer option, IMHO.