Circuit for controlling leakage current in large scale integrated circuits

摘要

In an LSI circuit, respective voltages on power-source lines connected to the respective sources of transistors which are turned OFF in a circuit block in the standby state are controlled by a power-source-voltage control circuit to vary in response to variations in the threshold voltages of the transistors. Consequently, the differential voltage (Vgs-Vt) between the gate-to-source voltage Vgs of each of the transistors and the threshold voltage Vt thereof is held constant at a given value, so that an OFF-state leakage current flowing through the transistor in the circuit block in the standby state is reduced and held constant at a given value. What results is a reduction in the power consumption of the circuit block in the standby state.