A gate equivalent (GE) stands for a unit of measure which allows specifying ''manufacturing-technology-independent complexity'' of
digital electronic circuits.
For today's
CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss
", , ) is a type of MOSFET, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication, fabrication process that uses complementary an ...
technologies, the silicon area of a two-input drive-strength-one
NAND gate
A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word is derived from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*gatan'', meaning an opening or passageway. Synonyms include yett (which comes from the same root w ...
usually constitutes the ''technology-dependent'' unit area commonly referred to as gate equivalent.
A specification in gate equivalents for a certain circuit reflects a complexity measure, from which a corresponding silicon area can be deduced for a dedicated manufacturing technology.
In digital circuit design, a dedicated ''
standard cell library'' is employed for each manufacturing technology (e.g., CMOS). The standard cell library comprises many different
logic gate
A logic gate is a device that performs a Boolean function, a logical operation performed on one or more binary inputs that produces a single binary output. Depending on the context, the term may refer to an ideal logic gate, one that has, for ...
s, for example a NAND gate. For each logical type of logic gate, e.g., a two-input NAND, there usually exist different physical realizations in the standard cell library, for instance with different output drive strengths.
Basically, a two-input
drive-strength-one NAND gate in CMOS technology consists of four
transistor
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch electrical signals and electric power, power. It is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semicondu ...
s.
See also
*
Logic family
In computer engineering, a logic family is one of two related concepts:
* A logic family of monolithic digital integrated circuit devices is a group of electronic logic gates constructed using one of several different designs, usually with compati ...
*
NMOS logic
NMOS or nMOS logic (from N-type metal–oxide–semiconductor) uses n-type (-) MOSFETs (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors) to implement logic gates and other digital circuits.
NMOS transistors operate by creating an inv ...
*
MOSFET
upright=1.3, Two power MOSFETs in amperes">A in the ''on'' state, dissipating up to about 100 watt">W and controlling a load of over 2000 W. A matchstick is pictured for scale.
In electronics, the metal–oxide–semiconductor field- ...
*
Fanout
*
FO4
*
Boolean logic
In mathematics and mathematical logic, Boolean algebra is a branch of algebra. It differs from elementary algebra in two ways. First, the values of the variable (mathematics), variables are the truth values ''true'' and ''false'', usually denot ...
References
*
Digital Integrated Circuit Design: From VLSI Architectures to CMOS Fabrication', Hubert Kaeslin, Cambridge University Press, 2008
{{Digital systems
Logic gates
Equivalent units