4. Elementary cell library gates

There are three main types of cell libraries:

• basic libraries, including elementary logic gates (1-bit cells) ;

• parameterizable macro-cells, with arithmetic operators and on-board memories ;

• reusable virtual components, including microprocessor cores, coprocessors and I/O peripheral controllers.

For the purposes of this article, we'll confine ourselves to elementary gates. We detail the characterization of the CMOS inverter in terms of static behavior, dynamic behavior and power dissipation. This characterization can be extended to elementary NAND, NOR and transmission gates, which we will briefly present.

Of course, CMOS technology is also used for many other components. Interested readers will find further information...