Innovative 4‑Bit Nano Processor Design Leveraging 16nm

Transmission Gates

R. Ravindraiah, A. Chaithanya Lakshmi, P. Padmini and G. Sravanthi

Department of ECE, Madanapalle Institute of Technology & Science, Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, India

Keywords: Transmission Gates (TG), Nano Processor, Carry Skip Adder (CSA), Vedic Multiplier, Multiplexer (MUX),

CMOS Technology.

Abstract: The rapid evolution of VLSI technology has led to significant improvements in transistor scaling and

performance. However, efficient current flow management between source and drain terminals remains a

challenge. To address this, Transmission Gates (TG) have been integrated into 16nm technology, offering

improved current control, power efficiency, and area optimization. This paper presents the design and analysis

of a 4-bit Nano processor using Tanner EDA tools, focusing on power, area, and delay enhancements. The

processor includes a 4-bit Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) composed of basic and universal gates, a high-speed

Carry Skip Adder (CSA), a Vedic Multiplier, and a Multiplexer (MUX), all optimized to minimize power

consumption and area overhead. For validation, Design Rule Check (DRC) and Layout Vs Schematic (LVS)

verification are conducted before fabrication. The ALU is simulated using 16nm TG-based technology and

compared with conventional 16nm CMOS technology. Results demonstrate that the TG-based design reduces

MOSFET count from 800 to 680 (15% reduction), decreases delay from 0.519ns to 0.48008ns (~7.6%

improvement), and lowers maximum power consumption from 0.1975656 µW to 0.1885975 µW (~4.5%

improvement), while maintaining an average power consumption of ~1.79 µW.

1 INTRODUCTION

The continuous miniaturization of nano-scale VLSI

circuits has been a key force behind the exponential

growth of computational power, enabling higher

densities of transistors, high processing speeds; and

reduced power consumption. Transistor sizes have

even shrunk below the 16nm at the gate in order to

keep up with technological advancements. But this

progress has also underscored a cascade of challenges

that traditional CMOS-like designs are ill equipped to

take on. All these problems result from the increase

of leakage currents, increased power dissipation,

complex delay of interconnects, and short-channel

effects, resulting in lower performance and efficiency

for the latest nano- processors (D. S. Dalseno, 2023),

(N. S. Pandey, 2023). Short-channel effects are

exacerbated due to reduced electrostatic control over

the channel as the transistor is scaled down. This

results in increased leakage currents which play a

significant role in the power dissipation of the

device, even when it is in the OFF-state. Moreover,

one aspect of interconnect scaling needed to

guarantee high-speed operation and a known answer

to the topic in question adds up either in delay and

enhanced resistance-capacitance (RC) effects that

downgrade performance. This has created challenges

forcing the need for additional design methodologies

that can not only cater to these inherent problems in

the field but also allow continuing improvements in

power, area, and speed without compromising on any.

However, a few architectural/circuit level

innovations have been explored to tackle these

issues. For example, the FinFET transistor offers

much better electrostatic control than a planar

transistor, among other advantages. In FinFETs,

extensive suppression of short-channel effects, thus

minimized leakage currents, and high energy

efficiency at the nanoscale, are achieved by

introducing a three-dimensional geometry. However,

while FinFETs offer considerable benefits, they also

introduce new challenges, such as increased

manufacturing complexity and the demand for

specialised manufacturing techniques, which can be

lengthy and costly (H. W. Park, 2023).

Another leading focus is the use of TG logic,

which has been shown to reduce transistor count

significantly, with fast performance. The nature of

660

Ravindraiah, R., Lakshmi, A. C., Padmini, P. and Sravanthi, G.

Innovative 4-Bit Nano Processor Design Leveraging 16nm Transmission Gates.

DOI: 10.5220/0013918400004919

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Research and Development in Information, Communication, and Computing Technologies (ICRDICCT‘25 2025) - Volume 4, pages

660-665

ISBN: 978-989-758-777-1

complementary transistors is utilized in TG logic to

minimize power consumption and circuit complexity.

While this technique has clear advantages in reducing

transistor count, it introduces additional parasitic

capacitances and delays that can be detrimental to

overall circuit performance. And these issues do arise

because of the trade-off between minimization of

complexity and circuit efficiency for sub-16nm

designs (B. Singh, 2022).

Processor performance is also impacted

significantly by arithmetic circuit architectures, i.e.,

Arithmetic Logic Units (ALUs), and over the years

we have seen a lot of progress in this area along with

the transistor-level design improvements. The newly

introduced CSA and Vedic Multipliers have

increased the propagation delay and hardware

complexity through carry propagation and

multiplication of numbers. Such methods permit

speedier and more energy efficient computations and

therefore, serve as prime candidates for high-

performance nano-processors (J. P. Roy), (K. V.

Ramesh, 2022).

Despite all these advances, considerable gaps still

exist in realizing the optimal balance between area,

power, and speed in nano-scale processors. Even

though FinFETs offer superior control of leakage

currents, their complexity and cost of fabrication are

still a major impediment to mass adoption in

consumer products. Likewise, TG logic also imposes

unwanted parasitic effects that detract from its

efficiency in some applications. In addition,

traditional ALU structures based on Ripple Carry

Adders (RCA) and standard multipliers continue to

suffer from high latency and power inefficiencies in

real-time processing environments, which are very

important for emerging applications like machine

learning, artificial intelligence, and data processing

(T. K. Lee, 2022).

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Considerable effort has been made over the past 20

years to optimize power, speed, and area in order to

enhance microprocessor performance and efficiency.

Despite its widespread use, conventional CMOS-

based architecture includes drawbacks such

propagation delay, high power dissipation, and higher

transistor density. Spillage power analysis and

minimization for nanoscale circuits were performed

by Agarwal A et al. 2006. For CMOS gate design, they

suggested a novel method called LECTOR that

drastically reduces leakage current without adding

dynamic power consumption. Beyond the limitations

of other currently existing leakage reduction

strategies, the proposed circuit achieves large

reductions in leakage currents by increasing the route

resistance from V/sub dd/ to ground. For MCNC'91

benchmark circuits, experimental data show an

average leakage reduction of 79.4%.

Debajit Bhattacharya et.al.2014 suggested

CMOSs: From Devices to Architectures. CMOSs and

Trigate FETs are becoming their substitutes since

planar MOSFETs scaling in accordance with Moore's

law encounters insurmountable difficulties in the

nanometer domain. Continuous transistor scaling is

made possible by CMOSs/Trigate FETs' ability to

overcome SCEs more than typical planar MOSFETs

at highly scaled technological nodes due to the

existence of two or three gates. L. N. Gupta et.al. 2022

Explored the significance of transistor sizing in nano-

scale CMOS circuits Proposed a machine-learning-

based approach for transistor size optimization to

deliver improved power-delay trade-offs but

computationally costly process involving massive

simulation and verification. F. M. Johnson et.al.

designed the high-speed and energy-efficient

arithmetic circuits for nano processors suggested a

new CSA with enhanced performance through critical

path delay reduction. J. H. Zhou et.al. 2021 invested

the delay and power trade-offs in nano-CMOS

processor designs. Proposed advanced optimization

algorithms for delay and power balancing but some of

the algorithms were computationally costly.

M. R. Chien et.al.2021 fabricated Nano-scale

processors and methods for reducing power

dissipation. Presented a novel architecture to reduce

leakage by adopting a hybrid approach consisting of

dynamic as well as static power control techniques but

power and area optimizations were not optimal for

sub-16nm CMOS technology. J. R. Vance et.al.

designed the high-performance ALU circuits for

16nm CMOS technology. Utilization of Carry Look-

Ahead Adders for increased speed and performance

but area optimization requires to be more enhanced.

Earlier designs included using 4-bit nano-processors

through the application of 64nm, 32nm, and 16nm

fabrication techniques mainly depending upon

CMOS-based logic to implement circuits. The

transistor density in 64nm technology was lower,

causing it to have a greater power dissipation, large

chip area, and slow performance because of enhanced

leakage currents and increased channel length. With

the shift to 32nm technology, improvements in

transistor density helped reduce power consumption

and enhance processing speed, but leakage currents

remained a challenge.

Further scaling to 16nm technology allowed for

Innovative 4-Bit Nano Processor Design Leveraging 16nm Transmission Gates

661

higher transistor density, reduced power dissipation,

and improved computational efficiency. Despite all

these improvements, traditional CMOS logic

continued to suffer from higher transistor count, which

restrained further power, area, and delay

optimizations. Furthermore, arithmetic operations

were dependent on Ripple Carry Adders (RCA) and

traditional multipliers, causing high propagation

delay and added hardware complexity. Though

reducing the transistor size has remarkably boosted

processor performance, more efficient designs in

logic are required in order to outsmart these current

limits. In the current methodology, a number of

problems still exist, such as increased chip area, high

power consumption, and greater propagation delays

These are due to the use of traditional CMOS logic,

which results in poor resource utilization and

performance bottlenecks.

To overcome these shortcomings, the use of TG-

based designs provides a potential solution. TG,

through their effective utilization of p and n

transistors, have the ability to minimize power

dissipation through reduced leakage currents and

improved switching efficiency. Moreover, the

application of TG also allows for more compact

designs in circuits, effectively minimizing chip area.

By minimizing delays in logic circuits through the

application of TG, the overall system performance of

the processor can be significantly enhanced at the

same time that power and area issues are addressed.

The method offers an improved and more scalable

solution, especially in future process nodes.

3 PROPOSED METHOD

To reduce area, power and delay, a 4-bit nano-

processor will be designed based on 16nm TG

technology which will be as presented in a proposed

method. Figure. Architecture of proposed 4-bit nano-

processor using TG which takes arithmetic and logic

units as inputs of 8:1 MUX is shown in Figure 1.

While PMOS and NMOS transistors are used

separately in CMOS logic, TG achieve higher

performance by reducing the number of transistors nd

power dissipation as well as speeding up the

switching reaction time.

The 16nm process node represents the state of the

art in nano-processors, with smaller power

consumption, high speed, and a small footprint. The

switching operations are carried out in our design by

TG built using NMOS and PMOS transistors. These

gates have low on-resistance and can pass both high

and low signals with low delay and efficiency, making

them suitable for less power consumption but high

speed and low delay. The high isolation between

signal paths and low switching noise are paramount

at the 16nm node, and it is for this reason that TG are

the foundation of the processor's logic operations.

Figure 1: Architecture of ALU with 8-input MUX.

Figure 2: Algorithm of proposed 4-bit na processor using

TG.

Figure 2 depicts the design and simulation process

for a nano-processor. It begins with the formation of

the schematic in S-Edit, wherein the circuit is

designed. Second, the schematic is simulated in T-

ICRDICCT‘25 2025 - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATION,

COMMUNICATION, AND COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES

662

Spice to test its electrical operation and performance.

After simulation is finished, the design is viewed in

W-Edit for evaluation and fine- tuning. The steps are

made to ensure the circuit operates right before going

into the layout and fabrication process. Integrating the

CSA and Vedic Multiplier in our 4-bit processor

design has the following benefits:

Optimized Area: Both the CSA and Vedic Multiplier

minimize the gate count and complexity over their

conventional adder and multiplier circuit

counterparts. This is especially critical in the context

of a 16nm process, where minimizing area directly

equates to lower power consumption and increased

yield during production.

Low Power Consumption: The power switching is

minimized through the TG technology, and the CSA

and Vedic Multiplier optimize the power efficiency of

the arithmetic units to maintain low power

consumption without compromising performance.

Lower Delay: The application of CSA in addition

results in quicker computation because of the lowered

carry propagation delay, and parallel processing of

the Vedic multiplier lowers the time for

multiplication. Therefore, the overall processor

delivers lower arithmetic operation latency, which is

important for high-performance systems.

4 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Tanner EDA (Version 13.0) was widely used in the

study as the main simulation tool. Pre-fabrication

verification is an essential stage in electronic circuit

design that improves efficiency and dependability. To

achieve an optimum design, thorough validation is

required because to the high costs and time constraints

associated with fabrication. Through the numerical

solution of differential equations defining circuit

behavior, Electronic Design Automation (EDA)

technologies make circuit modeling and verification

easier. Before beginning fabrication, engineers can

improve and polish their ideas with the aid of these

simulations.

Tanner EDA has tools for all aspects of designing

circuits. With the Schematic Editor (S-Edit), you

have a powerful design and analysis tool that allows

circuit schematics and associated netlists to be

quickly generated and easily incorporated into T-

Spice simulations for verification. While the T-Spice

Circuit Simulator performs fast and accurate

simulations of analog and mixed analog/digital

circuits, it also supports complex semiconductor

device models, including linked line models and

custom models defined by tables or C functions. T-

Spice also adopts an extension of the SPICE input

language, to facilitate interoperability with industry

standard SPICE simulators. Include key circuit

components such as transmission lines, resistors,

capacitors, inductors, mutual inductors, current

sources, voltage sources, and controlled sources.

Waveform Editor (W-Edit) allows for real-time

visualization of waveforms generated from T-Spice

simulation data. It is an indispensable tool for the

analysis of complex numerical data generated from

VLSI circuit simulations. With W-With Edit's easy-

to-use interface, fast rendering, and customizable

data visualization capabilities, designers can analyze

and optimize circuit performance efficiently. This

simulation workflow helps to reduce errors by

making sure that all circuit designs are stringently

verified to meet functional and performance criteria

before moving to production.

Figure 3: Schematic layout of 4-bit nano processor using

TG.

Figure 3 shows the Schematic layout of the

proposed 4-bit nano-processor. 3. The diagram entails

an arithmetic unit, a logic unit, and an 8:1 MUX,

which facilitates the selection of operation

efficiently. The arithmetic unit contains an Adder,

Subtractor, and Multiplier to perform mathematical

operations, while the logic unit contains AND, OR,

NAND, NOR, and XOR gates to perform logical

operations. The 8:1 MUX is a control unit that

chooses the needed operation based on changes to

signals in said inputs and performs smooth data

processing. The interconnections between these

computation elements aim to maximize computation

efficiency in terms of the number of transistors used

and power dissipated, which is especially suited for

Innovative 4-Bit Nano Processor Design Leveraging 16nm Transmission Gates

663

low-power, high-performance embedded

implementations.

Figure 4: Simulation results of 4-bit nano processor using

TG.

Figure 4 shows the timing simulation waveforms

of the 4-bit ALU implemented on the basis of 16nm

TG technology. The first three waveforms are for the

control signals (S2, S1, S0), used to decide the choice

of different arithmetic and logic operations via an 8:1

MUX. The changes in these control signals show that

the ALU is changing between operations at fixed time

intervals. The last four waveforms are the 4-bit output

signals (Y3, Y2, Y1, Y0), which change depending

on the operation chosen. The changes in voltage levels

in these output signals assure the proper

implementation of arithmetic and logical functions

like addition, subtraction, multiplication, AND, OR,

and so on. Table 1 show the Comparison between

existing & Proposed method.

Table 1: Comparison between existing & proposed.

method.

Design

MOS

count

Power

(µ

)

Delay

(

)

ALU 800 1.787 0.5197

ALU_TG 680 1.793 0.48008

5 CONCLUSIONS

The proposed 16nm TG based 4-bit nano-processor

demonstrates a significant improvement in power

efficiency, processing speed, and area optimization

compared to traditional CMOS-based architectures.

By integrating CSA and Vedic Multiplier, the

processor achieves faster arithmetic computations

with reduced transistor count, making it well-suited

for low-power embedded applications. Experimental

results validate a 15% reduction in transistor count, a

~7.6% improvement in delay, and a ~4.5% decrease

in maximum power consumption, while maintaining

an average power consumption of ~1.79 µW.

Although average power remains a constraint,

techniques such as power gating, clock gating, and

dynamic voltage scaling can be incorporated to

further optimize power efficiency. This study

establishes a strong foundation for future

advancements in ultra-low-power nano-scale

computing, paving the way for energy-efficient,

high-performance embedded processors.

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