AON Cell#
In low power design, when we have always on power domain and switchable domain (ON/OFF Power Domain) and the cells are interacting between these domains then we need AON Cells which remains ON during OFF state of switchable domain.
AON Cells are like normal buffers but with an extra secondary always-on pin to keep the cells 'on' even when primary power is off in a domain. This will remain 'on' in the region where it is placed even though the main power supply is 'off' through the secondary backup supply pin, that supplies the necessary current when the main supply is not available.
Written by
Swasti Pujari
Associate Director, Backend Engineering at CoreIC Technologies, with 15+ years in VLSI Physical Design and backend engineering. Previously Practice Head at UST Global, leading Physical Design, STA, EMIR, DFT, and Physical Verification. Delivered 3nm, 6nm and 7nm projects for AMD, Intel, and Microchip, and published IEEE research on hybrid AI-EDA floorplanning.
