New encoding method for low power sequential access ROMs

This paper propose a new ROM data encoding method that takes into account of a sequential access pattern to reduce the power consumption in ROMs used in applications such as FIR filters that access the ROM sequentially. In the proposed encoding method, the number of 1's, of which the increment leads to the increase of the power consumption, is reduced by applying an exclusive-or (XOR) operation to a bit pair composed of two consecutive bits in a bit line. The encoded data can be decoded by using XOR gates and D flip-flops, which are usually used in digital systems for synchronization and glitch suppression. By applying the proposed encoding method to coefficient ROMs of FIR filters designed by using various design methods, we can achieve average reduction of 43.7% over the unencoded original data in the power consumption, which is larger reduction than those achieved by previous methods.