Patent ID: 7298177

Claim:
For a dynamic circuit comprising a pre-charge circuit, a pull down network (PDN), and a keeper transistor, all of which are coupled to a dynamic node of the dynamic circuit, a machine-implemented method for determining a size for the keeper transistor, comprising: determining an estimated amount of leakage current that passes through the PDN when the PDN is not actively discharging the dynamic node, wherein determining the estimated amount of leakage current comprises: performing a computer simulation on a partial circuit that includes the pre-charge circuit and the PDN but not the keeper transistor, wherein the computer simulation simulates behavior of the partial circuit when the PDN is not actively discharging the dynamic node; and obtaining, from a set of simulation results, the estimated amount of leakage current that passes through the PDN; and determining a size for the keeper transistor that enables the keeper transistor, when activated, to produce an amount of keeper current that is substantially equal to the estimated amount of leakage current.