Patent ID: 7242214

Claim:
A semiconductor integrated circuit operating at an operating voltage of which the absolute value is substantially 2.5V or less, comprising: a plurality of circuit blocks; at least two circuit terminals through which a desired operating voltage of said circuit blocks is applied; and current controlling means provided between each of said circuit blocks and at least one of said circuit terminals, a plurality of current supplying means for supplying the current to the plurality of circuit blocks from the current controlling means, wherein each of said plurality of circuit blocks includes an MOS transistor in which substantially a leakage current flows between a drain and a source of said MOS transistor even under a condition that a gate voltage is equal to a source voltage in said MOS transistor, wherein said current controlling means controls said leakage current in each of said circuit blocks, and wherein a certain one of said circuit blocks is adapted to logically operate during a period including a part of the period in which said leakage current in at least another one of said circuit blocks is controlled by said current controlling means, and said leakage current is controlled by said current controlling means during a period including a part of the period in which at least another one said circuit blocks logically operates.