Comparative Study of 16-bit Ripple Carry Adder and Weinberger Adder Architectures in Digital Circuit Design
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EBO96JjRyy02wX6FjRVfSitM62dEj8g0/view?usp=sharing
This repository contains the design, simulation, and comparative analysis of 16-bit Ripple Carry Adder (RCA) and 16-bit Weinberger Adder using Cadence Virtuoso with GPDK 180 nm CMOS technology.
The project includes schematics, logic diagrams, waveforms, simulation graphs, truth tables, and the complete project report.
Addition is one of the most fundamental operations in digital systems.
This project compares two adder architectures:
- Ripple Carry Adder (RCA): simple and area-efficient but slow due to sequential carry propagation
- Weinberger Adder: faster design using generate/propagate signals and parallel carry computation
Both adders were modeled, simulated, and verified using Cadence tools.
- Design and implement 16-bit RCA and Weinberger adders
- Create full custom schematic and symbol designs
- Simulate waveforms and verify correctness
- Extract delay and power metrics using transient simulation
- Compare both architectures for speed, power, and scalability
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| EDA Tool | Cadence Virtuoso |
| Technology Node | GPDK 180 nm |
| Supply Voltage | 1.8 V |
| Analysis Type | Transient Simulation |
| Temperature | 27°C |
| Simulation Library | gpdk180 |
- Built using 16 cascaded full adders
- Carry propagates sequentially
- Pros: simple, low area
- Cons: high delay for large bit-widths
- Uses generate (G) and propagate (P) signals
- Parallel carry computation
- Lower delay and better scalability
- Suitable for high-speed arithmetic in DSPs and processors
| Metric | RCA | Weinberger |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Delay | 1.672 ns | 121.6 ps |
| Maximum Delay | 25.25 ns | 251.7 ps |
| Power Consumption | 13.35 µW | 66.25 µW |
- Weinberger Adder delivers 10–20× lower delay
- RCA is area-efficient but slower
- Weinberger is ideal for high-speed, low-latency VLSI applications
- Full custom schematics
- Output waveforms for all input combinations
- Delay vs. Time plots
- Power graphs
- Truth table verification screenshots
- Final project documentation
The comparative analysis demonstrates:
- RCA → simple, low-power, but high delay
- Weinberger → significantly faster due to parallel carry calculation
Therefore, Weinberger Adder is superior for modern high-speed digital systems, DSP applications, and low-latency arithmetic units.
- Bojja Divya
- Srinithi R.M
- Bhavatarini M
- Geetha Sri P
(SENSE, VIT Chennai)