ASIC implementation of ECG denoising FIR filter by using hybrid Vedic–Wallace tree multiplier

Abstract

The design of hand‐held portable devices for cardiovascular health monitoring based on the analysis of electrocardiogram (ECG) is a hot topic of research nowadays. Digital filters, possibly designed using digital multipliers, are a critical module in the design of such analysis systems. This paper presents the ASIC design of a 64th‐order digital low‐pass FIR filter to be used in ECG denoising applications. The FIR filter is optimized for usage in battery‐operated portable systems, wherein power consumption and on‐chip area are crucial parameters of concern. These challenges are met by employing a novel multiplier architecture, which we design by hybridizing the two popular digital multiplication algorithms, namely, the Vedic multiplication algorithm and the Wallace tree multiplication algorithm. The proposed multiplier consumes lower area and power consumption than either of the aforementioned conventional multiplication algorithms. This is established through FPGA‐based implementations on Artix‐7 FPGA, for the various wordlengths. The area and power optimizations are further exercised by two proposed techniques, namely, elimination of redundant multipliers, and power gating using the proposed zero‐detector circuit. RTL‐to‐GDSII flow has been completed using Cadence digital design and sign‐off tools for SCL 180 nm technology. The results indicate that the proposed filter architecture occupies 16.38% lower area and 79.58% lower power consumption than the contemporary designs described in the literature.