Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080198699 | METHOD FOR BUILT IN SELF TEST FOR MEASURING TOTAL TIMING UNCERTAINTY IN A DIGITAL DATA PATH - A circuit for measuring timing uncertainty in a clocked digital path and in particular, the number of logic stages completed in any clock cycle. A local clock buffer receives a global clock and provides a complementary pair of local clocks. A first local (launch) clock is an input to a delay line, e.g., 3 clock cycles worth of series connected inverters. Delay line taps (inverter outputs) are inputs to a register that is clocked by the complementary clock pair to capture progression of the launch clock through the delay line and identify any variation (e.g., from jitter, VDD noise) in that progression. Global clock skew and across chip gate length variation can be measured by cross coupling launch clocks from a pair of such clock buffers and selectively passing the local and remote launch clocks to the respective delay lines. | 08-21-2008 |
20080198700 | DUTY CYCLE MEASURMENT CIRCUIT FOR MEASURING AND MAINTAINING BALANCED CLOCK DUTY CYCLE - A circuit for measuring timing uncertainty in a clocked digital path and in particular, the number of logic stages completed in any clock cycle. A local clock buffer receives a global clock and provides a complementary pair of local clocks. A first local (launch) clock is an input to a delay line, e.g., 3 clock cycles worth of series connected inverters. Delay line taps (inverter outputs) are inputs to a register that is clocked by the complementary clock pair to capture progression of the launch clock through the delay line and identify any variation (e.g., from jitter, VDD noise) in that progression. Global clock skew and across chip gate length variation can be measured by cross coupling launch clocks from a pair of such clock buffers and selectively passing the local and remote launch clocks to the respective delay lines. | 08-21-2008 |
20090295449 | DUTY CYCLE MEASUREMENT CIRCUIT FOR MEASURING AND MAINTAINING BALANCED CLOCK DUTY CYCLE - A circuit and method for measuring duty cycle uncertainty in an on-chip global clock. A global clock is provided to a delay line at a local clock buffer. Delay line taps (inverter outputs) are inputs to a register that is clocked by the local clock buffer. The register captures clock edges, which are filtered to identify a single location for each edge. Imbalance in space between the edges indicated imbalance in duty cycle. Up/down signals are generated from any imbalance and passed to a phase locked loop to adjust the balance. | 12-03-2009 |
20120124669 | Hindering Side-Channel Attacks in Integrated Circuits - A mechanism is provided for protecting a layer of functional units from side-channel attacks. A determination is made as to whether one or more subsets of functional units in a set of functional units in the layer of functional units is performing operations of a critical nature. Responsive to a determination that there is one or more subsets of functional units that are performing the operations of the critical nature, at least one concealing pattern is generated in a concealing layer in order to conceal the operations of the critical nature being performed by each of the subset of functional units. The concealing layer is electrically and physically coupled to the layer of functional units. | 05-17-2012 |
20130055185 | VERTICAL POWER BUDGETING AND SHIFTING FOR 3D INTEGRATION - A method is provided for managing power distribution on a 3D chip stack having two or more strata, a plurality of vertical power delivery structures, and multiple stack components. At least two stack components are on different strata. Operating modes are stored that respectively have different power dissipations. A respective effective power budget is determined for each of the at least two stack components based on respective ones of the operating modes targeted therefor, and power characteristics and thermal characteristics of at least some of the stack components inclusive or exclusive of the at least two stack components. The respective ones of the plurality of operating modes targeted for the at least two stack components are selectively accepted or re-allocated based on the respective effective power budget for each of the at least two stack components, power constraints, and thermal constraints. The power constraints include vertical structure electrical constraints. | 02-28-2013 |
20140201561 | CLOCK SKEW ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION - A method for adjusting clock skew in a network is disclosed. A model is fit to a first clock input signal received at a first receiver of the network and to a second clock input signal received at a second receiver of the network to obtain a fitted model. A first response signal is simulated using the fitted model and the first clock input signal and a second response signal is simulated using the fitted model and the second clock input signal. A time difference is determined between the simulated first response signal and the simulated second response signal. A parameter of at least one of the network clock network, the first receiver and the second receiver is altered to adjust the determined time difference. | 07-17-2014 |
20140218087 | Wide Bandwidth Resonant Global Clock Distribution - A wide bandwidth resonant clock distribution comprises a clock grid configured to distribute a clock signal to a plurality of components of an integrated circuit, a tunable sector buffer configured to receive the clock signal and provide an output to the clock grid, at least one inductor, at least one tunable resistance switch, and a capacitor network. The tunable sector buffer is programmable to set latency and slew rate of the clock signal. The inductor, tunable resistance switch, and capacitor network are connected between the clock grid and a reference voltage. The at least one tunable resistance switch is programmable to dynamically switch the at least one inductor in or out of the clock distribution to effect at least one resonant mode of operation or a non-resonant mode of operation based on a frequency of the clock signal. | 08-07-2014 |
20140223210 | Tunable Sector Buffer for Wide Bandwidth Resonant Global Clock Distribution - A wide bandwidth resonant clock distribution comprises a clock grid configured to distribute a clock signal to a plurality of components of an integrated circuit and a tunable sector buffer configured to receive the clock signal and provide an output to the clock grid. The tunable sector buffer is configured to set latency and slew rate of the clock signal based on an identified resonant or non-resonant mode. | 08-07-2014 |
20140240021 | SETTING SWITCH SIZE AND TRANSITION PATTERN IN A RESONANT CLOCK DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM - Recycling energy in a clock distribution network is provided. A method includes creating a resonant clocking circuit including a clock grid. The method further includes providing resonant structures distributed in the clock grid. The method further includes providing switches that control the resonant structures to switch between a non-resonant mode and a resonant mode. The method further includes determining a switch size that minimizes power consumption of the resonant clocking circuit by iteratively increasing sizes of the switches and, for each iterative increase in size, determining power consumed by the resonant clocking circuit. | 08-28-2014 |
20140245244 | SETTING SWITCH SIZE AND TRANSITION PATTERN IN A RESONANT CLOCK DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM - Recycling energy in a clock distribution network is provided. A method includes creating a resonant clocking circuit including a clock grid. The method further includes providing resonant structures distributed in the clock grid. The method further includes providing switches that control the resonant structures to switch between a non-resonant mode and a resonant mode. The method further includes determining a switch size that minimizes power consumption of the resonant clocking circuit by iteratively increasing sizes of the switches and, for each iterative increase in size, determining power consumed by the resonant clocking circuit. | 08-28-2014 |
20140245250 | SETTING SWITCH SIZE AND TRANSITION PATTERN IN A RESONANT CLOCK DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM - Recycling energy in a clock distribution network is provided. A method includes creating a resonant clocking circuit including a clock grid. The method further includes providing resonant structures distributed in the clock grid. The method further includes providing switches that control the resonant structures to switch between a non-resonant mode and a resonant mode. The method further includes determining a switch size that minimizes power consumption of the resonant clocking circuit by iteratively increasing sizes of the switches and, for each iterative increase in size, determining power consumed by the resonant clocking circuit. | 08-28-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090237134 | MINIMIZING CLOCK UNCERTAINTY ON CLOCK DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS USING A MULTI-LEVEL DE-SKEWING TECHNIQUE - Disclosed is a method of minimizing clock uncertainty using a multi-level de-skewing technique. The method includes the steps of obtaining a chip wherein at least a portion of the chip has a regular array of buffers on multiple levels, the buffers being driven by first drivers and the first drivers being driven by second drivers; grouping the buffers in a first direction to create clusters with the same number of buffer inputs, wherein if there are not the same number of buffer inputs in each cluster, then adding dummy buffers to the cluster with a deficient number of buffer inputs; wiring outputs of the first drivers together in a second direction, wherein the first and second directions are orthogonal; and wiring outputs of the second together in the second direction. | 09-24-2009 |
20090312848 | Self-Learning of the Optimal Power or Performance Operating Point of a Computer Chip Based on Instantaneous Feedback of Present Operating Environment - Sensors on the integrated circuit are used to detect the current operating state of the chip, such as frequency, voltage, temperature characteristics, or variation in the integrated circuit manufacturing process. In response, the integrated circuit may choose to modify operational parameters (such as frequency, voltage, or power-down states) in order to dynamically and autonomously maintain an optimal performance and/or power-efficiency operational point. | 12-17-2009 |
20120266125 | BONDING CONTROLLER GUIDED ASSESSMENT AND OPTIMIZATIONFOR CHIP-TO-CHIP STACKING - A method, system, and computer program product for performance-based chip-to-chip stacking are provided in the illustrative embodiments. A first candidate chip is selected from a set of candidate chips for stacking, each candidate chip in the set of candidate chips including an integrated circuit. A part of a | 10-18-2012 |
20120313647 | INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PERFORMANCE BASED CHIP-TO-CHIP STACKING - A method and system for an infrastructure for performance-based chip-to-chip stacking are provided in the illustrative embodiments. A critical path monitor circuit (infrastructure) is configured to launch a signal from a launch point in a first layer, the first layer being a first circuit. The infrastructure is further configured to create an electrical path to a capture point. The signal is launched from the launch point in the first layer. A performance characteristic of the electrical path is measured, resulting in a measurement, wherein the measurement is indicative of a performance of the first layer when stacked with a second layer in a 3D stack without actually stacking the first and the second layers in the 3D stack, the second layer being a second circuit. | 12-13-2012 |
20130229189 | Defect Detection on Characteristically Capacitive Circuit Nodes - A test circuit for detecting a leakage defect in a circuit under test includes a test stimulus circuit operative to drive an otherwise defect-free, characteristically capacitive node in the circuit under test to a prescribed voltage level, and an observation circuit having at least one threshold and adapted for connection with at least one node in the circuit under test. The observation circuit is operative to detect a voltage level of the node in the circuit under test and to generate an output signal indicative of whether the voltage level of the node is less than the threshold. The voltage level of the node being less than the threshold is indicative of a first type of leakage defect, and the voltage level of the node being greater than the threshold is indicative of a second type of leakage defect. | 09-05-2013 |
20130326456 | DESIGNING A ROBUST POWER EFFICIENT CLOCK DISTRIBUTION NETWORK - An electronic automation design tool with a sink locator unit creates clusters of loads from a plurality of loads within a sector of a clock network design based on balancing magnitudes of the loads among the clusters of loads and based on minimal delays of each of the clusters and respective ones of a plurality of sink locations in the sector of the clock network design. The tool determines centers of the clusters of loads, and sink locations corresponding to the centers of the clusters for connecting output terminal points of sector buffers are determined. Each of the sector buffers drive a clock signal to a corresponding one of the clusters of loads. | 12-05-2013 |
20140143746 | DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUIT ANALYSIS BASED CLOCK NETWORK DESIGN - A design tool with a direct current (DC) transformation analysis unit determines combinations of candidate sink locations for sector buffers within a sector of a clock network design. For each of the combination of candidate sink locations, the design tool transforms resistances of the sector with the combination of candidate sink locations into resistances of an electrical circuit. The design tool transforms capacitances of the sector with the combination of candidate sink locations into current sources of an electrical circuit. The design tool performs a DC circuit analysis, wherein results of the DC circuit analysis include a variance of voltage at nodes of the sector and a maximum value of current from currents flowing between pairs of the nodes of the sector. The design tool determines which of the combination of candidate sink locations has the minimum variance of voltage with the results of the DC circuit analysis. | 05-22-2014 |
20140167832 | CHANGING RESONANT CLOCK MODES - Described is an integrated circuit having a clock distribution network capable of transitioning from a non-resonant clock mode to a first resonant clock mode Transitions between clock modes or between various resonant clock frequencies are done gradually over a series of clock cycles. In example, when transitioning from a non-resonant clock mode to a first resonant clock mode, a strength of a clock sector driver is reduced over a series of clock cycles, and individual ones of a plurality of resonant switches associated with resonant circuits are modified in coordination with reducing the strength of the clock sector driver. | 06-19-2014 |