Internal charge transfer for circuits
First Claim
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1. A circuit comprising:
- a supply voltage node;
a ground voltage node;
a set of backgate voltage nodes; and
a charge transfer mechanism coupled to the supply voltage node, the ground voltage node, and the set of backgate voltage nodes, the charge transfer mechanism being configured to transfer charge among the supply voltage node, the ground voltage node, and the set of backgate voltage nodes.
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Abstract
The present invention enables fast transition between sleep and normal modes for circuits such as digital circuits. This invention utilizes chip internal charge transfer operations to put the circuit into fast sleep. The invention reduces external power involvement, and it expedites the sleep mode transition time by limiting charge transfers within the circuit. The fast sleep and fast wake-up enable more efficient power management of the system. This functionality also maximizes performance per power, and provides a more energy efficient computing architecture.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A circuit comprising:
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a supply voltage node; a ground voltage node; a set of backgate voltage nodes; and a charge transfer mechanism coupled to the supply voltage node, the ground voltage node, and the set of backgate voltage nodes, the charge transfer mechanism being configured to transfer charge among the supply voltage node, the ground voltage node, and the set of backgate voltage nodes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A digital circuit comprising:
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a supply voltage node; a ground voltage node; a PFET backgate voltage node; a NFET backgate voltage node; and a set of switches coupled to the set of backgate voltage nodes, the supply voltage node, and the ground voltage node, the set of switches being configured to transfer charge; between the supply voltage node and the ground voltage node, between the PFET backgate voltage node and the supply voltage node, and between the NFET backgate voltage node and the ground voltage node. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for transferring charge in a circuit, comprising:
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transferring a supply voltage charge from a supply voltage node to a ground voltage node to put the circuit into a sleep mode; and transferring a backgate voltage charge from a set of backgate voltage nodes to the supply voltage node and the ground voltage node to bring the circuit out of the sleep mode. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for changing modes of a digital circuit, comprising:
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closing a first switch in the digital circuit; transferring a supply voltage charge from a supply voltage node to a ground voltage node using the first switch to put the digital circuit into a sleep mode; opening the first switch; closing a second switch and a third switch in the digital circuit; and transferring a backgate voltage charge from a set of backgate voltage nodes to the supply voltage node and the ground voltage node using the second switch and the third switch to bring the digital circuit out of the sleep mode. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification