High speed, low power input/output circuit for a multi-chip module
First Claim
1. An input/output transceiver circuit for an integrated circuit, comprising:
- a pad located on an integrated circuit substrate;
a receiving circuit connected to said pad for receiving digital circuits inputted thereon; and
a transmitting circuit connected to said pad for transmitting digital signals to said pad;
said transmitting circuit during data transmission has an output resistance that is controlled to a constant value.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An I/O transceiver circuit for use on each integrated circuit of a multi-chip module that controls the threshold voltage of the receiver portion and also controls the output resistance of the transmitter portion. Control of the threshold voltage allows operation of the circuit at low voltage levels and with relative immunity from process and temperature variations. Control of the output resistance allows operation without characteristically terminated I/O lines between multi-chip modules, thereby saving power otherwise wasted in the terminating resistors. Control of the threshold voltage is achieved by means of a reference circuit. Control of the output resistance is achieved by a phase-locked-loop arrangement. Further, the I/O transceiver circuit may also have a state where it clamps noise pulses on its I/O line.
68 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An input/output transceiver circuit for an integrated circuit, comprising:
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a pad located on an integrated circuit substrate; a receiving circuit connected to said pad for receiving digital circuits inputted thereon; and a transmitting circuit connected to said pad for transmitting digital signals to said pad; said transmitting circuit during data transmission has an output resistance that is controlled to a constant value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A logic transceiver circuit comprising:
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a pad on an integrated circuit substrate; means for transmitting binary signals having a nominal logic high level of 2.0 volts and a logic low level of 1.0 volts connected to said pad, said transmitting means transmits said binary signals to said pad; and means for receiving binary signals having a nominal logic high level of 1.6 volts and nominal logic low level of 1.4 volts also connected to said pad, said receiving means receives binary signals from said pad. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A process for producing a binary integrated circuit with threshold control voltage on each data input/output transceiver circuit, comprising the steps of:
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locating a reference voltage circuit that provides a reference voltage at an output thereof on an integrated circuit chip; locating a plurality of data input circuits, each of which has a binary input that receives respective binary input voltages, a threshold control input and a binary output; connecting said reference voltage output to each threshold control input to control a threshold voltage that defines the point at which a binary input voltage ceases to be defined as a logic zero and begins to be defined as a logic one; locating an output resistance controlling circuit that provides a resistance controlling voltage at an output thereof on said integrated circuit chip; locating a plurality of data output circuits, each of which has a binary output that transmits respective binary output voltages and a resistance control input; and connecting said resistance controlling voltage output to each resistance control input to control an output resistance of each data output circuit to a substantially constant value.
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23. An integrated circuit, comprising:
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a plurality of I/O transceiver circuits; a threshold voltage control circuit connected to each of said plurality of I/O transceiver circuits to control a receiving threshold voltage characteristic thereof; and an output resistance control circuit connected to each of said plurality of I/O transceiver circuits to control an output resistance thereof to a constant value.
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Specification