Dynamically-adjustable differential output drivers

• US 6,943,588 B1
• Filed: 09/24/2003
• Issued: 09/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tahoe Research Limited (f/k/a Learndale Limited) (Vector Capital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Altera Corporation (Intel Corporation)
• Inventors: Wong, Wilson, Shumarayev, Sergey, Lee, Chong H., Luo, Mei
• Primary Examiner(s): Tan, Vibol
• Application Number:
  US10/670,146
• Time in Patent Office: 720 Days
• Field of Search: 326/38, 326/41, 326/30, 326/21, 326/32, 326/86, 326/115, 326/127, 327/108, 327/112, 327/109
• US Class Current: 326/86
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 19/00369 Modifications for compensating variations of temperature, supply voltage or other physical parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 19/01812 with at least one differential stage
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 19/01837 programmable
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 19/018514 with at least one differential stage H03K19/018528 and H03K19/018542 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 19/018585 programmable

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided using dynamically adjustable differential output drivers. Integrated circuits such as programmable logic devices may be provided with adjustable differential output drivers for transmitting high-speed data to other integrated circuits. The peak-to-peak output voltage and common-mode voltage of the output drivers may be adjusted. Dynamic control circuitry may be used to control the settings of current sources, programmable resistors, and voltage source circuitry in the adjustable differential output driver automatically in real time. The adjustable components in the differential output driver may be adjusted by the dynamic control circuitry based on feedback information received from the integrated circuit to which the data is transmitted.

Claims

1. Dynamically adjustable differential output driver circuitry on an integrated circuit that transmits differential output data signals that have a peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD, comprising:

adjustable current source circuitry;

adjustable resistor circuitry;

switching circuitry for switching current from the adjustable current source circuitry through the adjustable resistor circuitry to produce the differential output signals, wherein the adjustable current source circuitry and adjustable resistor circuitry are controlled independently in real time by control signals to adjust the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD of the differential output data signals; and

dynamic control circuitry that generates the control signals, wherein the dynamic control circuitry is implemented at least partly using programmable logic circuitry.

2. Dynamically adjustable differential output driver circuitry on an integrated circuit that transmits differential output data signals that have a peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD, comprising:

adjustable current source circuitry;

adjustable resistor circuitry;

switching circuitry for switching current from the adjustable current source circuitry through the adjustable resistor circuitry to produce the differential output signals, wherein the adjustable current source circuitry and adjustable resistor circuitry are controlled independently in real time by control signals to adjust the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD of the differential output data signals; and

an adjustable voltage source, wherein the differential output data signals have a common-mode voltage V_CM that is controlled by adjusting the adjustable voltage source.

3. The dynamically adjustable differential output driver circuitry defined in claim 2 further comprising dynamic control circuitry that generates control signals that control the adjustable voltage source.

4. Dynamically adjustable differential output driver circuitry on an integrated circuit that transmits differential output data signals that have a common-mode voltage V_CM, comprising:

current source circuitry;

resistor circuitry;

switching circuitry for switching current from the current source through the resistor circuitry to produce the differential output signals;

an adjustable voltage source that applies a voltage to the resistor circuitry that establishes the common-mode voltage V_CM for the differential output data signals; and

dynamic control circuitry responsive to feedback signals from another integrated circuit, wherein the dynamic control circuitry adjusts the voltage applied to the resistor circuitry by the adjustable voltage source based on the feedback signals to adjust the common-mode voltage V_CM.

5. The dynamically adjustable differential output driver circuitry defined in claim 4 wherein the current source circuitry comprises adjustable current source circuitry.

6. The dynamically adjustable differential output driver circuitry defined in claim 4 wherein the resistor circuitry comprises process and temperature compensation circuitry to compensate for process-induced and temperature-induced resistivity changes in the resistor circuitry.

7. The dynamically adjustable differential output driver circuitry defined in claim 4 further comprising programmable circuitry, wherein the differential output data signals have a peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD, wherein the resistor circuitry comprises adjustable resistor circuitry, wherein the current source circuitry comprises adjustable current source circuitry, and wherein the adjustable resistor circuitry and the adjustable current source circuitry are independently adjustable to adjust the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD.

8. The integrated circuit defined in claim 4 wherein the other integrated circuit has a differential input driver with an associated common-mode voltage level, wherein the differential input driver receives the differential output data signals from the integrated circuit, and wherein the dynamic control circuitry adjusts the adjustable voltage source based on the feedback signals to match the common-mode voltage V_CM of the differential output data signals to the common-mode voltage level of the differential input driver on the other integrated circuit.

9. An integrated circuit, comprising:

a dynamically adjustable differential output driver that produces differential output data signals having a peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD; and

dynamic control circuitry that receives information from another integrated circuit to which the differential output data signals are transmitted and which controls the dynamically adjustable differential output driver dynamically in real time to adjust the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD based at least partly on the information received from the other integrated circuit.

10. The integrated circuit defined in claim 9 further comprising programmable core logic, wherein at least part of the dynamic control circuitry is implemented in the programmable core logic.

11. The integrated circuit defined in claim 9 wherein the dynamically adjustable differential output driver comprises adjustable current source circuitry and wherein the dynamic control circuitry adjusts the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD by adjusting the adjustable current source circuitry.

12. The integrated circuit defined in claim 9 wherein the dynamically adjustable differential output driver comprises adjustable resistor circuitry and wherein the dynamic control circuitry adjusts the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD by adjusting the adjustable resistor circuitry.

13. The integrated circuit defined in claim 9 wherein:

the dynamically adjustable differential output driver comprises adjustable current source circuitry;

the dynamic control circuitry adjusts the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD by adjusting the adjustable current source circuitry;

the dynamically adjustable differential output driver comprises adjustable resistor circuitry;

the dynamic control circuitry adjusts the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD by adjusting the adjustable resistor circuitry; and

the dynamic control circuitry adjusts the adjustable current source circuitry independently from the adjustable resistor circuitry.

14. The integrated circuit defined in claim 9 wherein the differential output data signals have a common-mode voltage V_CM and wherein the dynamically adjustable differential output driver comprises an adjustable voltage source that the dynamic control circuitry adjusts based at least partly on the information received from the other integrated circuit to control the common-mode voltage V_CM of the differential output data signals.

15. The integrated circuit defined in claim 9 wherein the differential output data signals have a common-mode voltage, wherein the information received from the other integrated circuit comprises feedback signals associated with the differential output data signals as received at the other integrated circuit, and wherein the dynamically adjustable differential output driver comprises an adjustable voltage source that the dynamic control circuitry adjusts to control the common-mode voltage of the differential output data signals based on the feedback signals.

16. The integrated circuit defined in claim 9 wherein the differential output data signals have a common-mode voltage when transmitted from the integrated circuit to a differential input driver on the other integrated circuit, wherein the differential input driver has a common-mode voltage level, wherein the information received from the other integrated circuit comprises information on the common-mode voltage level of the differential input driver, and wherein the dynamically adjustable differential output driver comprises an adjustable voltage source that the dynamic control circuitry adjusts to match the common-mode voltage of the differential output data signals to the common-mode voltage level of the differential input driver.

17. A system comprising:

a first integrated circuit having;

a dynamically adjustable differential output driver that produces differential output data signals having a common mode voltage V_CM and a peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD; and

dynamic control circuitry that that controls the dynamically adjustable differential output driver;

a communications path to which the differential output data signals are provided by the differential output driver; and

a second integrated circuit having;

a differential input driver that receives the differential output data signals from first integrated circuit over the communications path; and

monitoring and feedback circuitry that provides feedback information to the first integrated circuit that is based on the received differential output data signals from the first integrated circuit, wherein the dynamic control circuitry on the first integrated circuit controls the dynamically adjustable differential output driver in real time based on the feedback information received from the monitoring and feedback circuitry on the second integrated circuit.

18. The system defined in claim 17 wherein the first integrated circuit comprises a programmable logic device comprising programmable core logic.

19. The system defined in claim 17 wherein the first integrated circuit comprises a programmable logic device having programmable core logic in which at least part of the dynamic control circuitry is implemented.

20. The system defined in claim 17 wherein the dynamically adjustable differential output driver includes adjustable programmable resistor circuitry and programmable current source circuitry that are independently adjusted to set the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD of the differential output data signals.

21. The system defined in claim 17 wherein the monitoring and feedback circuitry determines how much noise is present in the data signals at the input driver and provides the feedback information to the first integrated circuit at least partially based on the amount of measured noise.

22. The system defined in claim 17, wherein the differential input driver has an associated common-mode voltage level and wherein the dynamic control circuitry uses the feedback information to adjust the dynamically adjustable differential output driver to match the common-mode voltage of the differential output data signals to the common-mode voltage level of the differential input driver.

23. The system defined in claim 17 wherein the differential output driver and differential input driver form a first differential data channel and wherein there are a plurality of such differential data channels between the first integrated circuit and at least one other integrated circuit, each channel having its own associated level of peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD for its associated differential output data signals, wherein the dynamic control circuitry independently adjusts the differential output driver in each channel to adjust the level of the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD for each channel.

24. The system defined in claim 17 wherein the differential output driver and differential input driver form a first differential data channel and wherein there are a plurality of such differential data channels between the first integrated circuit and at least one other integrated circuit, each channel having its own associated common-mode voltage V_CM for its associated differential output data signals, wherein the dynamic control circuitry independently adjusts the differential output driver in each channel to adjust the common-mode voltage V_CM for each channel.

25. A method for controlling a differential output driver that produces differential data signals that are transmitted between a first integrated circuit and a second integrated circuit over a differential communications path, comprising:

at the first integrated circuit, using the differential output driver to transmit the differential data signals to the second integrated circuit over the communications path;

at the second integrated circuit, receiving the differential data signals transmitted from the first integrated circuit;

at the second integrated circuit, sending information to the first integrated circuit; and

at the first integrated circuit, receiving the information from the second integrated circuit and adjusting the differential output driver based on the received information.

26. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the information sent to the first integrated circuit comprises feedback signals that are produced at the second integrated circuit based on the received differential data signals from the first integrated circuit, the method further comprising:

at the first integrated circuit, adjusting the differential output driver based on the feedback signals.

27. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the differential data signals have a common-mode voltage and wherein the second integrated circuit receives the differential data signals using a differential input driver having an associated common-mode voltage level, the method further comprising:

at the first integrated circuit, using the information received from the second integrated circuit to adjust the differential output driver so that the common-mode voltage of the differential data signals matches the common-mode voltage level associated with the differential input driver.

28. The method defined in claim 25 wherein there are a plurality of data channels associated with the first integrated circuit, each of which has a different associated differential output driver that produces differential data signals with an independent associated common-mode voltage V_CM, the method further comprising:

at the first integrated circuit, using the dynamic control circuitry to adjust the common-mode voltage V_CM of each channel independently.

29. The method defined in claim 25 wherein there are a plurality of data channels associated with the first integrated circuit, each of which has a different associated differential output driver that produces differential data signals with an independent associated peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD, the method further comprising:

at the first integrated circuit, using the dynamic control circuitry to adjust the peak-to-peak output voltage swing V_OD of each channel independently.

30. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the first integrated circuit comprise a programmable logic device, the method comprising at the first integrated circuit, adjusting the differential output driver to adjust the differential output data signals without reprogramming the programmable logic device.