Programmable system on a chip

• US 7,170,315 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2004
• Issued: 01/30/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2003
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsemi SoC Corp. (Microchip Technology Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Actel Corporation (Microchip Technology Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kolkind, Kurt, Balasubramanian, Rabindranath, Schubert, Brian, Zhu, Limin, Speers, Theodore, El-Ayat, Khaled, Plants, William C., Bakker, Greg, McCollum, John, Narayanan, Venkatesh, Barraza, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Tan, Vibol
• Application Number:
  US10/843,701
• Publication Number:
  US 20050237083A1
• Time in Patent Office: 995 Days
• Field of Search: 326/40, 326/41
• US Class Current: 326/38
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 7/015 using microstructures, e.g. made of silicon
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/08 Clock generators with changeable or programmable clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/28 Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/30 Means for acting in the event of power-supply failure or interruption, e.g. power-supply fluctuations for resetting only G06F1/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/7842 on one IC chip (single chip microcontrollers)
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/7867 with reconfigurable architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2203/45136 One differential amplifier in IC-block form being shown
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2203/45166 Only one input of the dif amp being used for an input signal
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/45475 using IC blocks as the active amplifying circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/223 in field-effect transistor switches
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 19/177 arranged in matrix form
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 19/17732 Macroblocks
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 19/1776 for memories

Abstract

A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device comprises a programmable logic block, a non-volatile memory block, an analog sub-system, an analog input/output circuit block, and a digital input/output circuit block. A programmable interconnect architecture includes programmable elements and interconnect conductors. Ones of the programmable elements are coupled to the programmable logic block, the non-volatile memory block, the analog sub-system, the analog input/output circuit block, the digital input/output circuit block, and to the interconnect conductors, such that inputs and outputs of the programmable logic block, the non-volatile memory block, the analog sub-system, the analog input/output circuit block, and the digital input/output circuit block can be programmably coupled to one another.

Claims

1. A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device comprising:

a programmable logic block

a digital input/output circuit block;

a non-volatile memory block;

an analog circuit block including an analog to digital converter and at least one temperature-sensing circuit coupled to an I/O pad and including a programmable voltage prescaling circuit;

an analog input/output circuit block; and

a programmable interconnect architecture including programmable elements and interconnect conductors, ones of said programmable elements coupled to said programmable logic block, said non-volatile memory block, said analog circuit block, said analog input/output circuit block, said digital input/output circuit block, and to said interconnect conductors, such that inputs and outputs of said programmable logic block, said non-volatile memory block, said analog circuit block, said analog input/output circuit block, and said digital input/output circuit block can be programmably coupled to one another.

2. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 further including a static random-access memory block and wherein said programmable interconnect architecture is coupled to said static random-access memory block.

3. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 2 wherein said static random-access memory block is configured into at least two sub-blocks.

4. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 further including a microcontroller block and a static random-access memory block and wherein said programmable interconnect architecture is coupled to said microcontroller block and said static random-access memory block.

5. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 4 wherein said static random-access memory block is configured into at least two sub-blocks.

6. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 further including a microprocessor block and a static random-access memory block and wherein said programmable interconnect architecture is coupled to said microprocessor block and said static random-access memory block.

7. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 6 wherein said static random-access memory block is configured into at least two sub-blocks.

8. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 wherein said non-volatile memory block comprises flash memory.

9. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 further including a digital input circuit coupled to said I/O pad.

10. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 wherein said analog circuit block further includes at least one voltage-sensing circuit coupled to an I/O pad.

11. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 10 wherein said at least one voltage-sensing circuit includes a programmable voltage prescaling circuit.

12. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 10 further including a digital input circuit coupled to said I/O pad.

13. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 wherein said analog circuit block further includes at least one current-sensing circuit coupled to a first I/O pad and a second I/O pad.

14. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 13 wherein said at least one current-sensing circuit includes a programmable voltage prescaling circuit.

15. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 13 further including a digital input circuit coupled to at least one of said first and second I/O pads.

16. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 wherein said analog circuit block further includes at least one programmable MOSFET gate-drive circuit coupled to an I/O pad.

17. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 wherein said analog circuit block further includes:

at least one MOSFET gate-drive circuit coupled to a first I/O pad

at least one voltage-sensing circuit coupled to a second I/O pad; and

at least one current-sensing circuit coupled to said second I/O pad and a third I/O pad and wherein said at least one temperature-sensing circuit is coupled to a fourth I/O pad.

18. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 17 further including a digital input circuit coupled to one of said second, third, and fourth I/O pads.

19. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 wherein said non-volatile memory block has a first segment that may be programmably connected to a user-configured circuit and a second segment that may not be programmably connected to a user-configured circuit.

20. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 1 further including a bandgap reference circuit.

21. A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device comprising:

a programmable logic block

a digital input/output circuit block;

a non-volatile memory block;

an analog circuit block;

an analog input/output circuit block;

a programmable interconnect architecture including programmable elements and interconnect conductors, ones of said programmable elements coupled to said programmable logic block, said non-volatile memory block, said analog circuit block, said analog input/output circuit block, said digital input/output circuit block, and to said interconnect conductors, such that inputs and outputs of said programmable logic block, said non-volatile memory block, said analog circuit block, said analog input/output circuit block, and said digital input/output circuit block can be programmably coupled to one another; and

a system controller block including a power-up controller configured to apply system power to said programmable logic block, said digital input/output circuit block, said non-volatile memory block, said analog circuit block, and said analog input/output circuit block in a predetermined sequence and a system supervisor block coupled to at least one of said programmable logic block, said digital input/output circuit block, said non-volatile memory block, said analog circuit block, and said analog input/output circuit block, and configured to monitor at least one function of at least one circuit external to the programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device.

22. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device of claim 21 wherein said system supervisor block is further configured to control at least one function of said at least one circuit external to said programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device.