Circuits, systems and methods relating to dynamic ring oscillators

• US 7,414,485 B1
• Filed: 12/30/2005
• Issued: 08/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures Funding LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Transmeta Corporation (Novafora, Inc.)
• Inventors: Masleid, Robert P.
• Primary Examiner(s): MIS, DAVID C
• Application Number:
  US11/322,595
• Time in Patent Office: 963 Days
• Field of Search: 331/44, 331/45, 331/57, 331/175
• US Class Current: 331/57
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 3/0315 Ring oscillators

Abstract

A dynamic oscillating ring circuit is described, which has multiple non-inverting domino circuits, each having a signal input, a trigger input, inputs for charge state clock and clocked cutoff and an output inverter. A number of the domino circuits are coupled in series, the output of one feeding the input of the next, to form a chain, which form stages of the ring. A number of the stages are coupled in series, the output of one feeding the input of the next, to form the ring. The first domino circuit of said chain receives a logic signal input and a single trigger input for the chain. Within the ring, the output of each stage feeds the input signal to the next stage and is fed back to clock an earlier stage to allow the ring to oscillate.

Claims

1. A dynamic oscillating ring circuit, comprising:

a plurality of domino circuits, each comprising a signal input, a trigger input, an input relating to a charge state clock, an input relating to a clocked cutoff, and an output inverter; and

a plurality of non-inverting stages, each comprising a number of said domino circuits coupled in a chain wherein the first domino circuit of said chain receives a logic signal input and a single trigger input for said chain, wherein an output of each said domino circuit comprises an input to said signal input of a next domino circuit in said chain, wherein said plurality of said stages is configured as a non-inverting ring wherein an output of each stage comprises an input signal to a next stage and is fed back to clock an earlier stage to allow oscillation in said ring.

2. The circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein said plurality of domino circuits of said stages evaluate on the basis of said input.

3. The circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein, upon said oscillation traversing said ring to a last stage thereof, the charge state corresponding to said first stage has reset wherein said first stage is ready to evaluate upon the output of said last stage and wherein said output of said last stage results from said last stage evaluating on the basis of said oscillation.

4. The circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein, prior to said oscillation traversing said ring to a stage that has evaluated on the basis of an input thereto that corresponds to propagation of said oscillation, the charge state corresponding to said stage that has evaluated has been reset to a ready to evaluate condition to further propagate said oscillation.

5. The circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein said plurality of domino circuits comprise N-domino circuits and wherein said charge state comprises a precharge condition of said N-domino circuits.

6. The circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein said plurality of domino circuits comprise P-domino circuits and wherein said charge state comprises a pre-discharge condition of said P-domino circuits.

7. The circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein each domino circuit further comprises a latch.

8. The circuit as recited in claim 7 wherein said latch comprises a one or more of a half latch and a jamb latch.

9. The circuit as recited in claim 8 wherein said half latch comprises a series of three or more active devices, said active devices gated in parallel together, wherein said active devices are gated with an output of said inverter.

10. The circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein the output of each chain comprises the output of the last domino circuit in said chain.

11. The circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said charge state clock and clocked cutoff input are made in parallel to each domino circuit of said chain.

12. The circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein said trigger input to a first domino circuit in said chain activates said chain and wherein trigger inputs to subsequent domino circuits of said chain are inactive.

13. The circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein said trigger input to one of said stages activates said ring to oscillate and wherein said trigger input to other stages of said ring are inactive.

14. The circuit as recited in claim 1 further comprising a pulse generator coupled to one said stage of said ring for providing said trigger thereto and wherein, upon said stage comprising a ready to evaluate state and said logic input present at said signal input, said oscillation commences with said trigger.

15. The circuit as recited in claim 14 wherein said pulse generator comprises a plurality of stacked inverters.

16. A system for determining the relative strength of N-type and P-type devices of a circuit, said system comprising:

an oscillator having N-type components and P-type components and generating an output, the frequency of which comprises characteristics generated by said N-type components and said P-type components;

a detector coupled to said output for detecting said N-type and said P-type characteristic frequencies and generating a signal corresponding to said detecting;

a comparator coupled to said detector for comparing said N-type and said P-type characteristics based on said detector signals and generating a corresponding comparison signal; and

a determinator coupled to said comparator for determining said relative strength of said N-type and said P-type devices based on said comparison.

17. The system as recited in claim 16 wherein said oscillator comprises a dynamic ring circuit having a number of non-inverting stages.

18. The system as recited in claim 17 wherein said dynamic ring circuit comprises a plurality of non-inverting domino circuits.

19. The system as recited in claim 18 wherein each inverting domino circuit has a signal input, a trigger input, an input relating to a charge state clock, an input relating to a clocked cutoff, and an output inverter and wherein said dynamic ring circuit further comprises a plurality of non-inverting stages, each comprising a chain of said domino circuits wherein a first domino circuit of said chain receives a logic signal input and a single trigger input for said chain, wherein an output of each said domino circuit comprises an input to said signal input of a next domino circuit in said chain, wherein said plurality of said stages is configured as a non-inverting ring wherein an output of each stage comprises an input signal to a next stage and is fed back to clock an earlier stage to allow oscillation in said ring, wherein said domino circuits of said stages evaluate on the basis of said input, wherein, upon said oscillation traversing said ring to a last stage thereof, the charge state corresponding to said first stage has reset wherein said first stage is ready to evaluate upon the output of said last stage, said output of said last stage resulting from said last stage evaluating on the basis of said oscillation and wherein, prior to said oscillation traversing said ring to a stage that has evaluated on the basis of an input thereto that corresponds to propagation of said oscillation, the charge state corresponding to said stage that has evaluated has been reset to a ready to evaluate condition to further propagate said oscillation.

20. A method for determining relative strength of N-type and P-type devices of a circuit, said method comprising:

resolving a frequency of operation of said circuit into components respectively contributed by said N-type and said P-type components;

comparing said N-type components and said P-type components; and

based on said comparing, determining said relative strength of N-type and P-type devices.

21. The method as recited in claim 20 further comprising sampling said frequency.

22. The method as recited in claim 20 further comprising generating an output based on said determining.

23. An N-domino ring oscillator circuit, comprising:

a plurality of non-inverting N-footed domino circuits, each N-footed domino circuit having a signal input, a trigger input, a precharge clock input, a clocked cutoff input, and an output inverter;

a plurality of non-inverting stages, each stage comprising a chain of a number of said N-domino circuits coupled in series wherein the first N-domino circuit of said chain receives a logic signal input and a single trigger input for said chain, wherein an output of each said N-domino circuit comprises the input to said signal input of the next N-domino circuit in said chain; and

a non-inverting N-domino ring, comprising a plurality of said stages wherein an output of each stage comprises an input signal to the next stage and is fed back to clock an earlier stage to allow oscillation in said ring, wherein said N-domino circuits comprising said stages evaluate on the basis of said input, wherein, upon said oscillation traversing said ring to the last stage thereof, the precharge state of said first stage has reset wherein said first stage is ready to evaluate upon the output of said last stage, said output of said last stage resulting from said last stage evaluating on the basis of said oscillation.

24. The circuit as recited in claim 23 wherein, prior to said oscillation traversing said ring to a stage that has evaluated on the basis of an input thereto that corresponds to propagation of said oscillation, the precharge state of said stage that has evaluated has been reset to a ready to evaluate condition to further propagate said oscillation.

25. The circuit as recited in claim 24 wherein each of said N-domino circuits further comprises a latch, said latch comprising one or more of a half latch and a jamb latch.

26. The circuit as recited in claim 23 wherein said latch comprises a series of three or more active devices gated together in parallel and wherein said active devices are gated with an output of said inverter.

27. The circuit as recited in claim 23 wherein an output of each said chain comprises an output of a last N-domino circuit in said chain.

28. The circuit as recited in claim 23 wherein each of said precharge clock and said clocked cutoff inputs are made in parallel to each N-domino circuit of said chain.

29. The circuit as recited in claim 23 wherein said trigger input to the first N-domino circuit in said chain activates said chain and wherein trigger inputs to the subsequent N-domino circuits of said chain are inactive.

30. The circuit as recited in claim 23 wherein said trigger input of one of said stages activates said ring to oscillate and wherein said trigger input of the other stages of said ring are inactive.

31. A self-untriggered N-domino ring component in an oscillating circuit, said self-untriggered N-domino ring component comprising:

a plurality of non-inverting N-footed domino circuits, each N-footed domino circuit having a signal input, a trigger input, a precharge clock input, a clocked cutoff input, and an output inverter;

a plurality of non-inverting stages, each stage comprising a chain of a number of said N-domino circuits coupled in series wherein the first N-domino circuit of said chain receives a logic signal input and a single trigger input for said chain, wherein an output of each said N-domino circuit comprises the input to said signal input of the next N-domino circuit in said chain; and

a non-inverting and self-untriggered N-domino ring, comprising a plurality of said stages wherein an output of each stage comprises an input signal to the next stage and is fed back to clock an earlier stage to allow oscillation in said ring, wherein said N-domino circuits comprising said stages evaluate on the basis of said input.

32. The ring component as recited in claim 31 wherein, upon said oscillation traversing said ring to a last stage thereof, a precharge state of said first stage has reset wherein said first stage is ready to evaluate upon an output of said last stage, said output of said last stage resulting from said last stage evaluating on the basis of said oscillation.

33. The ring component as recited in claim 31 wherein, prior to said oscillation traversing said ring to a stage that has evaluated on the basis of an input thereto that corresponds to propagation of said oscillation, a precharge state of said stage that has evaluated has been reset to a ready to evaluate condition to further propagate said oscillation.

34. The ring component as recited in claim 31 wherein each of said N-domino circuits further comprises a latch, said latch comprising one or more of a half latch and a jamb latch.

35. The ring component as recited in claim 34 wherein said latch comprises a series of three or more active devices gated together in parallel and wherein said active devices are gated with an output of said inverter.

36. The ring component as recited in claim 35 wherein the output of each chain comprises an output of a last N-domino circuit in said chain.

37. The ring component as recited in claim 31 wherein each of said charge state clock and clocked cutoff inputs are made in parallel to each N-domino circuit of said chain.

38. The ring component as recited in claim 31 wherein said trigger input to the first N-domino circuit in said chain activates said chain and wherein the trigger inputs to the subsequent N-domino circuits of said chain are inactive.

39. The ring component as recited in claim 31 wherein said trigger input to one of said stages activates said ring to oscillate and wherein said trigger input to the other stages of said ring are inactive.

40. A P-domino ring oscillator circuit, comprising:

a plurality of non-inverting P-footed domino circuits, each P-footed domino circuit having a signal input, a trigger input, a pre-discharge clock input, a clocked cutoff input, and an output inverter;

a plurality of non-inverting stages, each stage comprising a chain of a number of said P-domino circuits coupled in series wherein the first P-domino circuit of said chain receives a logic signal input and a single trigger input for said chain, wherein an output of each said P-domino circuit comprises the input to said signal input of the next P-domino circuit in said chain; and

a non-inverting P-domino ring, comprising a plurality of said stages wherein an output of each stage comprises an input signal to the next stage and is fed back to clock an earlier stage to allow oscillation in said ring.

41. The circuit as recited in claim 40, wherein said P-domino circuits of said stages evaluate on the basis of said input, wherein, upon said oscillation traversing said ring to a last stage thereof, a pre-discharge state of said first stage has reset wherein said first stage is ready to evaluate upon an output of said last stage, said output of said last stage resulting from said last stage evaluating on the basis of said oscillation.

42. The circuit as recited in claim 40 wherein, prior to said oscillation traversing said ring to a stage that has evaluated on the basis of an input thereto that corresponds to propagation of said oscillation, a pre-discharge state of said stage that has evaluated has been reset to a ready to evaluate condition to further propagate said oscillation.

43. The circuit as recited in claim 42 wherein each of said P-domino circuits further comprises a latch, said latch comprising one or more of a half latch and a jamb latch.

44. The circuit as recited in claim 43 wherein said latch comprises a series of three or more active devices gated together in parallel and wherein said active devices are gated with an output of said inverter.

45. The circuit as recited in claim 40 wherein an output of each said chain comprises the output of the last P-domino circuit in said chain.

46. The circuit as recited in claim 40 wherein each of said pre-discharge clock and said cutoff clock inputs are made in parallel to each P-domino circuit of said chain.

47. The circuit as recited in claim 40 wherein said trigger input of a first P-domino circuit in said chain activates said chain and wherein trigger inputs of subsequent P-domino circuits of said chain are inactive.

48. The circuit as recited in claim 40 wherein said trigger input to one of said stages activates said ring to oscillate and wherein said trigger input of other stages of said ring are inactive.

49. The circuit as recited in claim 40, further comprising a pulse generator coupled to one said stage comprising said ring for providing said trigger thereto, wherein, upon said stage comprising a ready to evaluate state and said logic input present at said signal input, said oscillation commences with said trigger.

50. The circuit as recited in claim 49 wherein said pulse generator comprises a plurality of stacked inverters.

51. A dynamic ring circuit for oscillating at a low voltage, said dynamic ring circuit comprising:

a plurality of un-latched non-inverting domino circuits, each non-inverting domino circuit having a signal input, a trigger input, an input relating to a charge state clock, an input relating to a clocked cutoff, and an output inverter;

a plurality of non-inverting stages, each stage comprising of a number of said unlatched domino circuits coupled in series wherein the first unlatched domino circuit of said chain receives a logic signal input and a single trigger input for said chain, wherein an output of each said unlatched domino circuit comprises the input to said signal input of the next unlatched domino circuit in said chain; and

a non-inverting ring, comprising a plurality of said stages wherein an output of each stage comprises an input signal to the next stage and is fed back to clock an earlier stage to allow oscillation in said ring wherein said ring oscillates at said low voltage.

52. The circuit as recited in claim 51 wherein said unlatched domino circuits of said stages evaluate on the basis of said input.

53. The circuit as recited in claim 51 wherein, upon said oscillation traversing said ring to a last stage thereof, a charge state corresponding to said first stage has reset wherein said first stage is ready to evaluate upon an output of said last stage, said output of said last stage resulting from said last stage evaluating on the basis of said oscillation.

54. The circuit as recited in claim 51 wherein, prior to said oscillation traversing said ring to a stage that has evaluated on the basis of an input thereto that corresponds to propagation of said oscillation, a charge state corresponding to said stage that has evaluated has been reset to a ready to evaluate condition to further propagate said oscillation.

55. The circuit as recited in claim 51 wherein said unlatched domino circuits comprise unlatched N-domino circuits and wherein said charge state comprises a precharge condition of said unlatched N-domino circuits.

56. The circuit as recited in claim 51 wherein said unlatched domino circuits comprise unlatched P-domino circuits and wherein said charge state comprises a pre-discharge condition of said unlatched P-domino circuits.

57. The circuit as recited in claim 51 wherein an output of each chain comprises an output of a last unlatched domino circuit in said chain.

58. The circuit as recited in claim 51 wherein each of said charge state clock and cutoff clock inputs are made in parallel to each unlatched domino circuit of said chain.

59. The circuit as recited in claim 51 wherein said trigger input to a first domino circuit in said chain activates said chain and wherein trigger inputs to the subsequent domino circuits of said chain are inactive.

60. The circuit as recited in claim 51 wherein said trigger input to one of said stages activates said ring to oscillate and wherein said trigger input to other stages of said ring are inactive.

61. The circuit as recited in claim 51 further comprising a pulse generator coupled to one said stage comprising said ring for providing said trigger thereto, wherein, upon said stage comprising a ready to evaluate state and said logic input present at said signal input, said oscillation commences with said trigger.

62. The circuit as recited in claim 61 wherein said pulse generator comprises a plurality of stacked inverters.

63. A half latch jamb component for a domino circuit, said half latch jamb component comprising:

a first transistor coupled to a supply voltage for said domino circuit;

a second transistor coupled in series to said first transistor; and

a third transistor coupled in series to said second transistor and to an input of an inverter, wherein said inverter comprises an output stage of said domino circuit and wherein said first, second and third transistors are gated together in parallel by an output of said inverter.

64. The circuit component as recited in claim 63 wherein said transistors comprise N-type devices.

65. The circuit component as recited in claim 63 wherein said transistors comprise P-type devices.

66. The circuit component as recited in claim 63 wherein said transistors comprise active field effect transistor devices.