Configuration context switcher with a clocked storage element
First Claim
1. An integrated circuit (“
- IC”
) comprising;
a configurable circuit for configurably performing one of a plurality of operations based on configuration data;
a plurality of storage circuits for storing a plurality of configuration data sets for the configurable circuit; and
an interconnect circuit for switchably connecting the configurable circuit to different sets of storage circuits to receive different configuration data sets, said interconnect circuit comprising a set of clocked storage circuits for temporarily storing the configuration data sets, wherein at least one clocked storage circuit comprises a storage cell for storing configuration data, wherein the clocked storage circuit receives a clock signal that enables the storage cell to store and receive configuration data, the clock signal having a first state and a second state, wherein (i) during the first state, the clock signal enables the storage cell to receive configuration data that the clocked storage circuit receives, and (ii) during the second state, the storage cell stores the configuration data received while the clock signal was in the first state.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Some embodiments provide an IC with configuration context switchers. The IC includes several configurable circuits, each of which configurably performs one of several operations at any given time, based on the configuration data set that it receives at that time. The IC includes several storage circuits for storing several configuration data sets for each of the configurable circuits. The IC also includes a context switching interconnect circuit for switchably connecting the configurable circuit to different sets of storage circuits to receive different sets of configuration data sets. The context switcher includes one or more stages for re-timing the data coming from the configuration storage elements. The stages can include interconnect circuitry or storage circuitry. Some embodiments build one of the stages in the configuration data storage elements. Some embodiments encode the configuration data bits and hence utilize a decoder in the context switcher to decode the encoded configuration data.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An integrated circuit (“
- IC”
) comprising;a configurable circuit for configurably performing one of a plurality of operations based on configuration data; a plurality of storage circuits for storing a plurality of configuration data sets for the configurable circuit; and an interconnect circuit for switchably connecting the configurable circuit to different sets of storage circuits to receive different configuration data sets, said interconnect circuit comprising a set of clocked storage circuits for temporarily storing the configuration data sets, wherein at least one clocked storage circuit comprises a storage cell for storing configuration data, wherein the clocked storage circuit receives a clock signal that enables the storage cell to store and receive configuration data, the clock signal having a first state and a second state, wherein (i) during the first state, the clock signal enables the storage cell to receive configuration data that the clocked storage circuit receives, and (ii) during the second state, the storage cell stores the configuration data received while the clock signal was in the first state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
- IC”
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14. An integrated circuit (“
- IC”
) comprising;a configurable circuit for configurably performing one of a plurality of operations based on configuration data; a plurality of storage circuits for storing a plurality of configuration data sets for the configurable circuit; and an interconnect circuit for switchably connecting the configurable circuit to different sets of storage circuits to receive different configuration data sets, said interconnect circuit comprising a set of clocked storage circuits for temporarily storing configuration data sets, wherein the set of clocked storage circuits is further (i) for receiving different configuration data sets from different sets of configuration storage circuits at different instances in time and (ii) for temporarily storing each received particular configuration data set before providing the received particular configuration data set to the configurable circuit, wherein the set of clocked storage circuits comprises a first set of master clocked storage circuits and a second set of slave clocked storage circuits, said first set of master clocked storage circuits for receiving different configuration data sets from different sets of configuration storage circuits at different instances in time, and for temporarily storing each received particular configuration data set before providing the received particular configuration data set to the second set of slave clocked storage circuits, said second set of slave clocked storage circuits for receiving different configuration data sets from the first set of master clocked storage circuits at different instances in time, and for providing each received particular configuration data set to the configurable circuit.
- IC”
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15. An integrated circuit (“
- IC”
) comprising;a configurable circuit for configurably performing one of a plurality of operations based on configuration data; a plurality of storage circuits for storing a plurality of configuration data sets for the configurable circuit; and an interconnect circuit for switchably connecting the configurable circuit to different sets of storage circuits to receive different configuration data sets, said interconnect circuit comprising a set of clocked storage circuits for temporarily storing configuration data sets, wherein at least one clocked storage circuit comprises a storage cell for storing configuration data, wherein the clocked storage circuit receives a clock signal that enables the storage cell to store the received configuration data, wherein the storage cell comprises cross coupled inverters that store values on two complementary storage nodes, wherein the clocked storage circuit further comprises disabling circuitry for temporarily disabling the cross coupled inverters for writing data to the two complementary storage nodes, wherein after configuration data is written to the two complementary storage nodes, the two cross coupled inverters are enabled to maintain the configuration data written to the two complementary storage nodes.
- IC”
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16. An integrated circuit (“
- IC”
) comprising;a configurable circuit for configurably performing one of a plurality of operations based on configuration data; a plurality of storage circuits for storing a plurality of configuration data sets for the configurable circuit; and an interconnect circuit for switchably connecting the configurable circuit to different sets of storage circuits to receive different configuration data sets, said interconnect circuit comprising a set of clocked storage circuits for temporarily storing configuration data sets, wherein at least one clocked storage circuit comprises a storage cell for storing configuration data, wherein the clocked storage circuit receives a clock signal that enables the storage cell to store the received configuration data, wherein the clock signal enables at least one transistor that connects the storage cell to a power source. - View Dependent Claims (17)
- IC”
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18. An integrated circuit (“
- IC”
) comprising;a configurable circuit for configurably performing one of a plurality of operations based on configuration data; a plurality of storage circuits for storing a plurality of configuration data sets for the configurable circuit; and an interconnect circuit for switchably connecting the configurable circuit to different sets of storage circuits to receive different configuration data sets, said interconnect circuit comprising a set of pulsed storage circuits for temporarily storing configuration data sets, wherein at least one pulsed storage circuit comprises a storage cell for storing configuration data, wherein the pulsed storage circuit receives a pulse signal that enables the storage cell to store and receive configuration data, the pulse signal having a first state and a second state, wherein (i) during the first state, the pulse signal enables the storage cell to receive configuration data that the pulsed storage circuit receives, and (ii) during the second state, the storage cell stores the configuration data received while the pulse signal was in the first state. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
- IC”
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21. An electronic device comprising:
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an integrated circuit (“
IC”
) comprising;a configurable circuit for configurably performing one of a plurality of operations based on configuration data; a plurality of storage circuits for storing a plurality of configuration data sets for the configurable circuit; and an interconnect circuit for switchably connecting the configurable circuit to different sets of storage circuits to receive different configuration data sets, said interconnect circuit comprising a set of clocked storage circuits for temporarily storing configuration data sets, wherein at least one clocked storage circuit comprises a storage cell for storing configuration data, wherein the clocked storage circuit receives a clock signal that enables the storage cell to store and receive configuration data, the clock signal having a first state and a second state, wherein (i) during the first state, the clock signal enables the storage cell to receive configuration data that the clocked storage circuit receives, and (ii) during the second state, the storage cell stores the configuration data received while the clock signal was in the first state.
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Specification