Programmable microcontroller architecture(mixed analog/digital)
DCFirst Claim
1. A circuit comprising:
- a plurality of circuit blocks, wherein at least one of the circuit blocks is an analog circuit block and at least one of the circuit blocks is a digital circuit block;
a bus coupling analog input/output data and digital input/output data for the plurality circuit blocks; and
a clock controlling the coupling of the analog input/output data and the digital input output data to the bus.
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Abstract
A microcontroller with analog/digital Programmable System On-a-Chip (PSoC) architecture including multiple digital PSoC blocks and multiple analog PSoC blocks in a communication array having a programmable interconnect structure. The single chip design is implemented by integration of programmable digital and analog circuit blocks that are able to communicate with each other. Robust analog and digital blocks that are flash memory programmable can be utilized to realize complex design applications that otherwise would require multiple chips and/or separate applications. The PSoC architecture includes a novel array having programmable digital blocks that can communicate with programmable analog blocks using a programmable interconnect structure. The programmable analog array contains a complement of Continuous Time (CT) blocks and a complement of Switched Capacitor (SC) blocks that can communicate together. The analog blocks consist of multi-function circuits programmable for one or more different analog functions, and fixed function circuits programmable for a fixed function with variable parameters. The digital blocks include standard multi-function circuits and enhanced circuits having functions not included in the standard digital circuits. The PSoC array is programmed by flash memory and programming allows dynamic reconfiguration. That is, “on-the-fly” reconfiguration of the PSoC blocks is allowed. The programmable analog array with both Continuous Time analog blocks and Switched Capacitor analog blocks are offered on a single chip along with programmable digital blocks. The programmable interconnect structure provides for communication of input/output data between all analog and digital blocks.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A circuit comprising:
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a plurality of circuit blocks, wherein at least one of the circuit blocks is an analog circuit block and at least one of the circuit blocks is a digital circuit block; a bus coupling analog input/output data and digital input/output data for the plurality circuit blocks; and a clock controlling the coupling of the analog input/output data and the digital input output data to the bus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A microcontroller comprising:
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a plurality of programmable analog circuit blocks; a plurality of programmable digital circuit blocks; a programmable interconnect coupling the analog circuit blocks and the digital circuit blocks; and a bus coupling analog input/output data and digital input/output data for the analog circuit blocks and the digital circuit block. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of providing a dynamically programmable analog/digital communication interface circuit, comprising:
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configuring a plurality of programmable analog circuit blocks to implement at least one of a plurality of analog functions, configuring a plurality of programmable digital circuit blocks to implement at least one of a plurality of digital functions; and configuring a routing matrix to couple analog data and digital data between the programmable analog circuit blocks and the programmable digital circuit blocks. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification