Method and apparatus for power supply aware memory access operations in an integrated circuit
First Claim
1. An integrated circuit comprising:
- a power supply rail that conveys a power supply voltage;
a storage circuit that performs memory access operations using the power supply voltage from the power supply rail;
a control circuit that controls the memory access operations performed by the storage circuit based at least in part on a comparison between the power supply voltage conveyed by the power supply rail and a nominal voltage; and
a reference voltage generator coupled to the control circuit that generates the nominal voltage and provides the nominal voltage to the control circuit, wherein the nominal voltage is the targeted operating voltage of the power supply rail.
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Accused Products
Abstract
On-die variability noise or other variations in the power supply voltage to a storage circuit may cause the ability to perform memory access operations to be marginal. A control circuit may be coupled to the storage circuit and the power distribution network and monitor the actual power supply voltage. The control circuit may include a reference voltage generator that generates a nominal voltage. The control circuit may further include a comparator that generates a status signal based on a comparison between the actual power supply voltage and a nominal voltage. Based on the status signal, the control circuit may control memory access operations performed by the storage circuit. For example, the control circuit may enable and disable the execution of read and write operations on the storage circuit. If desired, the control circuit may also control the operation of predetermined portions of the integrated circuit.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An integrated circuit comprising:
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a power supply rail that conveys a power supply voltage; a storage circuit that performs memory access operations using the power supply voltage from the power supply rail; a control circuit that controls the memory access operations performed by the storage circuit based at least in part on a comparison between the power supply voltage conveyed by the power supply rail and a nominal voltage; and a reference voltage generator coupled to the control circuit that generates the nominal voltage and provides the nominal voltage to the control circuit, wherein the nominal voltage is the targeted operating voltage of the power supply rail. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for operating an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
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receiving a power supply voltage from an external power regulator; with a power supply network, distributing the received power supply voltage; with a storage circuit operated by the power supply voltage, initiating a memory access operation; with a control circuit, monitoring variations of the power supply voltage; with the control circuit, controlling the memory access operation based at least in part on the monitored power supply voltage variations; with the control circuit, comparing an actual voltage of the power supply voltage to a nominal voltage to determine whether the actual voltage is within a predetermined range from the nominal voltage; and with the control circuit, outputting a status signal to the external power regulator, wherein the status signal indicates whether the actual voltage is within the predetermined range from the nominal voltage. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for operating an integrated circuit including circuitry, the method comprising:
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operating the circuitry at an actual voltage level; with a reference voltage generator, generating a reference voltage level; with a comparator, comparing the actual voltage level to the reference voltage level to generate a comparator output signal; and with a control circuit, pausing the operation of the circuitry based at least in part on the comparator output signal. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. An integrated circuit comprising:
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a power supply rail that conveys a power supply voltage; a memory circuit that executes a read operation using the power supply voltage from the power supply rail; a reference voltage generator that generates a nominal voltage; a comparator that receives the power supply voltage from the power supply rail and the nominal voltage from the reference voltage generator, wherein the comparator compares the power supply voltage and the nominal voltage and provides a status signal that indicates whether the power supply voltage is within a predetermined range of the nominal voltage; and an enable circuit coupled to the comparator and the memory circuit, wherein the enable circuit receives the status signal from the comparator and disables the read operation of the memory circuit when the received status signal indicates that the power supply voltage conveyed by the power supply rail is outside the predetermined range of the nominal voltage.
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Specification