G06F2117/04

Integrated circuit including standard cells, method of manufacturing the integrated circuit, and computing system for performing the method

An integrated circuit includes a standard cell including a first output pin and a second output pin configured to each output the same output signal, a first routing path connected to the first output pin, and a second routing path connected to the second output pin. The first routing path includes a first cell group including at least one load cell, the second routing path includes a second cell group including at least one load cell, and the first routing path and the second routing path are electrically disconnected from each other outside the standard cell.

Unified approach for improved testing of low power designs with clock gating cells

An apparatus includes a core logic circuit, one or more integrated clock-gating (ICG) cells, and one or more ICG control cells (ICCs). The core logic circuit generally comprises a plurality of flip-flops. The plurality of flip-flops may be connected to form one or more scan chains. Each of the one or more integrated clock-gating (ICG) cells may be configured to gate a clock signal of a respective one of the one or more scan chains. Each of the one or more ICG control cells may be configured to control a respective one or more of the one or more ICG cells.

METHOD FOR MODELING POWER CONSUMPTION OF AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT AND POWER CONSUMPTION MODELING SYSTEM PERFORMING THE SAME
20230010159 · 2023-01-12 ·

Example embodiments relate to a method for modeling power consumption of an integrated circuit, the method may comprise, determining, by the processor, a hierarchy structure regarding a gating level according to a clock flow of a plurality of clock gating cells included in the integrated circuit, determining, by the processor, a first clock gating domain corresponding to a first clock gating cell and a second clock gating domain corresponding to a second clock gating cell located in a lower level of the hierarchy of the first clock gating cell based on the hierarchy structure, calculating, by the processor, power consumption of the second clock gating domain based on a first logic level of a first clock gating enable signal applied to the first clock gating cell, and modeling, by the processor, power consumption of the integrated circuit based on the power consumption of the second clock gating domain.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING CLOCK SIGNAL
20220405456 · 2022-12-22 ·

An integrated circuit includes a clocking transistor, a first enabling transistor, a second enabling transistor, a branch-one transistor, a branch-two transistor, and a clock gating circuit. The first enabling transistor is coupled between the clocking transistor and a first node. The second enabling transistor is coupled between the clocking transistor and a second node. The branch-one transistor is coupled between a first power supply and the first node. The gate terminal of the branch-one transistor is electrically connected to the second node. The branch-two transistor is coupled between the first power supply and the second node. The gate terminal of the branch-two transistor is electrically connected to the first node. The clock gating circuit for generating a gated clock signal receives a latch output signal which is latched to a logic level of either a first node signal or a second node signal.

Field programmable gate array with external phase-locked loop
11502694 · 2022-11-15 · ·

The present invention relates to a field programmable gate array system that provides phase control with minimal latency.

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MONITORING CLOCK DUTY CYCLES
20220358272 · 2022-11-10 ·

An improved system for monitoring clock duty cycles, comprising: a first monitoring circuit configured to record a first quantity of high levels of the monitored clock signal sampled by a first random clock signal; a second monitoring circuit configured to record a second quantity of high levels of the monitored clock signal sampled by a second random clock signal, wherein the phase of the second random clock is adjusted by a second adjustment degree based on a first clock; a third monitoring circuit configured to record a third quantity of high levels of the monitored clock signal sampled by a third random clock signal, wherein the phase of the third random clock is the reverse of that of the first random clock; and a calculation module configured to determine a duty cycle of the monitored clock based on the first quantity, the second quantity, and the third quantity.

Field programmable gate array with external phase-locked loop
11575381 · 2023-02-07 · ·

The present invention relates to a field programmable gate array system that provides phase control with minimal latency.

METHODS AND APPARATUS TO SIMULATE METASTABILITY FOR CIRCUIT DESIGN VERIFICATION
20230088503 · 2023-03-23 ·

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to simulate metastability for circuit design verification. An example apparatus includes an input handler to receive circuit design data indicative of a circuit design, a circuit modeler to generate a simulation model based on the circuit design data, a simulator to simulate operation of the circuit design based on the simulation model, a metastability injector to insert metastability logic into the simulation model during the simulation, and a metastability controller to control the metastability logic during the simulation.

SEMICONDUCTOR CIRCUIT AND SUPPORT DEVICE FOR LOGIC CIRCUIT DESIGN

A semiconductor circuit device includes a first clock gating circuit that outputs a first gated clock signal generated from a clock signal and a first enable signal, a non-volatile first flip-flop that operates in response to a clock pulse of the first gated clock signal, an acquisition circuit that acquires data inputted from the first flip-flop according to a second enable signal that enables or disables the acquisition of the data from the first flip-flop, and a power gating circuit that supplies electric power to the first flip-flop and receives the first and second enable signals as power source control signals. The power gating circuit includes a power switch, and supplies the electric power to the first flip-flop by turning ON the power switch when the power source control signals have logical values that enable the clock signal or the acquisition of the data in the acquisition circuit.

STIMULI-INDEPENDENT CLOCK GATING DETERMINATION
20230110425 · 2023-04-13 ·

A method includes receiving a circuit design, identifying sequential elements and corresponding clocks in the circuit design, and identifying sequential elements that are not clock gated in the circuit design by running a first formal verification process on the circuit design. The method further includes modifying the circuit design to add clock gating for at least one sequential element that was identified as not being clock gated to generate a first modified circuit design.