Isolation selector and related electronic device
By integrating the isolation unit and signal selection logic in the digital unit circuit, an isolation selector is designed, which solves the problem of low isolation integration of signal paths across different power supply areas in the prior art, and realizes the efficiency, power and area of the system. Optimization.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202310971410.X
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-08-03
- Publication Date
- 2025-02-14
AI Technical Summary
The prior art realizes signal path isolation across different power supply areas, low degree of integration leads to increased system complexity and difficult to avoid side effects.
An isolation selector is designed to integrate the isolation unit and the logic circuit of the signal selection mechanism into a digital unit circuit, select the appropriate data output through the control signal, and set the isolation data to a fixed value if necessary to avoid interference.
Efficient control of signal path isolation between different power supply areas is achieved, reducing overall design complexity and improving the optimization of system performance, power and area.
Smart Images
Figure CN119449006A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The invention relates to digital circuits, and in particular to an isolation selector and related electronic devices. Background Art
[0002] Multiple power domains in an electronic device can be selectively turned on or off (for example, multiple sub-circuits in the electronic device can be selectively powered on or off). Therefore, when a signal path crosses different power domains, the output of the signal path should be properly controlled to prevent the output of the signal path from interfering with other signal paths. For example, when the power of the circuit in the signal path is turned off, the output of the signal path becomes unpredictable due to non-ideal effects such as leakage, and such unpredictable signals may interfere with other normally operating signal paths.
[0003] The prior art can design corresponding control logic to solve the above problems, however, the prior art architecture has low integration, and the implementation of the circuit and the control process also increase the complexity of the overall system. Therefore, a novel architecture is needed to implement an isolation mechanism for signal paths across different power supply areas without side effects or with less side effects. Summary of the invention
[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide an isolation selector and related electronic devices to optimize performance-power-area (PPA) when the overall system has multiple power supply areas.
[0005] At least one embodiment of the present invention provides an isolation selector, wherein the isolation selector is coupled to a first functional circuit and a second functional circuit, and the first functional circuit and the second functional circuit output first data and second data respectively. The isolation selector includes at least one isolation element, wherein the at least one isolation element is used to receive the first data and generate isolation data according to a control signal and the first data. In addition, the isolation selector is used to select one of the first data and the second data according to the control signal to output as the output data of the isolation selector, and when the isolation selector selects to output the second data as the output data according to the control signal, the at least one isolation unit sets the isolation data to a fixed value according to the control signal to prevent the operation of the first functional circuit from interfering with the output data of the isolation selector.
[0006] At least one embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes a first functional circuit, a second functional circuit, a controller and an isolation selector, wherein the isolation selector is coupled to the controller, the first functional circuit and the second functional circuit. The first functional circuit is used to output the first data, and the second functional circuit is used to output the second data, wherein the controller is used to generate a control signal. In addition, the isolation selector is used to select one of the first data and the second data as the output data of the isolation selector according to the control signal. The isolation selector includes at least one isolation unit, wherein the at least one isolation unit is coupled to the first functional circuit, and is used to receive the first data and generate isolation data according to the control signal and the first data. When the isolation selector selects to output the second data as the output data according to the control signal, the at least one isolation unit sets the isolation data to a fixed value according to the control signal to prevent the operation of the first functional circuit from interfering with the output data of the isolation selector.
[0007] The present invention integrates the isolation unit and the logic circuit for signal selection mechanism into a digital unit circuit (such as the above-mentioned isolation selector), so as to allow the above-mentioned isolation selector to properly control the signal path when the signal path crosses different power supply areas without significantly increasing the complexity of the overall design. Compared with the prior art, the isolation selector of the present invention has higher integration, so that the number of related windings and logic gates can be effectively simplified, thereby achieving the optimization of the performance, power and area of the overall system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0009] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention;
[0010] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an isolation selector according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0011] Figure 4 According to an embodiment of the present invention Figure 3 Relevant details of the isolation selector are shown;
[0012] Figure 5 FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an isolation selector according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[0013] Description of reference numerals:
[0014] 10, 20: electronic device 100: integrated control circuit 110, 120: functional circuit
[0015] 130: Multiplexer control circuit 140: Isolation control circuit 150: Isolation and gate
[0016] 160: Multiplexer 210: Isolation and gate 200, 200', 200": Isolation multiplexer
[0017] 220: Multiplexer 223, 233: OR gate 221, 222, 231, 232: AND gate
[0018] V ISO , SEL, SEL COMBO : Control signal
[0019] D IN0 , D IN1 , D OUT , D ISO , D OUT0 , D OUT1 :data DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0020] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 As shown, the electronic device 10 may include functional circuits 110 and 120, a multiplexer control circuit 130, an isolation control circuit 140, at least one isolation element such as an isolated AND gate 150, and a selector such as a multiplexer 160. In this embodiment, the above elements may be divided into a plurality of power supply areas according to their respective power supplies. For example, in some cases, the power supply (not shown) of the functional circuit 110 may stop providing power to the functional circuit 110, while the power supplies (not shown) of the functional circuit 120, the multiplexer control circuit 130, the isolation control circuit 140, the isolation and gate 150, and the multiplexer 160 may continue to provide power to the functional circuit 120, the multiplexer control circuit 130, the isolation control circuit 140, the isolation and gate 150, and the multiplexer 160, wherein the functional circuit 110 can be regarded as belonging to a power-off domain, and the functional circuit 120, the multiplexer control circuit 130, the isolation control circuit 140, the isolation and gate 150, and the multiplexer 160 can be regarded as belonging to an always-on domain.
[0021] In this embodiment, the multiplexer 160 can receive the data D output from the functional circuit 110 according to the control signal SEL generated by the multiplexer control circuit 130. IN0 and the data D output by the functional circuit 120 IN1One of the outputs is selected as the output data D of the multiplexer 160 OUT When the power of the functional circuit 110 is turned on and the data D output by the functional circuit 110 is IN0 When it needs to be transmitted to the back end, the isolation control circuit 140 can set the control signal V ISO The logic value of D is set to logic value "1" so that the isolation gate 150 can IN0 transmitted to the first input terminal of the multiplexer 160 (at Figure 1 The multiplexer 160 can be controlled by its control terminal (in Figure 1 The logic value of the control signal SEL received by the first input terminal (denoted as “S” for simplicity) selects the data received by the first input terminal (eg, the data D output by the functional circuit 110). IN0 ) through its output terminals (at Figure 1 The output is marked as "O" for simplicity) OUT When the data D output by the functional circuit 120 is IN1 When the data needs to be transmitted to the back end, the multiplexer 160 can select the data received by the second input terminal (eg, the data D output by the functional circuit 120) according to the logic value of the control signal SEL. IN1 ) is output as output data D OUT , wherein the isolation control circuit 140 can set the control signal V ISO The logic value of the functional circuit 110 is set to a fixed value (such as a logic value of "0") so that the isolation gate 150 outputs a fixed value (such as a logic value of "0"). Therefore, even if the power of the functional circuit 110 is turned off, the data D IN0 The value of becomes unpredictable, but the isolation gate 150 can transmit the fixed value to the first input terminal of the multiplexer 160 to avoid the data D IN0 Because leakage and other factors interfere with the output data D output by the multiplexer 160 OUT .
[0022] In some embodiments, the multiplexer 160 is implemented by one of a plurality of digital circuit cells stored in a digital circuit cell library such as a standard cell library, and the isolation gate 150 is additionally disposed between the multiplexer 160 and the isolation control circuit 140. Therefore, the electronic device 10 needs to use an additional wiring to connect the isolation control circuit 140 and the isolation gate 150 for transmitting a control signal V specifically used to control the isolation gate 150. ISO , and additional wiring is required to connect the isolation gate 150 and the multiplexer 160 for transmitting the output of the isolation gate 150.
[0023] Figure 2FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 20 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 As shown, the electronic device 20 may include functional circuits 110 and 120, and may further include a controller such as an integrated control circuit 100, and an isolation selector such as an isolation multiplexer 200, wherein the control terminal of the isolation multiplexer 200 (at Figure 2 ” for simplicity) is coupled to the integrated control circuit 100, isolating the first input terminal of the multiplexer 200 (at Figure 2 ” for simplicity) is coupled to the functional circuit 110 and the second input terminal of the isolation multiplexer 200 (in Figure 2 The functional circuit 110 is coupled to the functional circuit 120. In this embodiment, the functional circuit 110 can output data D IN0 To the first input terminal of the isolation multiplexer 200, the functional circuit 120 can output data D IN1 to the second input terminal of the isolation multiplexer 200, wherein the integrated control circuit 100 can be used to generate a control signal SEL COMBO To the control terminal of the isolation multiplexer 200.
[0024] In this embodiment, the isolation multiplexer 200 is used to generate a plurality of isolation multiplexers according to the control signal SEL. COMBO From data D IN0 And data D IN1 Select one of them through its output terminal (in Figure 2 The output is the output data D of the isolation multiplexer 200. OUT For example, the isolation multiplexer 200 can adapt the control signal SEL COMBO A first logic value selects the data D IN0 The output is the output data D of the isolation multiplexer 200. OUT For another example, the isolation multiplexer 200 can adapt the control signal SEL COMBO A second logic value selects the data D IN1 The output is the output data D of the isolation multiplexer 200. OUT The isolation multiplexer 200 may include at least one isolation unit, wherein the at least one isolation unit is coupled to the functional circuit 110 (eg, via a first input terminal of the isolation multiplexer 200 ) and is used to receive data D IN0 And according to the control signal SEL COMBO And data D IN0 In particular, when the isolation multiplexer 200 generates isolation data according to the control signal SEL COMBO (For example, the adaptation control signal SEL COMBO The second logic value) selects the data D IN1Output is output data D OUT When the at least one isolation unit can be controlled according to the control signal SEL COMBO (For example, the adaptation control signal SEL COMBO The second logic value of the isolation data is set to a fixed value to prevent the operation of the functional circuit 110 (for example, the functional circuit 110 is powered off and the data D IN0 has an unexpected value) interferes with the output data D of the isolation multiplexer 200 OUT In addition, when the isolation multiplexer 200 is controlled by the control signal SEL COMBO (For example, the adaptation control signal SEL COMBO The first logic value) selects the data D IN0 Output is output data D OUT When the at least one isolation unit can be controlled according to the control signal SEL COMBO (For example, the adaptation control signal SEL COMBO The first logic value of the data D IN0 The output is the isolation data, so that the isolation multiplexer 200 can transmit the data D to the isolation multiplexer 200 through the at least one isolation unit. IN0 Transmitted to the output terminal of the isolation multiplexer 200.
[0025] Compared to Figure 1 An embodiment of Figure 2 In the embodiment, the isolation element is integrated into the interior of the isolation multiplexer 200. In particular, all elements in the isolation multiplexer 200 (including the isolation element) are integrated into a digital unit circuit stored in a digital circuit unit library such as a standard unit library, so the wiring and control related to the isolation element can be effectively simplified. The implementation details of integrating the isolation element into the interior of the isolation multiplexer 200 will be described in the subsequent embodiments.
[0026] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an isolation multiplexer 200' according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the isolation multiplexer 200' may be Figure 2 An example of an isolation multiplexer 200 is shown. Figure 3 As shown, the isolation multiplexer 200' may include an isolation gate 210 and a selection circuit such as a multiplexer 220, wherein the isolation gate 210 may be an example of at least one isolation element mentioned above, and the data D output by the isolation gate 210 ISO can be an example of the above-mentioned isolated data. In this embodiment, the first input terminal of the multiplexer 220 (at Figure 3 The data D ISO , the second input terminal of the multiplexer 220 (at Figure 3 The data DIN1 , and the control terminal of the multiplexer 220 (at Figure 3 The control signal SEL COMBO , where the output terminal of the multiplexer 220 (at Figure 3 The output data D of the isolation multiplexer 200' can be outputted. OUT , wherein the multiplexer 220 can be used to control the control signal SEL COMBO From data D ISO And data D IN1 Select one of the outputs as the output data D of the isolation multiplexer 200 ′ OUT In particular, the isolation gate 210 is coupled to the multiplexer 220 and can be used to control the control signal SEL COMBO And data D IN0 An AND logic operation is performed to generate the isolation data of the at least one isolation element, such as data D ISO .
[0027] In this embodiment, when the power of the functional circuit 110 is turned on and the data D output by the functional circuit 110 is IN0 When it needs to be transmitted to the back end, the integrated control circuit 100 can set the control signal SEL COMBO The logic value of D is set to logic value "1" so that the isolation gate 210 can IN0 Sent to the multiplexer 220 (ie, D ISO =D IN0 ), and the multiplexer 220 can adapt to the control signal SEL COMBO The logical value (e.g., logical value "1") selects the data D ISO (ie data D IN0 ) is output as output data D OUT When the data D output by the functional circuit 120 is IN1 When it needs to be transmitted to the back end, the integrated control circuit 100 can set the control signal SEL COMBO The logic value of the control signal SEL is set to a logic value of "0" so that the multiplexer 220 adapts to the control signal SEL COMBO The logical value (e.g., logical value "0") selects the data D IN1 Output is output data D OUT , wherein the isolation gate 210 can adapt to the control signal SEL COMBO The logic value (eg, logic value “0”) of the functional circuit 110 is output as a fixed value (eg, logic value “0”). Therefore, even if the power of the functional circuit 110 is turned off, the data D IN0 The value of becomes unpredictable, but the isolation gate 150 can transmit the fixed value to the first input terminal of the multiplexer 220 to prevent the data D IN0Because leakage and other factors interfere with the output data D output by the multiplexer 220 OUT .
[0028] Figure 4 According to an embodiment of the present invention Figure 3 In the present embodiment, the multiplexer 220 may include a first AND gate such as an AND gate 221, a second AND gate such as an AND gate 222, and an OR gate 223, wherein the AND gate 221 is coupled to the at least one isolation element such as the isolation AND gate 210 to receive D ISO , and the gate 222 is coupled to the functional circuit 120 ( Figure 4 (not shown) to receive data D IN1 , and the OR gate 223 is coupled to the AND gates 221 and 222. In detail, the AND gate 221 is used to ISO and control signal SEL COMBO A first AND logic operation is performed to generate a first AND logic result such as data D OUT0 , and AND gate 222 is used to IN1 and control signal SEL COMBO A reverse signal (in Figure 4 A second AND logic operation is performed to generate a second AND logic result such as data D OUT1 , wherein the OR gate 223 is used to OUT0 And data D OUT1 An OR logic operation is performed to generate the output data D of the isolation multiplexer 200 ′. OUT .
[0029] It should be noted that, since the isolation AND gate 210 and the AND gate 221 use the same type of logic gate, the isolation AND gate 210 and the AND gate 221 can be further combined into one AND gate, such as Figure 5 shown.
[0030] Figure 5 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an isolation multiplexer 200 ″ according to another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the isolation multiplexer 200 ″ may be Figure 2 Another example of the isolation multiplexer 200 is shown. In this embodiment, the isolation multiplexer 200" may include AND gates 231 and 231, and an OR gate 233, wherein the OR gate 233 is coupled to the AND gates 231 and 231. In particular, the AND gate 231 may be an example of the at least one isolation element mentioned above, and is used to control the control signal SEL COMBO And data D IN0 A first AND logic operation is performed to generate a first AND logic result such as data D OUT0, where the data D generated by the AND gate 231 is OUT0 It can be regarded as an example of the above-mentioned isolation data. In addition, AND gate 232 is used to isolate data D IN1 and control signal SEL COMBO A reverse signal (in Figure 5 A second AND logic operation is performed to generate a second AND logic result such as data D OUT1 , wherein the OR gate is used to AND the data D generated by the gate 231 OUT0 The data D generated by the AND gate 232 OUT1 An OR logic operation is performed to generate the output data D of the isolation selector 200″ OUT .
[0031] It should be noted that although the above embodiment uses an AND gate as an example of an isolation element, the present invention is not limited thereto. As long as the at least one isolation element can adapt to the control signal SEL COMBO The specific logic value of the output is a fixed value, and this fixed value is not affected by the data D output by the functional circuit 110. IN0 The implementation of the at least one isolation element may be changed (for example, it may be implemented using other types of logic gates). In addition, as long as the logic gates used by the at least one isolation element are the same as the logic gates used by the first input terminal of the multiplexer 220, these logic gates may be configured as follows: Figure 5 The method shown is to merge.
[0032] In summary, the embodiment of the present invention combines the control signals required by the isolation element and the multiplexer into a single control signal (eg, the control signal SEL COMBO ), and the isolation element and the multiplexer are integrated into a single digital unit circuit, so that the complexity of the related windings is effectively reduced. In addition, by merging logic gates of the same type, the overall number of logic gates can be effectively reduced, thereby saving circuit area and signal transmission delay. Therefore, the isolation selector of the present invention (such as isolation multiplexers 200, 200' and 200") can effectively optimize the performance, power and area of the overall system.
[0033] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. All equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. An isolation selector, characterized in that: include: At least one isolation element, configured to receive first data and generate isolation data according to a control signal and the first data; The isolation selector is coupled to a first functional circuit and a second functional circuit, the first functional circuit and the second functional circuit output the first data and the second data respectively, the isolation selector is used to select one of the first data and the second data according to the control signal to output as the output data of the isolation selector, and when the isolation selector selects to output the second data as the output data according to the control signal, the at least one isolation unit sets the isolation data to a fixed value according to the control signal to prevent the operation of the first functional circuit from interfering with the output data of the isolation selector.
2. The isolation selector according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the isolation selector selects to output the first data as the output data according to the control signal, the at least one isolation unit outputs the first data as the isolation data according to the control signal, so that the at least one isolation unit of the isolation selector transmits the first data to an output terminal of the isolation selector.
3. The isolation selector according to claim 1, characterized in that: All elements in the isolation selector are integrated in a digital cell circuit among a plurality of digital circuit cells stored in a digital cell library.
4. The isolation selector according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: A selection circuit is used for selecting one of the isolated data and the second data according to the control signal and outputting it as the output data of the isolation selector.
5. The isolation selector according to claim 4, characterized in that: The at least one isolation element comprises: An AND gate is coupled to the selection circuit and is used for performing an AND logic operation on the control signal and the first data to generate the isolation data of the at least one isolation element.
6. The isolation selector according to claim 4, characterized in that: The selection circuit comprises: a first AND gate, coupled to the at least one isolation element, for performing a first AND logic operation on the isolation data and the control signal to generate a first AND logic result; a second AND gate, coupled to the second functional circuit, for performing a second AND logic operation on the second data and an inverted signal of the control signal to generate a second AND logic result; and An OR gate is coupled to the first AND gate and the second AND gate, and is used for performing an OR logic operation on the first AND logic result and the second AND logic result to generate the output data of the isolation selector.
7. The isolation selector according to claim 1, characterized in that: The at least one isolation element includes a first AND gate, the first AND gate is used to perform a first AND logic operation on the control signal and the first data to generate a first AND logic result as the isolation data, and the isolation selector also includes: a second AND gate, used for performing a second AND logic operation on the second data and an inverted signal of the control signal to generate a second AND logic result; and An OR gate is coupled to the first AND gate and the second AND gate, and is used for performing an OR logic operation on the first AND logic result and the second AND logic result to generate the output data of the isolation selector.
8. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: a first functional circuit, configured to output first data; a second functional circuit, configured to output second data; a controller for generating a control signal; as well as an isolation selector, coupled to the controller, the first functional circuit, and the second functional circuit, for selecting one of the first data and the second data to output as output data of the isolation selector according to the control signal, wherein the isolation selector comprises: at least one isolation unit, coupled to the first functional circuit, configured to receive the first data and generate isolation data according to the control signal and the first data; When the isolation selector selects to output the second data as the output data according to the control signal, the at least one isolation unit sets the isolation data to a fixed value according to the control signal to prevent the operation of the first functional circuit from interfering with the output data of the isolation selector.
9. The electronic device according to claim 8, characterized in that: When the isolation selector selects to output the first data as the output data according to the control signal, the at least one isolation unit outputs the first data as the isolation data according to the control signal, so that the isolation selector transmits the first data to an output terminal of the isolation selector through the at least one isolation unit.
10. The electronic device according to claim 8, characterized in that: All elements in the isolation selector are integrated into a digital cell circuit in a digital cell library.