Analog Sensor Integration in Digital Blocks Under Variable Supply
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Solution Overview
Problem
Integrated circuits (ICs) face challenges in balancing performance, power consumption, and thermal output due to increased transistor density, which affects the accuracy and performance of sensors using analog power supplies, particularly when subjected to varying digital power supply voltages.
Innovation Solution
Integrating an analog sensor circuit within a digital functional circuit block using digital power supplies, specifically ring oscillators, and employing level shifters to provide a fixed or limited range supply voltage for sensors, ensuring accurate measurement of local operating properties like voltage, temperature, and current.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If digital power supplies are used for analog sensor circuits, then device complexity is reduced and integration is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to voltage variations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the power supply system into separate domains: a stable analog power supply for sensor circuits and digital power supplies for digital logic. This segmentation allows each domain to have optimized power characteristics, with the analog domain maintaining stability for precise measurements while the digital domain operates with higher switching activity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces level shifters as intermediary components between the analog sensor circuits and digital logic blocks. These level shifters translate voltage levels while maintaining signal integrity, allowing the sensor circuits to operate from a stable analog supply while interfacing with digital circuits powered by switching digital supplies.
2Productivity
If transistor density is increased, then productivity is improved, but thermal output increases and supply voltage decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing different power supply characteristics to different regions of the integrated circuit. High-density digital blocks receive power optimized for switching performance, while sensor circuits in thermal-sensitive regions receive power from supplies specifically designed to maintain stability despite overall chip temperature increases.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where sensor circuits continuously monitor voltage and temperature conditions, and this information is used to adjust operating parameters. This feedback loop allows the system to adapt to thermal effects of high transistor density, maintaining performance and reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A circuit for sensing local operating properties of an integrated circuit is disclosed. The circuit may include one or more sensor circuits configured to sense the local operating properties of the integrated circuit. The sensor circuits may receive a supply voltage with a magnitude in a limited range from a digital power supply that is different from the digital power supply that provides power to functional circuits in the integrated circuit. Level shifters may be coupled to the sensor circuits to shift output signals from the sensor circuits to levels that correspond to the digital power supply that provides power to functional circuits in the integrated circuit. Counters and a shift register may be coupled to the level shifters to receive the shifted output signals, the values of which may be used to determine the local operating properties of the integrated circuit as sensed by the sensor circuits.