Bus Sharing Scheme Using Transmission Gates for GPIO Pads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing analog circuits require numerous lines for interconnections, leading to significant device space consumption due to the one-to-one correspondence between bus lines and General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) ports.
Innovation Solution
The use of transmission gates to selectively connect GPIO pads to a shared bus line, allowing alternating connections and dynamic configuration, thereby reducing the number of required bus lines and optimizing real estate usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If one bus line is allocated for each GPIO port, then each port has dedicated connection, but device space consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple GPIO ports share a common bus line through transmission gates, merging previously separate dedicated connections into a shared resource that reduces overall device space consumption while maintaining functional independence through selective activation
Solution Approach 2:
A single bus line serves multiple GPIO ports by being selectively connected to different ports through transmission gates, making the bus line universal and multi-functional rather than dedicated to a single port
2Area of stationary object
If transmission gates are used to share bus lines, then device space is reduced, but circuit complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit uses dynamically controllable transmission gates that can selectively connect different GPIO ports to the shared bus line based on operational requirements, providing flexibility and adaptability that justifies the added complexity through improved space utilization and functional versatility
Data Source
AI summary
A programmable device, having an analog component coupled with an analog bus and a digital component coupled with a digital bus together with a set of 10 pads, each of which capable of being coupled to a bus line of one segment of the analog bus as well as to at least one digital bus line, and where the analog bus is capable of being used to connect a pair of the pads to each other.