Timing Guard Circuit for PVT-Aware Slack Violation Response
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital circuits face challenges in effectively monitoring and controlling timing violations due to variations in PVT-RC conditions, leading to inefficient operation and potential loss of functionality.
Innovation Solution
A circuit with first and second timing guard circuits that detect slack times below different thresholds, triggering adjustments in supply voltage and frequency to prevent timing violations, utilizing a timing response circuit and protection circuit to manage these adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If in-situ timing monitors are equipped in digital circuits to detect timing violations, then timing violation detection accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit is divided into multiple segments, each with its own timing monitor that detects timing violations locally. This segmentation allows distributed monitoring without requiring a single complex centralized monitor, thereby improving detection accuracy while managing overall circuit complexity through modular organization.
2Reliability
If timing monitors continuously monitor all data paths, then timing violation detection reliability is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuously monitoring all data paths, the system performs partial monitoring by checking timing violations only when necessary or at selected critical paths. This partial action approach maintains sufficient detection reliability while significantly reducing the energy consumption associated with continuous full-circuit monitoring.
3Stability of the object's composition
If timing monitors are added to detect PVT-RC variations, then operational stability is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The timing monitors are designed to automatically detect and respond to PVT-RC variations without requiring external calibration or adjustment mechanisms. This self-service capability allows the circuit to maintain operational stability under varying conditions while avoiding the additional manufacturing complexity and cost that would arise from requiring external tuning components or procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a circuit comprising a first and a second timing guard circuit configured to assert first and second alarm flags respectively when it is detected that a slack time of a first and second data signal arriving at a first synchronous device of the first or second timing guard circuit falls below a first threshold or below a second threshold different from the first threshold; and a first flag collector circuit comprising: a first asynchronous detection device configured to assert a first output signal at a first flag output of the first flag collector circuit when the first alarm flag is asserted; and a second asynchronous detection device configured to assert the first output signal at the first flag output when the second alarm flag is asserted.