Power-gating control and method
AssigneeWinbond Electronics Corp.
InventorYoung Tae Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A power-gating electronic system for synchronized power transitions, includes a power generation block including a plurality of cells, each cell including a cell enabling input; a circuit block including a plurality of circuits, each circuit including a circuit enabling input; and a power-gating controller including a plurality of gate signal outputs. In the power-gating electronic system, each gate signal output is coupled to one of the cell enabling inputs and one of the circuit enabling inputs.
Claims18
A power-gating electronic system, comprising:
- a power generation block including a plurality of cells, each cell including a cell enabling input;
- a circuit block including a plurality of circuits, each circuit including a circuit enabling input;
- and
- a power-gating controller including a plurality of gate signal outputs,
- wherein each gate signal output is coupled to one of the cell enabling inputs and one of the circuit enabling inputs, and
- the power-gating controller is configured to sequentially generate a plurality of gate signals based on a waiting time interval, each gate signal being provided on a distinct one of the plurality of gate signal outputs.
A power-gating controller, comprising:
- a memory device;
- a control unit;
- a plurality of gate signal outputs;
- a power-gating detector in communication with the control unit;
- and
- a demultiplexer coupled between the control unit and the plurality of gate signal outputs to route at least one of a plurality of gate signals to a selected one of the gate signal outputs,
- wherein the memory device stores instructions that, when executed by the control unit, cause the control unit to:
- determine a waiting time interval for gate signal output generation;
- and
- sequentially generate the plurality of gate signals based on the determined waiting time interval, each gate signal being provided on a distinct one of the plurality of gate signal outputs.
A method for operating a power-gating electronic system, the method comprising:
- determining a waiting time interval for gate signal generation;
- determining a number of circuits to enter a powered down mode;
- and
- sequentially generating a plurality of gate signals based on the determined waiting time interval, each gate signal being provided on a distinct one of a plurality of gate signal outputs of a power-gating controller,
- wherein each gate signal output is coupled to one cell enabling input of a cell in a power generation block and one circuit enabling input of a circuit in a circuit block.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.