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US 11,886,370 B2Granted
Sharing package pins in a multi-chip module (MCM)
AssigneesAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc., Ati Technologies Ulo
InventorsYulei Shen, Tyrone Tung Huang, Chen-Kuan Hong
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A semiconductor package includes multiple dies that share the same package pin. An output enable register provided on each die is used to select the die that drives an output to the shared pin. A hardware arbitration circuit ensures that two or more dies do not drive an output to the shared pin at the same time.
Claims20
A semiconductor die comprising:
- an output enable register;
- and
- logic configured to:
- drive a die identifier to arbitration circuitry based on determining that a value in the output enable register indicates that access to one or more shared package pins is granted to the die, wherein each bit of the die identifier is driven serially;
- assert, by the die, control over the one or more shared package pins in response to determining that the die has won arbitration based on each result bit broadcast by the arbitration circuitry in response to each bit of the die identifier.
2 more elements
A semiconductor package comprising:
- two or more dies coupled to a one or more shared package pins, each die of the two or more dies including:
- an output enable register;
- and
- logic configured to:
- drive a die identifier to arbitration circuitry based on determining that a value in the output enable register indicates that access to one or more shared package pins is granted to the die, wherein each bit of the die identifier is driven serially;
- and
- assert, by the die, control over the one or more shared package pins in response to determining that the die has won arbitration based on each result bit broadcast by the arbitration circuitry in response to each bit of the die identifier.
4 more elements
A method comprising:
- storing a first value in a first output enable register of a first die;
- driving a first die identifier of the first die to arbitration circuitry based on determining that the first value indicates that access to one or more shared package pins is granted to the first die, wherein each bit of the first die identifier is driven serially;
- and
- asserting, by the first die, control over the one or more shared package pins in response to determining that the first die has won arbitration based on each result bit broadcast by the arbitration circuitry in response to each bit of the first die identifier.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.