Methods and apparatus for a temporal synchronization unit
AssigneeSemiconductor Components Industries, LLC
InventorDannie Gerrit FEEKES, JR.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Various embodiments of the present technology may comprise a method and apparatus for a temporal synchronization circuit. The temporal synchronization circuit may be configured to operate in conjunction other integrated circuits to align data received from a plurality of sensors. The temporal synchronization circuit generates time stamps for generated data that are used to correct for any temporal deviation in the data received from the sensors to mitigate fault conditions that may be generated by misaligned data. The temporal synchronization circuit may also generate a power management scheme based on the particular characteristics of a SRAM to adjust power requirements according to any temporal deviation in the received sensor data.
Claims20
A temporal synchronization circuit for a digital signal processor (DSP) receiving sensor data from a plurality of sensors generating independent sensor data, comprising:
- a processor circuit configured to:
- generate a time stamp information signal;
- and
- provide the generated time stamp information signal to each sensor to synchronize the time stamp counter in each sensor;
- and
- a temporal deviation detection device (TDD) configured to:
- receive sensor data from each sensor;
- analyze time stamp data from each sensor;
- calculate a temporal deviation in the time stamp data between each sensor;
- determine an amount of frame buffer memory in a SRAM required to store sensor data from a first sensor having a time stamp earlier in time than a time stamp from a second sensor;
- determine if the temporal deviation is below a threshold value of the available memory buffer to store the sensor data from the first sensor until the sensor data from the second sensor contains a second time stamp that is equal to the time stamp of the first processor to allow sensor data from each sensor having the same time stamp to be processed by a processor of the DSP substantially simultaneously with each other;
- and
- initiate a fault correction sequence if the temporal deviation exceeds the threshold value.
A method of synchronizing sensor data received by a digital signal processor (DSP) from a plurality of sensors generating independent sensor data, comprising:
- generating a time stamp information signal with a processor circuit coupled to the DSP;
- transmitting the generated time stamp information signal from the processor circuit to each of the plurality of sensors simultaneously, wherein the time stamp information signal synchronizes a time stamp counter in each sensor;
- and
- receiving sensor data from each sensor with a temporal deviation detection device (TDD) embedded within the DSP, wherein the TDD is configured to:
- analyze time stamp data from each sensor;
- calculate a temporal deviation in the time stamp data between each sensor;
- determine an amount of frame buffer memory in a SRAM required to store sensor data from a first sensor having a time stamp earlier in time than a time stamp from a second sensor;
- determine if the temporal deviation is below a threshold value of the available memory buffer to store the sensor data from the first sensor until the sensor data from the second sensor contains a second time stamp that is equal to the time stamp of the first processor to allow sensor data from each sensor having the same time stamp to be processed by a processor of the DSP substantially simultaneously with each other;
- and
- initiate a fault correction sequence if the temporal deviation exceeds the threshold value.
A digital signal processor (DSP) capable of synchronizing sensor data from a plurality of sensors generating independent sensor data at differing latency rates, comprising:
- a first sensor input for receiving sensor data from a first sensor;
- a second sensor input for receiving sensor data from a second sensor;
- a processor circuit configured to:
- generate a time stamp information signal;
- and
- provide the generated time stamp information signal to the first and second sensors to synchronize the time stamp counter in each sensor;
- and
- a temporal deviation detection device (TDD) configured to:
- receive sensor data from the first and second sensor inputs;
- analyze time stamp data from each sensor corresponding to the received sensor data;
- calculate a temporal deviation in the time stamp data between each sensor;
- determine an amount of frame buffer memory in a SRAM required to store sensor data from the time stamp occurring earlier in time from either the first or second sensor than the time stamp from the remaining sensor;
- determine if the temporal deviation is below a threshold value of an available memory buffer embedded within the DSP to store the sensor data having the earlier time stamp until the sensor data from the remaining sensor contains a second time stamp that is equal to earlier time stamp to allow sensor data from each sensor having the same time stamp to be processed by a processor of the DSP substantially simultaneously with each other;
- and
- initiate a fault correction sequence if the temporal deviation exceeds the threshold value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.