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US 7,889,014 B1Granted
Ring based impedance control of an output driver
OwnerSteven T. Stoiber, Stuart Siuinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
One embodiment in accordance with the invention is a method that can include utilizing a ring oscillator module to determine a process corner of an integrated circuit as fabricated that includes the ring oscillator module. The impedance of an output driver of the integrated circuit can be altered based on the process corner of the integrated circuit as fabricated.
Claims27
A method comprising:
- determining an operating parameter of an integrated circuit based on a first input from an NFET ring oscillator and a second input from a PFET ring oscillator, wherein the integrated circuit includes an output driver;
- and
- altering an output impedance of the output driver based on the operating parameter, wherein said determining the operating parameter and said altering the output impedance are independent of a load value, wherein the NFET ring oscillator comprises NMOS transistors and excludes PMOS transistors and wherein the PFET ring oscillator comprises PMOS transistors and excludes NMOS transistors.
An apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of ring oscillators, wherein the ring oscillators include an NFET ring oscillator and a PFET ring oscillator;
- and
- at least one component coupled to the plurality of ring oscillators, wherein the at least one component is configured to determine an operating parameter of an integrated circuit based on a first input from the NFET ring oscillator and a second input from the PFET ring oscillator, wherein the integrated circuit includes an output driver, wherein the at least one component is further configured to alter an output impedance of the output driver based on the operating parameter, and wherein the at least one component is further configured to determine the operating parameter and to alter the output impedance independently of a load value, wherein the NFET ring oscillator comprises NMOS transistors and excludes PMOS transistors and wherein the PFET ring oscillator comprises PMOS transistors and excludes NMOS transistors.
A device comprising:
- an integrated circuit including:
- an output driver;
- and
- a control component coupled to the output driver, wherein the control component includes:
- a plurality of ring oscillators, wherein the ring oscillators include an NFET ring oscillator and a PFET ring oscillator;
- and
- at least one component coupled to the plurality of ring oscillators, wherein the at least one component is configured to determine an operating parameter of the integrated circuit based on a first input from the NFET ring oscillator and a second input from the PFET ring oscillator, wherein the at least one component is further configured to alter an output impedance of the output driver based on the operating parameter, and wherein the at least one component is further configured to determine the operating parameter and to alter the output impedance independently of a load value, wherein the NFET ring oscillator comprises NMOS transistors and excludes PMOS transistors and wherein the PFET ring oscillator comprises PMOS transistors and excludes NMOS transistors.
4 more elements
A system comprising:
- means for determining an operating parameter of an integrated circuit based on a first input from an NFET ring oscillator and a second input from a PFET ring oscillator, wherein the integrated circuit includes an output driver;
- and
- means for altering an output impedance of the output driver based on the operating parameter, wherein the means for determining the operating parameter and the means for altering the output impedance operate independently of a load value, wherein the NFET ring oscillator comprises NMOS transistors and excludes PMOS transistors and wherein the PFET ring oscillator comprises PMOS transistors and excludes NMOS transistors.
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a plurality of ring oscillators, wherein the ring oscillators include an NFET ring oscillator and a PFET ring oscillator;
- an output driver;
- and
- at least one component coupled to the plurality of ring oscillators and the output driver, wherein the at least one component is configured to determine an operating parameter of the integrated circuit based on a first input from the NFET ring oscillator and a second input from the PFET ring oscillator, wherein the at least one component is further configured to alter an output impedance of the output driver based on the operating parameter, and wherein the at least one component is further configured to determine the operating parameter and to alter the output impedance independently of a load value, wherein the NFET ring oscillator comprises NMOS transistors and excludes PMOS transistors and wherein the PFET ring oscillator comprises PMOS transistors and excludes NMOS transistors.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.