Sensor polling unit for microprocessor integration

An integrated semiconductor die comprising:

• a microprocessor;
• and
• a sensor polling unit comprising:
• a sensor register model comprising one or more configuration logic blocks, each of the one or more configuration logic blocks being associated with an associated external sensor device of a plurality of external sensor devices;
• each configuration logic block being configured to issue a read command for one or more predetermined sensor data registers of the associated external sensor device in accordance with a read trigger supplied by a trigger generator of the configuration logic block;
• a global timer based on a clock signal of the microprocessor to supply a global time value to the trigger generators;
• and
• a polling state machine operatively coupled to the one or more configuration logic blocks for receipt of respective read commands therefrom, said polling state machine being configured to issue a corresponding read command to the external sensor device through a serial data interface connected to the associated external sensor device;
• wherein the polling state machine is further configured to receive register data transmitted by the external sensor device in response to the corresponding read command and transmit the received register data to a microprocessor accessible data memory area for storage.

A microprocessor system comprising an integrated semiconductor die wherein the microprocessor system comprises:

• a microprocessor;
• and
• a sensor polling unit comprising:
• a sensor register model comprising one or more configuration logic blocks, each of the one or more configuration logic blocks being associated with an associated external sensor device of a plurality of external sensor devices operatively coupled to the integrated semiconductor die;
• each configuration logic block being configured to issue a read command for one or more predetermined sensor data registers of the associated external sensor device in accordance with a read trigger supplied by a trigger generator of the configuration logic block;
• a global timer based on a clock signal of the microprocessor to supply a global time value to the trigger generators;
• and
• a polling state machine operatively coupled to the one or more configuration logic blocks for receipt of respective read commands therefrom, said polling state machine being configured to issue a corresponding read command to the external sensor device through a standardized data interface connected to the associated external sensor device;
• wherein the polling state machine is further configured to receive register data transmitted by the external sensor device in response to the corresponding read command and transmit the received register data to a microprocessor accessible data memory area for storage.

A method for off-loading a microprocessor from polling external sensor devices to reduce use of computing resources by the microprocessor, the method comprising:

• supplying a read trigger by a trigger generator of a configuration logic block, wherein the configuration logic block is associated with an external sensor device and the trigger generator has a global time value supplied by a global timer based on a clock signal of the microprocessor;
• issuing, by the configuration logic block, a read command for one or more predetermined sensor data registers of the external sensor device in accordance with the read trigger;
• receiving, by a polling state machine operatively coupled to configuration logic block, the read command from the configuration logic block;
• issuing, by the polling state machine, a corresponding read command to the external sensor device through a data communication interface connected to the external sensor device;
• receiving, at the polling state machine, register data transmitted by the external sensor device in response to the corresponding read command;
• and
• transmitting, over an on-chip data memory bus, the received register data to a microprocessor accessible data memory area for storage.