The present application claims the benefit of Indian Patent Application No. 1320/Del/2003, filed Oct. 24, 2003, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Embodiments of the present invention relate to output buffers. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to output buffers providing differential outputs in differential transmission operation.
Standards pertaining to differential transmission define specific requirements relating to synchronization of crossover points i.e. complementary signals at the I/O pins are required to transition within a very tightly defined time difference. Asymmetric rise/fall edges, unequal rise/fall delays, delayed complementary signals can cause the differential output's cross-points to shift from the nominal position and move outside the allowed range.
To ensure synchronization of complementary signals transitions, conventional circuits use flip-flops driven by a common clock.
Output circuit 105B is identical to output circuit 105A. The data terminal of flip-flop 115B receives the non-inverted version of signal S. Though not shown in the figure, the data terminals of flip-flops 115A and 115B are programmable to receive inverted or non-inverted version of signal S. Flip-flops 115A and 115B are clocked by the same clock signal CLK, and are therefore synchronized with each other. This ensures that the complementary signals on pins 106 and 108 transition at the same time independent of mismatched routing propagation delays of complementary signals S and SBAR from the signal source to the output circuits.
While the prior art has been described in connection with an LVDS interface, it will be obvious to those of skill in art that the scheme can be adapted for other types of differential signaling.
The scheme described in this prior art suffers from the drawback that it requires a clock signal for its operation thereby limiting its application to synchronous circuit configurations.
An embodiment of the invention is to overcome the above drawbacks and provide an arrangement that is equally effective for synchronous as well as asynchronous circuits.
An embodiment of this invention provides an improved output buffer capable of providing symmetrical outputs for differential signaling during an asynchronous mode of operation, comprising:
Further, a multiplexer may be provided between the output of the sense block and the clock input of said pair of flip-flops, said multiplexer having one input connected to the output of sense block and second input connected to a clock signal, its select input being used to select the sense block output during asynchronous mode of operation and the clock input during synchronous mode of operation.
The sense block may be a differential receiver having its inputs connected to the complementary inputs signals and its output connected to one input of said multiplexer.
For single ended applications the differential receiver has one input connected to a reference voltage while its second input is connected to the output.
Embodiments of the present invention further provide a method for improving an output buffer for enabling symmetrical outputs for differential output configurations during asynchronous operation comprising the steps of:
The said coupling may be achieved by multiplexing between the transition pulses and a clock signal such that the clock input receives the transition pulses during asynchronous mode of operation and clock pulses during synchronous mode of operation.
The sensing of transitions may be achieved by connecting the inputs of a differential receiver to the complementary input signals.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. Various modifications to the embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
Output circuit OutCellA includes a dual-edge triggered flip-flop 215A and transmitter 220A. The data terminal of flip-flop 215A receives ‘SBAR’, an inverted version of input signal S. Output terminal Q of the flip-flop is connected through transmitter 220A to pin 206. The Clock terminal of the flip-flop is connected to the output of multiplexer MUX.
The data terminal of flip-flop 215B receives the non-inverted input signal S. This Output pair also includes a multiplexer MUX and a sense block 200. MUX selects between the input CLK and output of sense block 200. Sense block 200 has its two inputs connected to complementary signals S and SBAR. Output circuit OutCellB is identical to output circuit OutCellA, with like elements being labeled using the similar names and numbers but ending with the letter “B”.
In differential output synchronous mode operation, the simultaneous transition of the complementary signals at pins 206 and 208 is ensured by clocking dual-edge flip-flops 215A and 215B through the same clock CLK, in a manner similar to the technique used in the prior art. In this case multiplexer MUX selects the clock signal CLK.
To ensure simultaneous transition in asynchronous applications, this embodiment of the invention provides self-synchronization of the complementary signals. In this case multiplexer MUX connects the output of sense block 200 to the clock input of dual-edge flip-flops 215A and 215B. The sense block 200 senses the crossing of the complementary signals S and SBAR and generates a corresponding pulse edge after some time delay. Dual-edge flip-flops 215A and 215B trigger at every pulse edge (ve+ or ve−), passing the signals S and SBAR to pins 206 and 208 through transmitters 220A and 220B respectively. As transmitters 220A and 220B are identical, complementary signal S and SBAR will transition simultaneously at pins 206 and 208. The time delay of the sense block 200 ensures the setting of the complementary signals at the input ‘D’ of the flip-flops.
The circuit realization of the apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in
I/O pins 306 and 308 are used to receive and transmit differential signals. In input mode, differential receiver 325B receives the differential input at pins 306, 308 and converts it to a specified output signal level. In output mode, transmitters 320A and 320B are used to transmit complementary signals at pins 306 and 308 respectively. Any of the pins 306 or 308 can be programmed to transmit either inverted or non-inverted output. In the example the inverted version SBAR of the signal S is connected at pin 306, through dual-edge flip-flop 315A and transmitter 320A. The non-inverted signal S is connected to pin 308, through dual-edge flip-flop 315B and transmitter 320B.
In synchronous applications the simultaneous transition of the complementary signals at pins 306 and 308 is achieved by clocking dual-edge flip-flops 315A and 315B using a common clock signal CLK.
In asynchronous applications, differential receiver 325A is used as the sense block 200 of
The sense block 200 mentioned can simply be a differential comparator. If the skew between S and SBAR is slightly large, then for a short period of time S and SBAR may remain at same logic (both are high or both are low). In this period of time output of the comparator is undefined and it may or may not switch. To ensure no transition at the comparator's output hysteresis is added to the differential comparator.
Dual edge flip-flops 315A and 315B ensure simultaneous transition of complimentary signals S and SBAR as both have the same clock input which is received from the output of 325A. The switching of the output of differential receiver 325A in turn depends on signals S and SBAR. When S and SBAR change state, the output of receiver 325A switches, triggering the flip-flops 315A and 315B and thus passing the signals S and SBAR to pins 306 and 308 through transmitters 320A and 320B respectively. As transmitters 320A and 320B are identical, complementary signal S and SBAR will transition simultaneously at pins 306 and 308. It is to be noted that delay of the receiver 325A provides a setup time to the flip-flops 315A and 315B to ensure the setting of the signals S and SBAR at their inputs before they are passed to pins 306 and 308.
The simultaneous transition in asynchronous applications is ensured by triggering flip-flops through complementary signals, instead of clock CLK. The use of flip-flops ensures simultaneous transition of complementary signals on pins 306 and 308 independent of routing propagation delays of signals S and SBAR from the signal source.
It will be apparent that the only extra circuitry added is multiplexer MUX and some programming switches. Dual-edge flip-flops and differential receiver associated with each IOCell are not extra hardware. Differential receiver 325A is an unused element of the I/O pair in differential operation and is normally used to receive the signal from pin 306 in single-ended I/O operation.
It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that though the embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to Stub Series Terminated Logic for 2.5V (SSTL2) and High-Speed Transceiver Logic (HSTL) differential operation, other embodiments can be adapted for other differential transmitter operations.
Output buffers according to embodiments of the present invention can be utilized in a variety of different types of integrated circuits, such as memory circuits like DRAMs, SRAMs, and FLASH memories. These integrated circuits may, in turn, be included in a variety of different types of electronic systems, such as computer systems
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1320/DEL/2003 | Oct 2003 | IN | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4379327 | Tietjen et al. | Apr 1983 | A |
4644185 | Todd | Feb 1987 | A |
5191243 | Shen et al. | Mar 1993 | A |
5343428 | Pilo et al. | Aug 1994 | A |
5563843 | Fackenthal et al. | Oct 1996 | A |
5793698 | Komarek et al. | Aug 1998 | A |
5850359 | Liu | Dec 1998 | A |
6028448 | Landry | Feb 2000 | A |
6104209 | Keeth et al. | Aug 2000 | A |
6151648 | Haq | Nov 2000 | A |
6353334 | Schultz et al. | Mar 2002 | B1 |
6845055 | Koga et al. | Jan 2005 | B1 |
6891394 | Yu et al. | May 2005 | B1 |
7076677 | Falconer et al. | Jul 2006 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20050146367 A1 | Jul 2005 | US |