Patent · US Expired

Apparatus and method for providing an external clock from a circuit in sleep mode in a processor-based system

US6832327B1 · kind B1 · utility

5Cited by
15References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 2, 2001
Grant dateDec 14, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 10, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02D10/00
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A processor-based system such as a workstation or server, using a system clock provided through a phase-locked loop (PLL) to a clock gate and then to a clock tree, which distributes the core system clock to components in the processor-based system, including a host bridge circuit. The host bridge distributes control signals to a receiving device such as a memory module, which may use a continued clocking signal when the system enters a low-power mode. A feedback clock for the PLL is provided to the receiving devices during low-power mode to ensure continued clocking, when the clock gate output is low and the clock tree is thereby disabled. A skew compensation circuit coordinates clocking in the continued clock and the core system clock.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.