Automated clock relationship detection
US7996701B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 13, 2008 |
| Grant date | Aug 9, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 5, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F1/10
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Automated clock relationship detection may quickly and reliably detect a clock relationship with minimal latency while reducing problems due to metastability occurring at a solitary instant or extended over multiple clock periods. Automated clock relationship detection between two clocks may comprise (a) a shift register synchronizer that reduces the possibility of metastability while capturing and temporarily storing samples of the first clock in response to cycles of the second clock and (b) an evaluator that processes the samples to determine the relationship. A clock relationship detector may also determine the relationship of two clocks by arbitrating a plurality of preliminary determinations of the relationship. Delays may be applied so that each of several detectors receives a clock at a different time, which may avoid metastability in the majority of detectors. The relationship may be used to reliably determine an operating mode of logic driven by one of the clocks.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.