Critical path monitor having selectable operating modes and single edge detection

US8405413B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• International Business Machines Corporation · US

Inventors

• Gary Dale Carpenter · Pflugerville, US
• Alan J. Drake · Round Rock, US
• Michael Stephen Floyd · Cedar Park, US
• Robert M. Senger · Tarrytown, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 23, 2010
• Grant date: Mar 26, 2013
• Expiry date: Jun 4, 2031

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01R31/31725
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A critical path monitor having selectable data output modes provides additional information about critical path delay variation. A pulse is propagated through a synthesized path representing a critical path in a functional logic circuit and a synthesized path delay is measured by a monitoring circuit that detects the arrival of an edge of the pulse at the output of the synthesized delay. The measured delay is provided as a real-time output and a processed result of the measured delay is processed according to a data output mode selected from multiple selectable output modes, thereby providing different information describing the real-time data about critical path delay, such as a range of edge positions corresponding to a variation of the critical path delay.