CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 61/928,098, filed on Jan. 16, 2014 and included herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to an intergrated circuit, and more particularly, to an intergrated circuit which comprises a plurality of core power domains overlapped with each other.

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of a conventional intergrated circuit 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the intergrated circuit 100 comprises: a core power source Vcore, a core power domain 102, and three power domains 110, 120, 130, wherein the power domains 110, 120, 130 are all coupled to the core power source Vcore. Since there is only one core power source Vcore and the core power source Vcore is required to be always turned on, no element in the power domains 110, 120, 130 can be turned off or drop voltage to reduce power consumption efficiently.

SUMMARY

In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an intergrated circuit is proposed to solve the above-mentioned problem.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an exemplary intergrated circuit is disclosed. The electronic device comprises: a plurality of core power sources; and a plurality of core power domains, coupled to the core power sources, respectively; wherein the core power domains are overlapped with each other.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an exemplary electronic device is disclosed. The electronic device comprises: a cell group, comprising a first always-on cell and a second always-on cell; a plurality of core power sources, coupled to the first always-on cell and the second always-on cell respectively; and a plurality of core power domains, coupled to the core power sources respectively, wherein the core power domains are overlapped with each other.

Briefly summarized, compared with prior art, since the intergrated circuit and the electronic device disclosed by the present invention comprises a plurality of core power domains overlapped with each other, some always-on cells can be turned off for efficient power reduction.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of a conventional intergrated circuit.

FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram of an intergrated circuit according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram of the power domain in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a simplified diagram of an intergrated circuit according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a simplified diagram of the power domain in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain terms are used throughout the description and following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following description and in the claims, the terms â€œincludeâ€ and â€œcompriseâ€ are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean â€œinclude, but not limited to . . . â€ .

Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram of an intergrated circuit 200 according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein the intergrated circuit 200 can be an SOC integrated circuit. As shown in FIG. 2, the intergrated circuit 200 comprises: two core power sources Vcore1, Vcore2, two core power domains 202, 204, and three power domains 210, 220, 230, wherein the core power sources Vcore1 and Vcore2 can be digital core power sources. Please note that the above embodiment is only for an illustrative purpose and is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. For example, the number of the core power sources and the power domains can be changed according to different design requirements.

The core power domain 202 is coupled to the core power source Vcore1, and the core power domain 204 is coupled to the core power source Vcore2, wherein the core power domains 202, 204 are overlapped with each other, and the core power source Vcore1 is capable of being turned off when the second core power source Vcore2 is required to be turned on. The power domains 210, 220, 230 are coupled to both the core power sources Vcore1 and Vcore2, wherein at least one of the power domains 210, 220, 230 comprises a plurality of always-on cells (xCell) coupled to the core power sources Vcore1 and Vcore2, respectively. Since the core power domains 202, 204 are overlapped with each other and the core power source Vcore1 is capable of being turned off when the second core power source Vcore2 is required to be turned on, some of the always-on cells can be turned off for efficient power reduction.

For example, please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram of the power domain 210. As shown in FIG. 3, the power domain 210 comprises: a first always-on cell 212 and a second always-on cell 214, wherein the core power source Vcore1 is coupled to the first always-on cell 212, and the second core power source Vcore2 is coupled to the second always-on cell 214. In addition, the first always-on cell 212 and the second always-on cell 214 are coupled to power supplies VSS, VDD, and external buffers 216, 218, respectively. Please note that the above embodiment is only for an illustrative purpose and is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. For example, the number of the always-on cells can be changed according to different design requirements.

Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a simplified diagram of an electronic device 300 according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein the electronic device 300 can be an SOC integrated circuit. As shown in FIG. 4, the electronic device 300 comprises: two core power sources Vcore1, Vcore2, two core power domains 302, 304, and three power domains 310, 320, 330, wherein the core power sources Vcore1 and Vcore2 can be digital core power sources. Please note that the above embodiment is only for an illustrative purpose and is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. For example, the number of the core power sources and the power domains can be changed according to different design requirements.

The core power domain 302 is coupled to the core power source Vcore1, and the core power domain 304 is coupled to the core power source Vcore2, wherein the core power domains 302, 304 are overlapped with each other, and the core power source Vcore1 is capable of being turned off when the second core power source Vcore2 is required to be turned on. The power domains 310, 320 are coupled to both the core power sources Vcore1 and Vcore2, and the power domains 330 is only coupled to the core power source Vcore2, wherein at least one of the power domains 310 and 320 comprises a plurality of always-on cells coupled to the core power sources Vcore1 and Vcore2, respectively. Since the core power domains 202, 204 are overlapped with each other and the core power source Vcore1 is capable of being turned off when the second core power source Vcore2 is required to be turned on, some of the always-on cells can be turned off for efficient power reduction.

For example, please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a simplified diagram of the power domain 310. As shown in FIG. 3, the power domain 310 comprises: a first always-on cell 312 and a second always-on cell 314, wherein the core power source Vcore1 is coupled to the first always-on cell 312, and the second core power source Vcore2 is coupled to the second always-on cell 314. In addition, the first always-on cell 312 and the second always-on cell 314 are coupled to a power supplies VSS, VDD, and external buffers 316, 318, respectively. Please note that the above embodiment is only for an illustrative purpose and is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. For example, the number of the always-on cells can be changed according to different design requirements.

The present invention also discloses an electronic device which includes the integrated circuit in the first exemplary embodiment or the second exemplary embodiment, wherein a cell group includes the first always-on cell 312 and the second always-on cell 314 thereto. Applicants will not repeat the details again.

Briefly summarized, compared with prior art, since the electronic device disclosed by the present invention comprises a plurality of core power domains overlapped with each other, some always-on cells can be turned off for efficient power reduction.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.