Dynamic impedance compensation circuit and method

[0002] The invention relates generally to impedance matching networks and more particularly to programmable on-chip impedance matching networks.

[0003] Background Of The Invention Input/output buffers are used in many integrated circuit applications. Conventional I/O buffers include, for example, push/pull buffer configurations that include, for example, an output driver pull up circuit and an output driver pull down circuit. I/O buffers are often connected to external or off chip pads on printed circuit boards or other integrated circuits. The I/O buffers are connected to other circuits through transmission lines, such as printed circuit boards traces or any other suitable transmission line. As is known in the art, transmission line signal distortions can result from impedance mismatches between the output buffer circuitry, and the transmission line impedance. These signal distortions can vary due to fabrication process variations, temperature variations, and other variations. Accordingly, I/O buffers have been designed to match the output impedance of the buffer with the transmission line impedance. Without proper impedance matching, overshooting, undershooting, and signal distortion can occur, particularly at high speeds.

[0004] Conventional solutions typically incorporate the use of off-chip components to implement matching termination networks. However, these can take up large amounts of board space. Other on-chip solutions require the use of separate test I/O pads for determining suitable impedance matching. For example, one external test pad is typically used to determine the suitable pull up circuit impedance whereas a separate additional test pad is used to determine suitable impedance matching for the pull down circuit of the output buffer. In addition, separate external impedance calibration resistors are used for each I/O buffer section. The use of additional test pads and additional external resistors can impact board density, reliability and cost.

[0005] Once solution, for example, as disclosed in an article entitled “Design of CMOS HSTL I/O Pads”, August 1998, by Gerald L. Esch, Jr., et al., describes an on-chip impedance matching network that provides a type of controlled impedance I/O pad by controlling a serially connected resistive element separate from the output dirvers. For example, an array of programmable resistors in the form of parallel coupled transistors, are controlled by on-chip calibration circuitry to program an on-chip impedance array by turning on and off various combinations of NFET transistors, using an up down counter. An external calibration resistor is connected to an internal chip pad. A differential amplifier is used to compare the internal pad voltage to a reference voltage. A difference between input voltages of the differential amplifier is perceived as a resistance mismatch between the external calibration resistor and the resistance of the transmission line. The differential amplifier's output is programmed as an up down counter to increment or decrement an output. The calibration is typically continuous. The article also discloses using a separate programmable resistor array for each of a pull down section and a pull up section of an output buffer. However, this can unnecessarily increase the complexity and cost of the impedance matching circuit.

[0006] In addition, solutions that employ a plurality of external calibration resistors typically duplicate the output buffer structure as the impedance compensation structure. Where two test pads and two external calibration resistors are used, the pull up circuit, such as a P channel based pull up circuit, and an N channel output buffer pull down circuit, are typically independently tested and matched during normal operation of the chip. However, using dual calibration resistors can generate unnecessary internal noise. Known programmable impedance matching circuits effectively duplicate the structure of an actual I/O buffer and the actual I/O buffer includes corresponding programmable resistor arrays that are then programmed to be identical to the impedance level determined through the I/O buffer impedance matching circuit. Typically, such I/O buffer impedance compensation circuits use, for example, an external pull up calibration resistor that has a value believed equal to be the line impedance to determine an appropriate impedance setting for the I/O pull down circuit. Similarly, an external pull down calibration resistor is coupled to ground, and is used to determine a suitable impedance level for the pull up circuit.

[0007] Accordingly, there exists a need for an impedance compensation method and circuit for an input/output buffer having an output driver pull up circuit and an output driver pull down circuit.

[0008] The invention will be more readily understood with reference to the following drawings wherein:

[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an impedance compensation circuit in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating in more detail, one example of an impedance compensation circuit in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

[0011] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating one example of the operation of the controller circuit shown in FIG. 2.

[0012] FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram illustrating on example of an impedance compensation circuit in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

[0013] FIG. 5 is an alternative embodiment of an impedance compensation circuit in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

[0014] FIG. 6 diagramatically illustrates oscillation detection in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

[0015] Briefly, an impedance compensation circuit and method for an input/output buffer provides dynamic impedance compensation by using programmable impedance arrays and a dynamically adjustable on-chip load. Accordingly, among other advantages, only a single off-chip calibration resistor is used, and only a single test pad is necessary.

[0016] In one embodiment, the impedance compensation circuit includes an on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array, such as a plurality of parallel coupled PMOS transistor fingers, an on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array, such as a plurality of NMOS parallel coupled transistor fingers, and a configurable on-chip impedance element, such as a plurality of parallel coupled PMOS transistors. The configurable on-chip impedance measurement array is operatively coupled to both the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array, and to the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array.

[0017] In one embodiment, a controller controls calibration of either one of the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array, or the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array, to an impedance that matches a predetermined off-chip calibration impedance, such as that dictated by an external calibration resistor. The impedance compensation method includes using the impedance setting of the configurable on-chip impedance element for one I/O buffer section, as an internal load for providing an on-chip impedance reference value to determine a suitable impedance matching level for the other section of the I/O buffer.

[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates one example of an impedance compensation circuit 100 that includes an impedance measurement buffer 102 that includes programmable impedance matching arrays, and also includes a dynamically adjustable internal load. The impedance compensation circuit 100 also includes a controller 104 that generates an output buffer impedance control signal 106 to an I/O buffer to set an impedance level for the output driver pull up circuit and the output driver pull down circuit. The controller 104 also generates control signals 108 to and receives input signals 110 from the impedance measurement buffer 102 to suitably calibrate programmable impedance arrays and to suitably adjust the dynamically adjustable internal load. The controller 104 may be a state machine or any other suitable hardware, software or combination thereof. The impedance compensation circuit 100 is operatively coupled to an off-chip test pad 112 which is coupled to an external calibration resistor 114, or any other suitable impedance element, such as a high precision resistor set to a value that may be coincident with an expected line impedance of a transmission line that is connected to the output buffer (not shown). It will be recognized that the test pad 112 may be included on a chip containing the impedance compensation circuit, if desired and that the calibration resistor may also reside on a same chip containing the impedance compensation circuit 100.

[0019] FIG. 2 illustrates in more detail one example of an impedance compensation circuit 100 that operatively receives a reference voltage 200 from an internal or external reference voltage source 202. In this embodiment, the impedance measurement buffer 102 includes an on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204, an on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array 206 and a configurable on-chip impedance element 208 that serves as the adjustable internal load. The configurable on-chip impedance element 208 is operatively coupled to both the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204 and to the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array 206. The impedance compensation circuit 100 also includes a comparator 209, such as one or more differential comparator(s) or any other suitable logic or software based comparator arrangement.

[0020] The controller 104 is operatively coupled to the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204, the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array 206, and to the configurable on-chip impedance element 208. The controller 104 receives a bus calm indication 210 indicating when to sample a pull up test signal 214 or a pull down test signal 212 output from the comparator 209. The pull up test signal 214 and the pull down test signal 212 represent a change in impedance, and hence a voltage drop, across the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204 and across the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array 206, respectively. The controller 104 samples the pull up test signal 214 or the pull down test signal 212 in response to detecting that an I/O buffer bus is idle. This is determined, for example, by evaluating the bus calm signal 210, which indicates when the I/O buffer bus, such as an AGP bus, is idle. This may come from any suitable bus detection logic. The controller 104 generates a pull down test enable signal 216 (if desired), a programmable pull down impedance matching array control signal 218, a pull up test enable signal 220 (if desired), a pull up impedance matching array control signal 222, an output buffer pull up impedance adjustment level signal 224, and an output buffer pull down impedance adjustment level signal 226. The impedance adjustment level signals control corresponding programmable impedance arrays associated with the actual I/O buffer.

[0021] The programmable pull up impedance matching array 204 outputs a pull up test signal 214 and the programmable pull down impedance matching array generates the pull down test signal 212.

[0022] The pull up impedance control signal 222 represents, for example, a control signal (P CONTROL) to control an impedance level of the on-chip pull up impedance matching array. Similarly, the pull down impedance matching control signal 218 serves to control an impedance level for the programmable pull down matching array 206. The impedance adjustment level signal 224 represents, for example, a first impedance adjustment level for an output driver pull up circuit. The impedance adjustment level signal 224 is based on a voltage drop across the external impedance element 114 using the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204. Similarly, the impedance adjustment level signal 226 serves as an impedance adjustment level for the output driver pull down circuit, which is based from a current impedance setting of the configurable internal impedance element 208 that was set while determining the first impedance adjustment level signal 224. The impedance adjustment level signal 226 hence is determined using the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array in connection with the current impedance setting of the configurable on-chip impedance element 208 as originally set by the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array when determining the impedance adjustment level signal 224.

[0023] The dashed lines generally indicated as 240a, 240b, 240cand 240drepresent, for example, changes in the configuration of FIG. 2 to accommodate an impedance matching compensation where the external resistor 114 is a pull up resistor instead of a pull down resistor (See, e.g., FIG. 5). Accordingly, it will be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art, that although the description of the invention will be with reference to an external pull down resistor 114, the invention is also applicable where a single external impedance reference resistor is taken to be a pull up resistor. It will be recognized also that the same matching procedure could be done if the external impedance value is bigger or smaller than the transmission line impedance value. In this case N control and P control signals can be scaled by controller to provide the output buffer impedance matching the transmission line impedance.

[0024] The control signals 218 and 222 serve as pull up and pull down impedance settings to adjust, for example, a pull up impedance setting or a pull down impedance setting. In this embodiment, the configurable on-chip impedance element 204 serves as a pull up impedance that is also used to match a pull down impedance for the pull down impedance matching array 206. Stated another way, the configurable on-chip impedance element 208 serves as an on-chip adjustable load during the pull down impedance matching array configuration process so that an external pull up resistor need not be used, nor does an additional test pad need to be used. The configurable on-chip impedance element 208 is configured during the configuration of the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204 to serve as a calibrated pull up resistance. Accordingly, when the external impedance element 114 is matched to be equal to the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204, the impedance value for the configurable on-chip impedance element 208 of the array is duplicated. Subsequently, the controller then determines the impedance adjustment level 226 for the current impedance setting of the configurable internal impedance element 208. The configurable on-chip impedance element 208 is adjusted using the control signal 222 used to adjust the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array. The configurable on-chip impedance element 208 is adjusted to an impedance setting based on the determined first impedance adjustment level 224.

[0025] In operation, the controller 104 determines the impedance adjustment level 224 by comparing a voltage drop across the external impedance element 114 by comparing, for example, the input voltage level 260 with a voltage drop across the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204. The controller programs the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204 in response to the comparison of the voltage drops by evaluating the pull up test signal 214 to determine whether the pull up test signal 260 is above or below a predetermined threshold.

[0026] The controller 104 controls either one of the on-chip pull up impedance matching array 204 or the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array 206 to provide an impedance setting to match a predetermined off-chip impedance level, such as the pull down external resistor 114 or a pull up resistor indicated as dotted line 240d. An impedance compensation method uses the impedance setting of the configurable on-chip impedance element 208 that is set as a result of programming the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array, for example, to provide an on-chip impedance reference value as an internal load for the pull down impedance matching array 206. Accordingly, the configurable on-chip impedance element 208 is used as a pull up impedance to adjust the pull down impedance of the programmable pull down impedance matching array 206.

[0027] A pull down test enable signal 216 and a pull up test enable signal 220 may be used, for example, if it is desired to test the impedance compensation circuit 100 at any suitable time and to control power dissipation. However, these signals and corresponding control logic may not be used, if desired.

[0028] In operation, it is desirable to avoid switching of the impedance matching arrays during bus activity. Accordingly, the bus calm signal 210 indicates when the controller can perform the impedance compensation function. Also, where the controller 104 includes, for example, digital comparators to compare, for example, the pull up test signals 212 and the pull down test signal 214 to a predetermined threshold, such as a reference voltage, the output of digital comparator may oscillate. Accordingly, the disclosed controller knows it has reached a desired impedance calibration level by detecting such an oscillation.

[0029] The controller 104 may include, for example, a plurality of up/down counters and a plurality of comparators wherein the output of the comparators is coupled to a separate up/down counter. Each up/down counter is suitably incremented or decremented to provide the control signals 218 and 222.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, an example of the operation of the controller 104 will now be explained. As shown in block 300, the method includes resetting an up/down counter. As shown in block 301, the method includes enabling the programmable pull up impedance matching array 204 through the pull up test enable signal. The controller 104 determines if the bus is idle by evaluating the bus calm signal 210. If the bus is idle, the controller measures the impedance of the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204 by sampling the pull up test signal 214 a plurality of times and storing the samples. The controller averages the samples and if a predetermined number of samples exceed a predetermined threshold, then the controller adjusts (in this example, increases) the impedance of the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array by an incremental amount. If the predetermined number of samples are below a predetermined threshold, then the controller adjusts (in this example, decreases) the impedance of the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array by turning on, for example, a plurality of PMOS transistor fingers 400a-400dthat include a plurality of PMOS transistors 402a-402doperatively coupled in parallel. A plurality of NAND gates 404a-404dhave an output operatively coupled to the gates of the plurality of PMOS transistors 402a-402d. Each of the NAND gates 404a-404dreceive the pull up test enable signal 220. A separate control signal 222a-222dis provided to each of the plurality of PMOS transistors 402a-402dthrough NAND gates 404a-404d.

[0031] The configurable on-chip impedance element 208 includes a plurality of parallel coupled PMOS transistors 406a-406d. However, it will be recognized that any suitable type of device or configuration may also be used. In addition, if desired, the configurable on-chip impedance element 208 includes a plurality of NAND gates 407a-407dhaving an input operatively coupled to control signal 222, another input operatively coupled to pull down test enable signal 216 and an output operatively coupled to the gates of parallel coupled PMOS transistors 406a-406d.

[0032] The programmable pull down impedance matching array 206 includes a plurality of nmos transistor fingers 408a-408d. Each of the plurality of NMOS transistor fingers 408a-408dincludes an NMOS transistor 410a-410darrangement. In this embodiment, a plurality of AND gates 412a-412dare operatively coupled to receive control signals 220a-220dand also coupled to receive the pull down test enable signal 216. The configurable on-chip impedance element 208 serves as an adjustable pull up resistor for the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array 206. In this particular example, sources of each of the PMOS transistors 406a-406dare operatively coupled to sources of the plurality of NMOS transistors in the NMOS fingers in the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array 206. It will be recognized, that although not shown, each of the transistor fingers (e.g., 402a-400d, 406a-406dand 408a-408d) may be a plurality of serially coupled transistors that provide suitable overvoltage protection against over voltage conditions. Also, each of the fingers is preferable binary weighted as an impedance unit so that for example finger having transistor 402bhas more fingers than the finger having transistor 402a, and transistor 402chas more fingers (lower impedance) than the finger having transistor 402b. However, it will be recognized that non-binary weighting may also be used if desired.

[0033] The configurable on-chip impedance element 208 receives the control signals 222a-222dto effectively duplicate the configuration of the PMOS transistors 402a-402dwhich are configured during the matching of the programmable impedance matching array to the external resistor 114.

[0034] As shown, a portion of the controller 104 includes comparators 414aand 414b. A multiplexer 416 allows a reference switch 418 to select whether an internal reference voltage 420 is used or whether an external reference voltage 421 is used as the comparator reference voltage 422. As shown, the impedance matching array 204 is selectively controlled so that the voltage drop across the array, namely voltage 428, equals the comparator reference voltage 422. Once the PMOS fingers 400a-400dhave been suitably configured to provide the right amount of impedance, the controller then attempts to match the reference voltage 430 with the comparator reference voltage 422 to suitably set the pull down impedance matching array to a suitable impedance level. The controller controls the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204 to be initially set to provide an impedance setting for the configurable on-chip impedance element 208 whereafter the same impedance setting is used to configure the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array 206. For example, the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204 is configured to effectively match the impedance of the external resistor 114. The configurable on-chip impedance element 208 is set to the impedance value determined for the pull-up impedance matching array 204, then the programmable pull down impedance matching array 206 is set using the configurable on-chip impedance element 208 as its reference.

[0035] Referring back to FIG. 3, the controller suitably adjusts an up/down counter such that if the pull up test signal 214 is a “1”, the up/down counter is increased by “1” impedance increment which may require more than one finger to be adjusted. However, if the pull up test signal is “0”, the up/down counter is then decremented by a suitable amount . As shown in block 302, the controller inserts delays between samples to filter against noise transitions. In addition, the controller updates a sample counter for each sample taken. If 16 samples are taken, for example, as shown in block 304, the process continues by comparing the up/down counter value with a threshold value. If the up/down counter value is greater than an upper threshold, the control signal 222 is then increased by a value of “1” to adjust a single pull up finger, or a plurality of pull up fingers depending on the impedance level is required. If, however, the value of the up/down counter is below a predetermined threshold, the control signal is set to a logic zero on a particular finger or fingers to decrease the impedance. If the value is between the two thresholds, no adjustment is necessary. Hence, the controller updates the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array to automatically configure the adjustable internal load, namely, the configurable on-chip impedance element 208. This is shown, for example, in block 306. If desired, the controller can divide the samples into three areas, such as three levels of thresholds. For example, upon power up, a default impedance setting is used by using predefined impedance values to be more accurate at the start up of the output buffer. A different impedance threshold can be used at the beginning of the automatic adjustment operation. In addition, default settings for the impedance arrays may be hard coded both in the chip incorporating the circuits as well as in the BIOS associated with the chip.

[0036] Once the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array has been set to the suitable impedance level, the controller enables the NMOS-based on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array and waits for a period of clocks to allow the array to stabilize. The controller then determines if the bus is idle and if so, takes samples using a pull down test signal. A separate up/down counter is used, for example, which is continually incremented or decremented based on the level of the pull down test signal such that if the signal is one, the count is increased by 1, whereas if it is zero, then it will decrease the counter. This is shown in block 308. As shown in block 310, again the controller inserts a delay in between samples to reduce the effect of noise and updates the sample counter. Similar to the operation with respect to the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array, the controller tracks the total number of samples and determines if it has received enough samples (e.g. 16) as indicated in block 311. As shown in block 312, the controller compares the output of the up/down counter after the 16 samples are taken and compares it to a threshold to determine whether to increase or decrease the impedance of the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array in a similar way as described with respect to block 306. This is continued until the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array is matched with the configurable on-chip impedance element. Once both the impedance matching arrays have been configured, the controller then generates the impedance adjustment levels to update all I/O pads when the bus is idle. This is shown in block 314.

[0037] FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment, wherein the external resistor is a pull up resistor 500. In this embodiment, again only a single external impedance resistor need be used, and only a single test pad need be used. In this embodiment, the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array is first configured to set the configurable on-chip impedance element whereafter the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array is configured using the settings of the impedance of the configurable on-chip impedance element. In addition, the AND gates are removed to provide direct control of the programmable pull up impedance matching arrays and the configurable on-chip impedance element. This applies to either a pull up or pull down embodiment. In this embodiment, the controller configures the on-chip impedance element 208 where it is initially set to provide an impedance setting for the on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array 206 through control signals 220a220d. Subsequently, the same impedance setting of the configurable on-chip impedance element is used to configure the on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204. In this embodiment, the configurable on-chip impedance element 208 includes a plurality of parallel coupled NMOS transistors 408a-408d. The on-chip programmable pull down impedance matching array 206 includes NMOS transistors 410a-410dcoupled to have sources connected to the external pad 112 and to an input of comparator 414a. The on-chip programmable pull up impedance matching array 204 includes PMOS transistors 406a-406dhaving sources operatively coupled to the sources of transistors 408a-408d.

[0038] FIG. 6 illustrates the controller detecting a period of oscillations which indicates that an impedance match has occurred. Accordingly, adjustments to the impedance matching arrays of the I/O buffers are not made until a non-oscillation condition is detected. Hence, the circuit 100 maintains an impedance adjustment level for the pull up or pull down circuit of the buffer while detecting a test pad oscillation. Preferably, although not required, the output pad impedance can be set to a lowest value to provide a robust output buffer when the differential comparator is oscillating between two impedance levels.

[0039] It should be understood that the implementation of other variations and modifications of the invention in its various aspects will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and that the invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described. For example, any suitable type of impedance fingers may be used including but not limited to bipolar based impedance fingers, switched capacitor impedance fingers or any other suitable configurable impedance providing arrangement. In addition, the disclosed logic may be inverted (e.g., AND logic can be NAND logic, NOR logic or any suitable logic states) or otherwise implemented using any suitable logic or software. In addition, the measurement of a voltage drop across the configurable impedance element includes the measurement of current through the configurable impedance element. It is therefore contemplated to cover by the present invention, any and all modifications, variations, or equivalents that fall within the spirit and scope of the basic underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein.