Small area and low current drain frequency divider cell for integrated circuits

Abstract: The cell comprises: a power supply (A1, D4, R9); a control transistor pair (Q2, Q3) and a storage transistor pair (Q4, Q5), each having a collector, an emitter and a base electrode, all of the collector electrodes being coupled to said current source, the emitter electrodes of the storage transistors being grounded and the emitter electrodes of the control transistors being coupled to the base electrodes of the storage transistors, the control transistor collector and base electrodes being cross- coupled and the storage transistor collector and base electrodes also being cross-coupled; respective resistors (R5, R6) coupling each the emitter electrode of a driving transistor with the collector electrode of a storage transistor; two diodes (D1, D2) back to back series coupled between the driving transistor collector electrodes; a control transistor (Q1) having a grounded emitter electrode, a collector electrode coupled to the common coupling point of the two diodes, and a base electrode operating as an input pin of the frequency divider cell.

Description: The present invention relates to a small area and low current drain frequency divider cell for Integrated Circuits. As is known, electric low frequency signals are usually generated through the use of very high RC time constants, which are very difficult to be obtained in IC's, in which large capacity and/or resistance values are not available. Thus, as a low frequency signal is required in an IC, it is preferred to generate a higher frequency signal and reduce successively the frequency thereof by means of a divider comprising a plurality of cascade coupled master-slave flip-flop cells each of which provides a division by two. Each of these divider cells typically comprises, in addition to several transistors, also several resistors and, accordingly, each cell will occupy a comparatively large area. Moreover, because of the mentioned difficulty of providing high resistance values, the cell will also absorb a rather high current. Considering that a frequency reduction of one order of magnitude requires the use of three or four flip-flop cells, then this problem is further enhanced. A direct coupled triggered Flip-Flop including the features of the precharacterizing portion of claim 1 is known form US-A-3 767 943. The main object of the invention is to provide a flip-flop frequency divider having a lower area and power drain than known frequency dividers. According to one aspect of the invention, the above object, as well as other objects and advantages which will become more apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a frequency divider cell for IC's, as defined in claim 1. The invention will be disclosed hereinafter in a more detailed way with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, whicn is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, where: figure 1 is a circuit diagram of a prior art master-slave flip-flop cell; figure 2 is a circuit diagram of a preferred embodiment of a master-slave flip-flop cell according to the invention. Figure 1 schematically illustrates a prior art frequency divider cell. The transistors Q2 and Q3, together with the load resistors R1, R2 and coupling resistors R3, R4 form the master or driving flip-flop, supplied through a transistor Q1 the base electrode of which forms the input pin IN of the cell. The transistors Q4 and Q5 together with the coupling resistors R5, R6 form the slave or storage flip-flop. The circuit elements A1, D4, R9 constitute a power supply that feed the slave flip-flop. The transistor Q6, controlled by the slave flip-flop through the resistor R7, forms a level shifter which supplies its output signal on the pin OUT, with such a level that it is able of directly driving the pin IN of a subsequent cell. With reference to the circuit of fig. 1, as the input signal on the base IN of the transistor Q6 is at a low level, Q1 is off and the driving flip-flop comprising the two transistors Q2 and Q3 is disabled. The storage flip-flop Q4, Q5 will have a configuration which will depend on the past history, e.g with Q4 being on and Q5 off, and hence with a high level output. As the input signal goes from low to high, the driving or control flip-flop is energized and one of the transistors Q2, Q3 turns on. Since the emitter electrode of Q2 is coupled to the base electrode of Q5, which is off, Q2 will be turned on before Q3 and the cross-coupling will cause Q3 to be held in an off state as far as Q2 is on. If Q2 is on, Q5 must be also on and Q4 off. During the subsequent switching from high to low of the input signal, the above described situation will be repeated again; that is, the control flip-flop will be deactivated, whereas the storage flip-flop will not change its status. In the following transition, Q3 will be turned on before Q2 (since its emitter electrode is coupled to the base electrode of Q4 which is off), and accordingly it will cause the storage flip-flop to toggle. Thus the latter will change its status one time for any pair of transitions of the input signal and its output signal will have accordingly a frequency which is a half of the input signal frequency. Figure 2 shows a circuit diagram of a master-slave cell according to the invention. This cell still comprises a pair of master transistors Q2, Q3 the emitter electrodes of which are coupled to the base electrodes of the slave transistor pair Q4, Q5. In this case, however, the power supply A1, D4, R9 feeds both transistor pairs. This will limit the current through the master pair legs and greatly reduce the cell power drain. Moreover the collector electrode of the transistor Q1, having its emitter electrode coupled to the ground, is coupled to the collector electrodes of Q2 and Q3, through the diodes D1 and D2, which provide voltage de-coupling of the two legs of the control transistor pair, as Q1 is off, and allow for the control transistor pair to be turned off as Q1 is on. It should be easily apparent that the disclosed circuit operates in a manner analogous to that of the prior art, while having a lower number of components and a lower power drain. In fact in order to control Q1, a voltage corresponding to V be is now required (differently from the prior art) and accordingly it will be not necessary to provide an output level shifter stage, since the output signal can be directly taken from the collector of Q5. Thus the component elements Q6, R7, R8 of figure 1 can be omitted. It should be also apparent that the circuit according to the invention also affords the possibility of reducing the number of the cell elements, thereby reducing the occupied silicon area as well as the consumed current. While the invention has been disclosed with reference to a preferred embodiment, it should be apparent that it is susceptible to several modifications and variations all within the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims. Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the scope of the claim.

Claims: A frequency divider cell for integrated circuits comprising: a power supply (A1, D4, R9); a control transistor pair (Q2, Q3), each control transistor having a collector, an emitter and a base electrode, the collector electrodes of said control transistors (Q2, Q3) being coupled to said power supply (A1, D4, R9), the collector and base electrodes of said control transistors (Q2, Q3) being cross-coupled; a storage transistor pair (Q4, Q5), each storage transistor having a collector, an emitter and a base electrode, the collector electrodes of said storage transistors (Q4, Q5) being coupled to said power supply (A1, D4, R9), the emitter electrodes of said storage transistors (Q4, Q5) being grounded, the base electrodes of said storage transistors (Q4, Q5) being cross-coupled to the emitter electrodes of said control transistors (Q2, Q3), an output pin (OUT) defined by the collector of one (Q5) of said storage transistors (Q4, Q5); and a command transistor (Q1) having: a grounded emitter electrode, a collector electrode operatively coupled to the collector electrodes of said control transistors (Q2, Q3) a base electrode operating as an input pin (IN) of the frequency divider cell, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said frequency divider cell further comprises: two diodes (D1, D2) coupled back to back in series between the collector electrodes of said control transistors (Q2, Q3), the collector electrode of said command transistor (Q1) being connected to the common coupling point of said two diodes (D1, D2); a reset transistor (Q7) having: a grounded emitter, a base operating as a control pin (RESET), and a collector; and a third diode (D3) coupled between said collector of said reset transistor (Q7) and the base electrode of one (Q3) of said control transistors (Q2, Q3); the collector and base electrodes of said storage transistors (Q4, Q5) being cross-coupled through respective resistors (R5, R6), said resistors (R5, R6) also connecting each emitter electrode of said control transistors (Q2, Q3) with the collector electrodes of said storage transistors (Q4, Q5). A frequency divider cell according to claim 1, characterized in that each of said two diodes (D1, D2) consists of a transistor having an emitter, a collector and a base coupled to said collector, the collectors being each coupled to the collector electrodes of one of said control transistors (Q2, Q3). A frequency divider cell according to either of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said cross-coupling between said control transistors (Q2, Q3) and said storage transistors (Q4, Q5) and said cross-coupling between the collector and base electrodes of said control transistors (Q2, Q3) are short circuit couplings.

Inventors: MENEGOLI PAOLO, MORELLI MARCO, TRICOLI FRANCESCO, MENEGOLI, PAOLO, MORELLI, MARCO, TRICOLI, FRANCESCO
Applicants: SGS THOMSON MICROELECTRONICS, SGS-THOMSON MICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: H03K3
IPC codes: H03K23, H03K3