Patent Abstract:
An adaptive control method based on an input clock includes: performing a read process according to the input clock; receiving a read command; receiving a data signal via a data line according to the read command; enabling an amplifier element according to at least the input clock; and utilizing the amplifier element to amplify the data signal.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a control technique, and more particularly, to an adaptive control method and related device for controlling a sensing amplifier based on an input clock. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    Read procedures of storage devices (e.g. dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or static random access memory (SRAM)) are limited by the timing required for signal transmission. Examples are shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1  illustrates a portion of a conventional read unit  100  architecture.  FIG. 2  illustrates some signals of the conventional read unit  100 . Each time the storage device  100  receives a read command Rd, it takes time tYS from a rising edge of an input clock CK to selecting a proper Y switch  110  by a selection signal YS 0 . After the Y switch  110  is conductive, signals from the data lines (each Y switch is responsible for data of two bits, and four switches are required to control four data lines DL, DL−, DL′ and DL′−, which are respectively the complementary signals of two bits) through the Y switch  110  require time tYS2DLSA until the signals are high enough to be correctly recognized and amplified by a sense amplifier  120 . An amplifier enablement signal SA_EN enables the sensing amplifier  120  to amplify the signals on the data lines (for ease of explanation, only operations of data lines DL and DL− will be explained). The time required to form an internal transmission signal internal_IO from the sensing amplifier to an internal buffer (not shown) of the read unit  100  is tDLSA2DQBUF. Finally, according to an output indication signal CLKOE, the read data signal is transmitted to a driver (off chip driver, not shown) outside the chip to form an output signal Data_pin, which takes time tOCD. Hence, the time required by the read procedure of the storage device will be a sum of times required by the above-mentioned four procedures, which is: tYS+tYS2DLSA+tDLSA2IOBUF+tOCD. 
         [0005]    Times tYS, tDLSA2DQBUF and tOCD cannot be shortened due to certain limitations of design. Time tYS2DLSA cannot be shortened because it is importance to ensure that input differential signals have enough time to develop from zero level to a proper differential level before being processed by the sensing amplifier  120 . Hence, after the Y switch receives the signal, it needs to wait a default time (i.e. tYS2DLSA) before enabling the sensing amplifier. For a faster read unit, which operates with a faster input clock and shorter clock period, a much shorter time is taken to develop the signals from zero level to a proper differential level suitable for the sensing amplifier  110 . That is, the time needed by waiting to receive the signals to enabling the sensing amplifier  110  could be shorter than the default time. If the conventional read unit still enables the sensing amplifier after the default time expires, the process time will be wasted and the overall performance will be degraded. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    To address the above-mentioned problem, the present invention provides an adaptive control technique based on an input clock, which selectively controls enablement time of a sensing amplifier based on the input clock to improve the overall operating speed. 
         [0007]    According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an adaptive control method based on an input clock is provided. The adaptive control method comprises: performing a read procedure according to the input clock; receiving a read command; receiving a data signal via a data line according to the read command; enabling an amplifying unit according to at least the input clock; and utilizing the amplifying unit to amplify the data signal. 
         [0008]    According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an adaptive control device is provided. The adaptive control device comprises: a read unit, an amplifying unit and a control circuit. The read unit is employed for receiving an input clock, and performing a read procedure according to the input clock. The control circuit is coupled to the amplifying unit and the read unit, and employed for receiving a read command and controlling the read unit to receive a data signal via a data line according to the read command, and enabling the amplifying unit according to the input clock to utilize the amplifying unit to amplify the data signal. 
         [0009]    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 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  illustrates a portion of a conventional read unit architecture. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  illustrates some signals of a conventional read unit. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  illustrates a schematic diagram of an adaptive control device according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  illustrates some signals of the adaptive control device according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  illustrates some signals of the adaptive control device according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  illustrates some signals of the adaptive control device according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  illustrates some signals of the adaptive control device according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  illustrates some signals of the adaptive control device according to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  illustrates a schematic diagram of an adaptive control device according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    Certain terms are used throughout the following descriptions and claims to refer to particular system 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 differ in functionality. In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “include”, “including”, “comprise”, and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . ” The terms “couple” and “coupled” are intended to mean either an indirect or a direct electrical connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct electrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other devices and connections. 
         [0020]      FIG. 3  illustrates a schematic diagram of an adaptive control device  300  implemented according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The adaptive control device  300  comprises: a read unit  310 , an amplifying unit  320  and a control circuit  330 . The read unit  310  is employed for receiving an input clock CK, and performing a read procedure according to the input clock CK. The control circuit  330  is coupled to the amplifying unit  320  and the read unit  310 , and employed for receiving a read command RD, and according to the read command RD, controlling the read unit  310  to receive a data signal via data lines DL and DL−. Subsequently, the control circuit  330  enables the amplifying unit  320  according to the input clock CK. The amplifying unit  320  is further employed for amplifying the data signal. Note that, in this embodiment, after the control circuit  330  receives the read command RD, the control circuit  330  enables the amplifying unit  320  according to a rising edge of the input clock CK to amplify the data signal on the data lines DL and DL−. According to various embodiments of the present invention, it is feasible to use a falling edge of the input clock CK for the purpose of enabling the amplifying unit  320 . As long as any design uses the input clock CK to enable the amplifying unit  320 , this falls within the scope of the invention. For example, in one embodiment, the control circuit  330  could be implemented with a lock unit (e.g. a phase locked loop, PLL) or a delay lock unit (e.g. delay locked loop, DLL). The control circuit  330  could lock to a frequency of the input clock CK, and generate an adaptive delay time that is directly proportional to a period of the input clock CK according to the frequency of the input clock CK. After the adaptive control device  300  receives the read command Rd, the amplifying unit  320  will be enabled when the adaptive delay time expires. In another embodiment, if the frequency of the input clock CK falls within a predetermined range, after receiving the read command Rd, the adaptive control device  300  will enable the amplifying unit  320  once a default delay time expires. If the frequency of the input clock CK falls outside the predetermined range, the adaptive control device  300  will generate the adaptive delay time that is directly proportional to the period of the input clock CK. After the read command Rd is received, the amplifying unit  320  will be enabled when the adaptive delay time expires. The above-mentioned implementations all fall within the scope of the present invention. 
         [0021]      FIG. 4  illustrates operations and principles of the adaptive control device  300  for further details.  FIG. 4  illustrates some signals of the adaptive control device  300  according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. After the adaptive control device  300  receives the read command Rd, the rising edge of the input clock CK will trigger and select one Y switch of the read unit  310  for transmission. Enablement of the amplifying unit  320  (which serves as a sensing amplifier here) of the adaptive control device  300  is controlled by the rising edge of the input clock CK. Thus, the required time from receiving the read command Rd to amplifying the signal by the amplifying unit  320  would be tCK+tDLSA2. In this embodiment, tCK is the period of the input clock CK, while tDLSA2 is default delay time and subsequent to the second rising edge after the read command Rd. In the conventional art shown by  FIG. 2 , the required time from receiving the read command Rd to amplifying the signal by the amplifying unit  320  would be tYS+tYS2dlsa, but in this embodiment the required time would be tCK+tDLSA2. In other words, the required time becomes a period of time that is in positive correlation with the input clock, instead of a constant period of time. Hence, the adaptive control device  300  may process the read command faster than the conventional art when receiving high-speed clocks. 
         [0022]    Note that the period of time that is in positive correlation with the input clock is not limited to one period tCK of the input clock. For example, it could be related to 0.5 period, 1.5 periods, 2 periods or the like. The operation of the adaptive control device  300  may lead to the result as shown in  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  illustrates some signals of the adaptive control device  300  according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. After the adaptive control device  300  receives the read command Rd, the rising edge of the input clock CK will trigger and select one Y switch of the read unit  310  for transmission. Enablement of the amplifying unit  320  (which serves as a sensing amplifier here) of the adaptive control device  300  is controlled by a falling edge of the input clock CK at a half period subsequent to triggering the read unit  310 . Thus, the required time from receiving the read command Rd to amplifying the signal by the amplifying unit  320  would be 0.5*tCK+tDLSA2. In this embodiment, tCK is the period of the input clock CK, while tDLSA2 is default delay time and subsequent to the first falling edge after the read command Rd. In the conventional art shown by  FIG. 2 , the required time from receiving the read command Rd to amplifying the signal by the amplifying unit  320  would be tYS+tYS2dlsa, but in this embodiment the required time would be 0.5*tCK+tDLSA2. In other words, the required time becomes a period of time that is in positive correlation with the input clock, instead of a constant period of time. Hence, the adaptive control device  300  may process the read command faster than the conventional art when receiving high-speed clocks. 
         [0023]    The operation of the adaptive control device  300  could also lead to the result shown in  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  illustrates some signals of the adaptive control device  300  according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. After the adaptive control device  300  receives the read command Rd, the rising edge of the input clock CK will trigger and select one Y switch of the read unit  310  for transmission. Enablement of the amplifying unit  320  (which serves as a sensing amplifier here) of the adaptive control device  300  is controlled by a second falling edge of the input clock CK at one and a half periods subsequent to triggering the read unit  310 . Thus, the required time from receiving the read command Rd to amplifying the signal by the amplifying unit  320  would be 1.5*tCK+tDLSA2. In this embodiment, tCK is the period of the input clock CK, while tDLSA2 is default delay time and subsequent to the second falling edge after the read command Rd. In the conventional art shown by  FIG. 2 , the required time from receiving the read command Rd to amplifying the signal by the amplifying unit  320  would be tYS+tYS2dlsa, but in this embodiment the required time would be 1.5*tCK+tDLSA2. In other words, the required time becomes a period of time that is in positive correlation with the input clock, instead of a constant period of time. Hence, the adaptive control device  300  may process the read command faster than the conventional art when receiving high-speed clocks. 
         [0024]    The operation of the adaptive control device  300  may lead to the result as shown in  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 7  illustrates some signals of the adaptive control device  300  according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. After the adaptive control device  300  receives the read command Rd, the rising edge of the input clock CK will trigger and select one Y switch of the read unit  310  for transmission. Enablement of the amplifying unit  320  (which serves as a sensing amplifier here) of the adaptive control device  300  is controlled by a second rising edge of the input clock CK at two periods subsequent to triggering the read unit  310 . Thus, the required time from receiving the read command Rd to amplifying the signal by the amplifying unit  320  would be 2*tCK+tDLSA2. In this embodiment, tCK is the period of the input clock CK, while tDLSA2 is default delay time and subsequent to the second rising edge after the read command Rd. In the conventional art shown by  FIG. 2 , the required time from receiving the read command Rd to amplifying the signal by the amplifying unit  320  would be tYS+tYS2dlsa, but in this embodiment the required time would be 2*tCK+tDLSA2. In other words, the required time becomes a period of time that is in positive correlation with the input clock, instead of a constant period of time. Hence, the adaptive control device  300  may process the read command faster than the conventional art when receiving high-speed clocks. 
         [0025]    It can be understood from the above embodiments that when the control circuit  330  receives the read command RD, it can enable the amplifying unit  320  at a rising edge or a falling edge after multiples of a half period of the input clock CK. For example, the control circuit  330  could enable the amplifying unit  320  according to an edge (rising or falling) at 2.5, 3, or 3.5 periods of the input clock CK, as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 8  illustrates some signals of the adaptive control device  300  according to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. After the adaptive control device  300  receives the read command Rd, the rising edge of the input clock CK will trigger and select one Y switch of the read unit  310  for transmission. The enablement of the amplifying unit  320  (which serves as a sensing amplifier) of the adaptive control device  300  could be controlled by signal transition (i.e. the rising edge or the falling edge) at multiples (2.5, 3, or 3.5) of the period after the input clock CK triggers the read unit  310 . Thus, the required time from receiving the read command Rd to amplifying the signal by the amplifying unit  320  would be (2.5, 3, 3.5, . . . )*tCK+tDLSA2. In this embodiment, tCK is the period of the input clock CK, while tDLSA2 is default delay time and fixedly at the occurrence of signal transition at selected multiples of the period after the read command Rd. In the conventional art shown by  FIG. 2 , the required time from receiving the read command Rd to amplifying the signal by the amplifying unit  320  would be tYS+tYS2dlsa, but in this embodiment the required time would be (2.5, 3, 3.5, . . . )*tCK+tDLSA2. In other words, the required time becomes a period of time that is in positive correlation with the input clock, instead of a constant period of time. Hence, the adaptive control device  300  may process the read command faster than the conventional art when receiving high-speed clocks. 
         [0027]      FIG. 9  illustrates a schematic diagram of an adaptive control device  900  according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The adaptive control device  900  comprises: a read unit  910 , an amplifying unit  920 , a control circuit  930 , a timer  940  and a selection unit  950 . Functionalities and architecture of the read unit  910 , the amplifying unit  920 , and the control circuit  930  are substantially identical to those of the read unit  310 , the amplifying unit  320 , and the control circuit  330  of  FIG. 3 . Hence, the detailed descriptions of the read unit  910 , the amplifying unit  920  and the control circuit  930  are omitted here. The timer  940  is employed for providing a default delay time to the selection unit  950 . After receiving the read command Rd, the selection unit  950  generates an amplifying unit enablement signal SA_EN according to the default delay time or the input clock CK to enable the amplifying unit  920 . The selection unit  950  can be implemented with a simple OR logic gate, a phase/frequency detector or any other similar circuitry. Note that, when the frequency of the input clock CK is lower, the adaptive control device  900  enables the amplifying unit  920  through the path from the timer  940  to the selection unit  950 . Similar to the conventional art, by properly choosing the default delay time, the selection unit  950  waits the time tYS+tYS2DLSA to generate the amplifier unit enablement signal SA_EN to enable the amplifying unit  920  after the timer  940  receives the read command Rd. What is different from the conventional art is that once the frequency of the input clock CK is higher than a threshold, the amplifying unit  820  is enabled through the path from the control circuit  930  to the selection unit  950  to achieve a better performance. Hence, the adaptive control device  900  uses different processing paths according to different input clocks so that the performance can be improved. 
         [0028]    In conclusion, the present invention provides an adaptive control method based on an input clock and related apparatus. The timing of enabling the sensing amplifier may be determined according to the period of the input clock. Hence, the performance of the present invention can be improved as the frequency of the input clock increases. 
         [0029]    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.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6