Nordic Semiconductor Asa

Atmel Corporation

Bartosz Gajda

Frode Milch Pedersen

David Alexandre Engelien-Lopes

Samuli Hallikainen

Kjetil Holstad

A circuit portion comprises a DCDC converter that provides current to one of a plurality of loads at a time. A controller detects when a voltage across an under-supplied load of the plurality of loads is below a first threshold. Channel logic circuitry provides current from the converter to the under-supplied load in response to the controller detecting that the voltage is below the first threshold. A voltage regulator provides current to the under-supplied load when the voltage is below a second threshold.

DCDC converters

An electronic device comprising a system on chip and an external module. The system on chip includes a plurality of internal subsystems and a power management system including a plurality of internal voltage regulators which supply power to the plurality of internal subsystems. Each of the internal voltage regulators has an associated current limiter. The external module includes at least one external voltage regulator which can provide power to at least one of the internal subsystems. The power management system during a start-up phase enables the internal voltage regulators and the current limiters and in a subsequent phase determines an externally powered set of the internal subsystems, disables the corresponding internal voltage regulators, and disables the current limiters associated with the internal subsystems not externally powered.

Management of power to internal subsystems within a system on chip

A method is disclosed for producing an output clock signal with a target frequency using an oscillator circuit portion configured to receive a control value and produce an output clock signal with a frequency dependent on the control value. In one embodiment, the method comprises providing a first control value to the oscillator circuit portion corresponding to the target frequency, so as to cause the oscillator circuit portion to produce the output clock signal with a first frequency, comparing the output clock signal with a reference clock signal having a reference frequency to determine an offset between the first frequency and the target frequency, and providing a second control value to the oscillator circuit portion that differs from the first control value by a magnitude calculated with reference to the determined offset, to cause the oscillator circuit portion to produce the output clock signal with a second frequency.

Clock circuit portions

A clock selector circuit receives a first input clock signal (CLK) having a first frequency, and a second input clock signal (CLK) having a second frequency. A phase difference detector is configured to detect when a phase difference occurs, over time, between the first input clock signal (CLK) and the second input clock signal (CLK), determined using when a clock edge crosses zero, and to signal this zero crossing to switching circuitry. The switching circuitry is configured, in response to receiving a zero-crossing signal from the phase difference detector, to detect an edge of opposite type to the predetermined type in the first input clock signal (CLK) or in the second input clock signal (CLK), and, in response to detecting said edge of opposite type, to switch an output clock signal (CLK_OUT) between the first input clock signal (CLK) and the second input clock signal (CLK).

Clock selector circuit

A circuit portion for indicating a mutual capacitance between a first and second node is provided. The circuit portion comprises a switchable constant current source arrangement configured to supply a first current to the first node in a first direction or a second current to the first node in a second, opposite direction; a variable voltage source configured to output a voltage to the second node so as to hold the first node at a reference voltage; and a comparator arrangement configured to switch between said first and second directions of the constant current source when the voltage output by the variable voltage source reaches a lower threshold voltage or an upper threshold voltage and to output a signal in synchrony with said constant current direction switching. The signal is indicative of the mutual capacitance between the first and second nodes.

Mutual capacitance measurement

A radio-frequency (RF) amplifier device comprises a signal input for receiving an RF electrical signal, a variable-gain amplifier for amplifying the received signal, and a signal output for outputting the amplified signal. The device has a binary input for switching a gain of the amplifier between a first level and the custom gain level. Configuration logic receives serialised data encoding a custom gain level at a serial input, and stores data representative of the custom gain level in a memory of the device. Gain-control logic reads the data representative of the custom gain level from the memory, and sets the gain of the amplifier to the first level or to the custom gain level in dependence on a state of the binary input.

Radio-frequency amplifier device

A calibration system and method are disclosed that include a first bias current generator configured for generating a first bias current that is proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) and a second bias current generator configured for generating a second bias current that is complementary to absolute temperature (CTAT). The first and second bias currents are copied, multiplied and then summed into a total output bias current, which can be used to bias an electronic circuit. A temperature coefficient is calibrated by changing a ratio of the first and second bias current contributions to the total output bias current, while maintaining the same total output bias current level for a given temperature.

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Trondheim, Norway

Bartosz Gajda