Nxp B.v.

Steven H De Cuyper

James J McCormack

Jo Frisson

Davy Witters

Graeme Francis

The present invention provides for method of seeking synchronization at a data interface between a transmitting element and a receiving element, and to related transmitting and receiving elements of the interface, in which the clock frequency of both elements is the same but which exhibit a phase difference, also known as mesochronous clock domains, the method including the steps of, prior to data transfer at the interface, delivering a strobe signal generated at the transmitting element to the receiving element, generating a strobe signal at the receiving element and synchronizing the same to the strobe signal received from the transmitting element, and maintaining the synchronized strobe signal generated at the receiving element for the sampling of data appearing at the interface from the transmitting element.

Data interface and method of seeking synchronization

An integrated circuit () that comprises an internal clock circuit () with a clock output for clocking functional circuits () of the integrated circuit (). The integrated circuit is provided with a counter circuit () and a state holding circuit () for use during testing. The integrated circuit is switched to a test mode and a start of a test time interval is signalled. Clock pulses from the internal clock circuitare counted from the start of the test time interval and the state holding circuit () is locked into a predetermined state if the internal clock circuit has produced more than a predetermined number of clock pulses from the start of the test time interval. Information about whether the state holding circuit () has reached the predetermined state in the test time interval is read from the integrated circuit () and the information is used by a test evaluation apparatus () to accept or reject the integrated circuit ().

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Braschaat, Belgium

Steven H De Cuyper