CONFIGURABLE LAST LEVEL CLOCK DRIVER FOR IMPROVED ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF A RESONANT CLOCK

摘要

Systems and methods are directed to a configurable last level driver coupled to a inductor-capacitor (LC) tank or resonant clock, for improving energy efficiency of the resonant clock. In a warm up stage, the last level clock driver can be enabled to store energy in the LC tank, and in a gating stage, the last level clock driver can be fully or partially disabled such that energy stored in the LC tank can be recirculated into a clock distribution network. In a refreshing stage, the last level clock driver can be enabled to replenish the energy lost by the LC tank in the recirculation of energy into the clock distribution network during the gating stage. Programmable counters can be used to control durations of the warm up, gating, and refreshing stages.

主权项

1. A method of operating a last level clock driver, the method comprising:
in a first stage, enabling the last level clock driver to store energy in an inductor-capacitor (LC) tank; and in a second stage, fully or partially disabling the last level clock driver and recirculating the energy stored in the LC tank into a clock distribution network.