Charge recycling between power domains of integrated circuits

摘要

A mechanism is provided for efficiently recycling a charge from a power domain that is discharging. A side of a discharging power domain normally coupled to a voltage supply is disconnected from the voltage supply. The side of the precharging power domain normally coupled to the voltage supply is currently disconnected from the voltage supply. The side of the discharging power domain normally coupled to the voltage supply is connected to a side of the precharging power domain normally coupled to the voltage supply. A side of the discharging power domain normally coupled to the ground is disconnected from ground. The side of the discharging power domain normally coupled to ground is connected to the voltage supply, thereby precharging the precharging power domain with the charge from the discharging power domain that would normally he lost due to leakage.

主权项

1. An apparatus for efficiently recycling a charge from a power domain that is discharging, comprising:
a discharging power domain; a precharging power domain; a first switch that disconnects aside of the discharging power domain normally coupled to a voltage supply from the voltage supply; a second switch that connects the side of the discharging power domain normally coupled to the voltage supply to a side of the precharging power domain normally coupled to the voltage supply, wherein the side of the precharging power domain normally coupled to the voltage supply is currently disconnected from the voltage supply via a third switch; a fourth switch that disconnects a side of the discharging power domain normally coupled to the ground from ground; and a fifth switch that connects the side of the discharging power domain normally coupled to ground to the voltage supply, thereby precharging the precharging power domain with the charge from the discharging power domain that would normally be lost due to leakage by shifting a potential of a capacitive load in the discharging power domain thereby forcing the charge on the side of the discharging power domain normally coupled to the voltage supply to transfer to the side of the precharging power domain normally coupled to the voltage supply.