摘要 |
Apparatus and method for determining variation in a predetermined physical property of a circuit. The apparatus includes monitored circuitry for generating output pulses, and configured such that each output pulse has a pulse width which is indicative of the current value of the predetermined physical property. Circuitry is then configured to receive both the output pulses generated by the monitored circuitry and an oscillating timing reference signal. With reference to the oscillating timing reference signal, the counter circuitry produces for each output pulse an associated count value indicative of the pulse width of that output pulse. Circuitry then compares the associated count values for at least two output pulses, in order to produce a comparison result used to determine the variation in the predetermined physical property. This provides a flexible mechanism for monitoring variations in a physical property on the fly during use of a data processing circuit.
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