公开(公告)号：US11294443B1

公开(公告)日：2022-04-05

申请号：US17018999

申请日：2020-09-11

Applicant: Apple Inc.

Inventor： Jafar Savoj ,  Robert S. Brandt, II ,  Bruno W. Garlepp

IPC: G06F1/00 ,  G06F1/28 ,  G06F1/3296 ,  G01R19/00 ,  G01K7/00

Abstract: A sensor circuit in a computer system measures a frequency of an oscillator circuit and uses the measured frequency to determine an operating condition of the computer system. The accuracy of the operating condition is limited by various sources of noise, including device noise, that introduce error into frequency measurements, limiting the accuracy to which the frequency of the oscillator signal may be measured. To improve the accuracy of the frequency measurement of the oscillator signal, the sensor circuit disables the oscillator between successive measurements, in order to reduce the correlation of error between the successive measurements. The sensor circuit combines the multiple measurement results to determine the frequency of the oscillator signal to a higher degree of accuracy, thereby improving the accuracy to which the operating condition is determined.

公开(公告)号：US20220100220A1

公开(公告)日：2022-03-31

申请号：US17033528

申请日：2020-09-25

Applicant: Apple Inc.

Inventor： Ali Mesgarani ,  Ke Yun ,  Seyedeh Sedigheh Hashemi ,  Jasdeep S. Dhaliwal ,  Mansour Keramat ,  Jafar Savoj ,  Bruno W. Garlepp ,  Vahid Majidzadeh Bafar ,  Emerson S. Fang

IPC: G05F3/26 ,  H03M1/34 ,  H03M3/00 ,  G01K7/01

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a system implementing a sensor. A sensing system is implemented in a functional circuit block that is coupled to a global supply voltage node. The sensing system includes a power converter circuit configured to generate a regulated voltage level on a local supply node using the voltage present on the global supply voltage node. The system also includes a sensor circuit coupled to receive the regulated voltage node, wherein the sensor is configured to compare corresponding parameters of different ones of a number of subset of device at a plurality of different time points and generate a plurality of comparison results. The comparisons generate an analog signal that is proportional to the operating parameter. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is coupled to receive the analog signal and generate a plurality of bits corresponding thereto.

公开(公告)号：US11258447B2

公开(公告)日：2022-02-22

申请号：US16796405

申请日：2020-02-20

Applicant: Apple Inc.

Inventor： Ramy A. Ahmed ,  Bruno W. Garlepp ,  Jafar Savoj

IPC: H03K21/00 ,  H03K21/40 ,  H03K3/03 ,  H03K19/0175 ,  H03K21/08

Abstract: A circuit for sensing local operating properties of an integrated circuit is disclosed. The circuit may include one or more sensor circuits configured to sense the local operating properties of the integrated circuit. The sensor circuits may receive a supply voltage with a magnitude in a limited range from a digital power supply that is different from the digital power supply that provides power to functional circuits in the integrated circuit. Level shifters may be coupled to the sensor circuits to shift output signals from the sensor circuits to levels that correspond to the digital power supply that provides power to functional circuits in the integrated circuit. Counters and a shift register may be coupled to the level shifters to receive the shifted output signals, the values of which may be used to determine the local operating properties of the integrated circuit as sensed by the sensor circuits.

公开(公告)号：US20210396805A1

公开(公告)日：2021-12-23

申请号：US16906715

申请日：2020-06-19

Applicant: Apple Inc.

Inventor： Ke Yun ,  Weibiao Zhang ,  Bruno W. Garlepp ,  Gin S. Yee

IPC: G01R31/30 ,  G01R31/28

Abstract: An apparatus includes an integrated circuit that includes an in-circuit power switch coupled to a power supply node, a functional circuit coupled between the in-circuit power switch and a ground node, a test circuit, and a test power switch coupled to the test circuit, wherein the test power switch is a replica of the in-circuit power switch. The test circuit is configured to determine characteristics of the test power switch, and to measure a voltage difference across the in-circuit power switch. The test circuit is also configured to use the characteristics of the test power switch and the voltage difference to determine a power consumption of the functional circuit.