Digital signal transition counters for digital integrated circuits

Abstract

A digital integrated circuit may include a digital data processing circuit having multiple signal lines that each go through signal transitions during operation of the digital data processing circuit. A digital counter circuit may count the combined number of signal transitions that take place on at least two of the multiple signal lines during operation of the digital circuit. A digital counter circuit may count the number of times a particular pattern of signal transitions takes place on at least one signal line during operation of the circuit. A computer program may receive information indicative of a composition of a digital integrated circuit, input vectors to the digital integrated circuit, and how much power is being consumed by the digital integrated circuit under each of the input vectors. The program may output information indicative of an amount of power being consumed by each of multiple, different sub-sections of the digital integrated circuit while responding to the input vectors.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A digital integrated circuit comprising:
 a digital data processing circuit having multiple signal lines that each go through signal transitions during operation of the digital data processing circuit; and   a digital counter circuit that counts the combined number of signal transitions that take place on at least two of the multiple signal lines during operation of the digital circuit.   
     
     
         2 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 1  wherein:
 the at least two of the multiple signal lines go through a signal transition at substantially the same time; and 
 the digital counter circuit increments the count only once when the at least two of the multiple signal lines go through a signal transition at substantially the same time. 
 
     
     
         3 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 1  wherein:
 the at least two of the multiple signal lines go through a signal transition at substantially the same time; and 
 the digital counter circuit increments the count in an amount equal to the number of the at least two of the multiple signal lines when the at least two of the multiple signal lines go through a signal transition at substantially the same time. 
 
     
     
         4 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 1  further comprising a sampling circuit that samples the count periodically. 
     
     
         5 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 4  further comprising a non-linear compensation circuit that compensates the sampled periodic counts for nonlinearities between changes in the number of transitions and changes in the power consumed by the digital circuit that result from these transitions. 
     
     
         6 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 5  wherein the non-linear compensation circuit includes a lookup table. 
     
     
         7 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 4  wherein the digital integrated circuit outputs the sampled counts. 
     
     
         8 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 4  wherein the digital integrated circuit computes information indicative of an amount of power being consumed by a sub-circuit of the digital integrated circuit based on at least one of the sampled counts. 
     
     
         9 . A digital integrated circuit comprising:
 a digital data processing circuit having at least one signal line that goes through signal transitions during operation of the digital data processing circuit; and   a digital counter circuit that counts the number of times a particular pattern of signal transitions takes place on the least one signal line during operation of the circuit.   
     
     
         10 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 9  wherein:
 the digital data processing circuit has multiple signal lines, each of which goes through signal transitions during operation of the digital data processing circuit; and 
 the digital counter circuit counts the number of times a particular pattern of transitions takes place on each of at least two of the multiple signal lines during operation of the circuit. 
 
     
     
         11 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 10  wherein:
 the at least two of the multiple signal lines go through a particular pattern of signal transitions at substantially the same time; and 
 the digital counter circuit increments the count only once when the at least two of the multiple signal lines go through the particular pattern of signal transitions at substantially the same time. 
 
     
     
         12 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 9  wherein:
 the at least two of the multiple signal lines go through a particular pattern of signal transitions at substantially the same time; and 
 the digital counter circuit increments the count in an amount equal to the number of the at least two of the multiple signal lines when the at least two of the multiple signal lines go through the particular pattern of signal transitions at substantially the same time. 
 
     
     
         13 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 9  further comprising a sampling circuit that samples the count periodically. 
     
     
         14 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 13  further comprising a non-linear compensation circuit that compensates the sampled periodic counts for nonlinearities between changes in the number of particular pattern signal transitions and changes in the power consumed by the digital circuit that result from these transitions. 
     
     
         15 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 14  wherein the non-linear compensation circuit includes a lookup table. 
     
     
         16 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 13  wherein the digital integrated circuit outputs the sampled counts. 
     
     
         17 . The digital integrated circuit of  claim 13  wherein the digital integrated circuit computes information indicative of an amount of power being consumed by a sub-circuit of the digital integrated circuit based on at least one of the sampled counts. 
     
     
         18 . A non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium containing a program of instructions that causes a computer system running the program of instructions to:
 receive information indicative of:
 a composition of a digital integrated circuit; 
 input vectors to the digital integrated circuit; and 
 how much power is being consumed by the digital integrated circuit under each of the input vectors; and 
   output information indicative of an amount of power being consumed by each of multiple, different sub-sections of the digital integrated circuit while responding to the input vectors.   
     
     
         19 . The storage medium of  claim 18  wherein the information outputted includes information indicative of an amount of power being consumed by each of the multiple, different sub-sections of the digital integrated circuit while responding to input vectors other than the received input vectors. 
     
     
         20 . The storage medium of  claim 18  wherein:
 the received information that is indicative of the composition of the digital integrated circuit includes information identifying at least one signal line within the digital integrated circuit; and 
 the program of instructions computes the number of transitions that take place on the at least one signal line while responding to the input vectors. 
 
     
     
         21 . The storage medium of  claim 11  wherein:
 the received information that is indicative of the composition of the digital integrated circuit includes information identifying at least one signal line within the digital integrated circuit; and 
 the program of instructions computes the number of times a particular pattern of transitions takes place on the least one signal line while responding to the input vectors.