Chapter 6

Programmable ASIC I/O Cells

Application-Specific Integrated Circuits

Michael John Sebastian Smith
Addison Wesley, 1997
 I/O Requirements
 I/O cells handle driving signals off chip,
 Receiving and conditioning external inputs,
 Supplying power and ground, and
 Handling such things as electrostatic protection
 Different types of I/O requirements
 DC output - driving a resistive load at DC or low frequency,
LEDs, relays, small motors, etc.
 AC output - driving a capacitive load with a high-speed logic
signal off-chip, data or address bus, serial data line, etc.
 DC input - reading the value of a sensor, switch, or another logic
chip
 AC input - reading the value of high-speed signals from another
chip
 Clock input - system or synchronous bus inputs
 Power input - supplying power (and ground) to the I/O cells and
logic core
 CMOS Output Buffer
 CMOS output buffer has finite (non-zero) output resistance
 Therefore, it can only drive the output voltage rail-to-rail for a zero output
current
 Typical output currents that can be driven by a standard digital I/O pad are
in the range of 50mA to 200mA

Figure 6.2 (a) A CMOS complementary output buffer. (b) Pull-down transistor M2 sinks a current IOL
through a pull-up resistor R1. (c) Pull-up transistor M1 sources current -IOH through a pull-
down resistor R2. (d) Output characteristics.
Motor Control (Robotic Arm) Application

Figure 6.1 A robot arm. (a) Three small DC motors drive the arm. (b) Switches control each motor.
I/O Circuit for High Current Motor Control

Figure 6.3 A circuit to drive a small electric motor (0.5A) using ASIC I/O buffers.
 Totem-Pole Output
 Uses two n channel transistors as output drivers
 Advantage is that it has a higher output drive for a ‘1’ output
 Disadvantage is that output voltage will not be higher than VDD -VTn

Figure 6.4 Output buffer characteristics. (a) A CMOS totem-pole output stage (b) Totem-pole output
characteristics. (c) Clamp diodes. (d) The clamp diodes start to conduct as the output voltage
exceeds the supply voltage bounds.
 AC Output
 AC outputs are often used to connect to a bi-directional bus -
bus transceivers
 This functionality requires the capability for three-state (tri-
state) outputs - ‘0’, ‘1’, and high-impedance or hi-z
 In addition to rise and fall times, bidirectional I/O pads have
timing parameters related to the hi-z state (float time):
 tENZL - output hi-Z to ‘0’ time
 tENLZ - output ‘0’ to hi-Z
 tENZH - output hi-Z to ‘1’ Bi-Directional I/O Pad
 tENHZ - output ‘1’ to hi-Z Data_In

Data_Out

I/O Pad
OE
 3 State Bus Example

Figure 6.5 A three-state bus. (a) Bus parasitic capacitance. (b) The output buffers in each chip. The ASIC
CHIP1 contains a bus keeper, BK1.
3 State Bus Timing

Figure 6.6 Three-state bus timing for Figure 6.5.

 Characterizing AC Output Pads

Figure 6.7 (a) The test circuit for characterizing the ACT2 and ACT 3 I/O delay parameters. (b) Output buffer propagation
delays from the data input to PAD. (c) Three-state delay with D low. (d) Three-state delay with D high.
 Supply (GND) Bounce
 Ground (also VDD) net has finite parasitic resistance and inductance
 Switching a load through a pull-down transistor causes a 2nd order
response (ground bounce or ringing) on ground net
 Ground bounce can cause glitching on other logic signals

Figure 6.8 Supply bounce. (a) As the pull-down device M1, switches, it causes the GND net to bounce. (b) The supply
bounce is dependent on the output slew rate. (c) Ground bounce can cause other output buffers to generate a
logic path. (d) Bounce can also cause errors on other inputs.
 Transmission Lines
 Driving large capacitive loads at high speed gives rise to
transmission line effects
 Transmission lines are defined by their characteristic impedance -
determined by their physical characteristics
 Maximum energy transfer occurs when the source impedance
matches the transmission line impedance
Vw = Vo (Zo/R0+Z0)
 The time it takes the signal wave to propagate down the
transmission line is called the time-of-flight (tf)
 Typical time-of-flight for a PCB trace is on the order of 1 ns for every
15 cm of trace (about 1/2 the speed of light)
 When the signal wave is launched into the transmission line, it
travels to the other end and is reflected back to the source
 Transmission line effects become important if the rise time of the
driver is less than 2tf
 Transmission Line Example

Figure 6.9 Transmission lines. (a) A printed-circuit board (PCB) trace is a transmission line. (b) A driver launches an incident
wave which is reflected at the end of the line. (c) A connection starts to look like a transmission line when the
signal rise time is about equal to twice the delay.
 Terminating a Transmission Line
 Methods to terminate a transmission line:
 Open circuit or capacitive termination - bus termination is the input
capacitance of the receivers
 Parallel resistive termination - requires substantial DC current - used in
bipolar logic
 Thévenin termination - reduces DC current on the drivers, but adds
resistance across the source
 Series termination - total series resistance (source and termination)
equals the line impedance
 Parallel termination - requires a third power supply
 Parallel termination with series capacitance - eliminates DC current but
introduces other problems
 Some high-speed busses actually use the reflection facilitate the
data transmission (PCI bus)
 Other techniques include current-mode signaling or differential
signals
 Terminating a Transmission Line (cont.)

Figure 6.10 Transmission line termination. (a) Open-circuit or capacitive termination. (b) Parallel resistive termination. (c)
Thévenin termination. (d) Series termination at the source. (e) Parallel termination using a voltage bias. (f)
Parallel termination with a series capacitor.
 DC Input - Switch Bounce
 A pull-up or pull-down resistor is generally required on input buffers to keep
input from floating to indeterminate logic levels
 If the input is from a mechanical switch, the contacts may bounce,
producing several transitions through the switching threshold
 Some technique for debouncing mechanical switch inputs is usually
necessary

Figure 6.11 A switch input. (a) A pushbutton switch connected to an input buffer with a pull-up resistor. (b) As
the switch bounces several pulses may be generated.
Debouncing Using an SR Flip-Flop

SPDT momentary
switch or relay

NO

010

101

NC
 Debouncing Using Hysteresis

Figure 6.12 DC input. (a) A Schmitt-trigger inverter. (b) A noisy input signal. (c) Output from an inverter with no hysteresis. (d)
Hysteresis helps prevent glitches. (e) A typical FPGA input buffer with a hysteresis of 200mV centered around a
threshold of 1.4 V.
 DC Operation:
Voltage Transfer Characteristic

V(y)
V(x) V(y)

V f
OH
V(y)=V(x)

V Switching Threshold
M

VOL

VOL V V(x)
OH

Nominal Voltage Levels

Figures from material provided with Digital Integrated Circuits, A Design
Perspective, by Jan Rabaey, Prentice Hall, 1996
Mapping between analog and digital
signals

V V(y)
"1" OH
Slope = -1
V V
IH OH

Undefined
Region
Slope = -1
V
IL VOL
"0"
V
OL V V V(x)
IL IH

Figures from material provided with Digital Integrated Circuits, A Design

Perspective, by Jan Rabaey, Prentice Hall, 1996
 Definition of Noise Margins

"1"
V
OH
NMH
V
Noise Margin High IH
Undefined
Region
Noise Margin Low
NML V
IL
V
OL
"0"

Gate Output Gate Input

Figures from material provided with Digital Integrated Circuits, A Design

Perspective, by Jan Rabaey, Prentice Hall, 1996
 Noise Margins - Another Representation

Figure 6.13 Noise margins. (a) Transfer characteristics of a CMOS inverter with the lowest switching threshold. (b) The
highest switching threshold(c) A graphical representation of CMOS thresholds. (d) Logic thresholds at the inputs
and outputs of a logic gate or an ASIC. (e) The switching thresholds viewed as a plug and socket. (f) CMOS
plugs fit CMOS sockets and the clearances are the noise margins.
 Noise Margins - Interfacing TTL and
CMOS

Figure 6.14 TTL and CMOS logic thresholds. (a) TTL logic thresholds. (b) Typical CMOS logic thresholds. (c) A TTL plug will
not fit into a CMOS socket. (d) Raising VOHmin solves the problem.
 Noise Margins - Mixed Voltage Systems
(e.g. 3.3V and 5V)

Figure 6.15 Mixed-voltage systems. (a) TTL levels. (b) Low-voltage CMOS levels. (c) A mixed-voltage ASIC. (d) A problem
when connecting two chips with different supply voltages - caused by the input clamp diodes.
Positive Feedback: Bi-Stability

Vo1 =Vi2
Vi1 Vo2

Vi2 = Vo1
Vo1

Vi1 Vo2
Vi2 = Vo1

B
Vi1 = Vo2

Figures from material provided with Digital Integrated Circuits, A Design

Perspective, by Jan Rabaey, Prentice Hall, 1996
 Meta-Stability

B
Vi2 = Vo1

Vi2 = Vo1
C

 Vi1 = Vo2  Vi1 = Vo2

Gain should be larger than 1 in the transition region

Figures from material provided with Digital Integrated Circuits, A Design

Perspective, by Jan Rabaey, Prentice Hall, 1996
Metastability Example

Figure 6.16 Metastability. (a) Data coming from

one system is an asynchronous
input to another. (b) A flip-flop has
a very narrow decision window
bounded by the setup and hold
times. If the data input changes
inside this decision window, the
output may be metastable -
neither ‘1’ or ‘0’.
 Probability of Upset
 An upset is when a flip-flop output should have been a ‘0’ and
was a ‘1’ or visa-versa
 Probability of upset is:
tr

tc
p  T0e
where tr is the resolution time and T0 and tc are constants of
the flip-flop implementation
 Mean time between upsets (MTBU - similar to mean time
between failures) is:
tr

tc
e
MTBU 
T0 f clock f data
where fclock is the clock frequency and fdata is the data
frequency
 Probability of Upset Example
 Assume tr = 5 ns, tc =0.1 ns, and T0 = 0.1s:

5109
0.1109  23
p  0.1e  2 10

 Assume fclock = 100 MHz and fdata = 1 MHz:

5109
0.1109
e
MTBU    8
sec  16 years
 
100 10 110 0.1
6 6
5.

2 10

if we have a bus with 64inputs, each using a flip-flop as

above, the MTBU of the system is three months
MTBF as a Function of Resolution Time

Figure 6.17 Mean time between failures (MTBF) as a function of resolution time.
 Clock Input
 Most FPGAs and PLDs provide a dedicated clock input(s)
 Clock input needs to be low latency tPG, but also low skew tskew
 Low skew is ensured by using a dedicated, balanced clock tree, but this
tends to increase clock latency
 Example: Actel ACT1 FPGAs have a clock latency that can be as high as
15ns if the clock drives over 300 loads (flip-flops), but the skew is stated to
be in the sub nanosecond range
 Large clock latency causes hold time restrictions on data inputs - data gets
to the flip-flops faster than clock and must remain there until clock arrives
Balanced Clock Tree

to flip-flops...

Clock I/O Pad

tskew

tPG
 Clock Input Example

Figure 6.18 Clock input. (a) Timing model with values for Xilinx XC4005-6. (b) A simplified view of clock distribution. (c) Timing
diagram. Xilinx eliminates the variable internal delay tPG by specifying a pin-to-pin setup time tPSUFmin = 2ns.
Programmable Input Delay to Eliminate
Hold Time on Data Inputs

Figure 6.19 Programmable input delay. (a) Pin-to-pin timing model with values from an XC4005-
6. (b) Timing diagrams with and without programmable delay.
Effect of Clock Latency on Registered
Outputs

Figure 6.20 Registered output. (a) Timing model with values for an XC4005-6
programmed with the fast slew rate option. (b) Timing diagram.
 Power Input
 All devices require inputs for VDD and Gnd during operation
and programming voltage, VPP, during programming
 Larger devices with greater logic capacity require more power
pins to supply the necessary power while maintaining a
reasonable per-pin current limit
 This reduces the number of signal pins possible for larger
devices
 Some types of FPGAs (e.g. Xilinx) have their own power-on
reset sequence to reset flip-flops, initialize and load SRAM,
etc.
Example FPGA I/O Block

Figure 6.21 The Xilinx XC4000 family Input/output block (IOB).

 Timing Model with I/O Block

Figure 6.22 The Xilinx LCA (logic cell array) timing model. The paths show different uses of CLBs and IOBs.
Example FPGA I/O Block (cont.)

Figure 6.23 A simplified block diagram of the Altera I/O Control Block (IOC) used in
the MAX 5000 and MAX 7000 series.
 Example FPGA I/O Block (cont.)

Figure 6.24 A simplified block diagram of the Altera I/O Element (IOE) used in the Flex 8000 and 10k series.