Who

True Circuits, Inc. (TCI), a leading provider of analog and mixed-signal intellectual property (IP) for the semiconductor, systems and electronics industries.

What

At the Design Automation Conference (DAC), TCI will showcase its synthesizable PLLs and DLLs that raise the bar for timing IP features, performance and flexibility for a wide range of customer applications.  The synthesizable Precision PLL, micro PLL and micro DLL incorporate leading-edge technology and are available in the latest process nodes and back to 28nm.

The synthesizable Precision PLL generates multiple precision clocks supporting any modulation scheme from almost DC to 10GHz.  The outputs can be independently dynamically programmed cycle-by-cycle to any clock period and the clock frequency can be a precise ratio of floating point numbers times the reference frequency.  The integrated phase noise is better than 500ps RMS.  It is ideal for SerDes, processor and DVFS applications.

The synthesizable micro PLL is a small synthesizable general-purpose PLL that multiplies the reference clock by any integer or fractional-N value from 1 to 500K.  It supports reference clock frequencies as low as 32KHz and output frequencies as high as 3GHz.  It can stay locked to the reference clock while it changes over a 10:1 frequency range.  Because it is synthesizable, it can support spreading as well as other modulation profiles.  It is relatively low power, very fast locking and can quickly restart from a sleep mode.

The synthesizable micro DLL is a small synthesizable DLL with a master and multiple slaves topology.  It can support reference frequencies typically in the range of 500MHz to 3GHz and track reference changes over an 8:1 frequency range while providing 9-bit accuracy in slave delay programming.  Slave delays can be changed glitch free and the DLL can quickly restart from a sleep mode.  It has a very small zero code offset that can be precisely cancelled.

TCI will also showcase its high performance, silicon proven DDR PHY with fully automatic training managed by a light weight special purpose processor, and remarkable physical flexibility to adapt to each customer’s die floorplan and package. The DDR PHY has been developed using the powerful custom design automation tools that have made TCI’s line of high performance PLLs and DLLs a staple in the semiconductor industry for over 24 years.  The PHY supports LPDDR5, DDR4, LPDDR4, DDR3, and LPDDR3 protocols in a variety of TSMC processes from 40nm to 4nm.  The availability of this silicon proven PHY means customers can now license a PHY with significant performance and features without all the implementation and timing closure hassles that are common with current DDR offerings.

The DDR PHY supports up to LPDDR5, and has undergone extensive silicon testing in our lab and has achieved DDR4 3200Mbps and DDR3 2133Mbps in TSMC 28nm HPC+ across PVT without bit errors. TCI went to great lengths to implement the DDR 4/3 PHY test chip just as our customers would implement a product chip.  We used industry standard tools to synthesize, place and route the test chip, incorporated a Northwest Logic controller and Aragio Solutions DDR and General Purpose IOs, utilized custom high quality test boards and sockets, and used Micron memories.  Taking this approach allowed us to experience and evaluate every aspect of the implementation of the PHY so we can better support our customers.

During the show, we will be giving short presentations and demos of the PHY in action.  This will be a great opportunity to ask questions and learn what makes a TCI DDR PHY hard macro one special piece of IP.

We will also feature our complete line of standardized and silicon-proven general purpose, clock generator, deskew, spread spectrum, Ultra and IoT PLLs, and multi-slave and multi-phase DLLs that spans nearly all performance points, features and foundry processes typically requested by ASIC, FPGA and SoC designers.  These high quality, low-jitter PLL and DLL hard macros are suited to a wide variety of interface standards and chip applications.  They are pin-programmable, highly process tolerant, reusable and available for delivery in TSMC, GLOBALFOUNDRIES and UMC processes from 180nm to 4nm.

As always, we are glad to discuss your IP needs, including IP selection, IP integration, IP reuse, jitter specifications and silicon testing, so please stop by our booth #1337 and spend some time with the timing experts!

When and Where

Moscone Convention Center, West Hall, San Francisco, CA

True Circuits Booth #1337

Monday - Wednesday, July 11-13, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Contacts

For more information about True Circuits' PLLs, DLLs and DDR PHYs, please visit  www.truecircuits.com.

For more information about the Design Automation Conference, please visit  www.dac.com.

About True Circuits Standard PLLs and DLLs

True Circuits offers a complete family of standardized and silicon-proven general purpose, clock generator, deskew, spread spectrum, IoT and Ultra PLLs, and multi-slave and multi-phase DLLs that spans nearly all performance points and features typically requested by ASIC, FPGA and SoC designers. These high quality, low-jitter PLL and DLL hard macros are suited to a wide variety of interface standards and chip applications. They are pin-programmable, highly process tolerant and reusable. They are also easy to integrate and are fully supported, so customers can reduce both design and silicon risks.

True Circuits PLLs support a wide range of frequencies, multiplication factors and functions over which they deliver optimal performance, avoiding the cost and complexity of licensing multiple point-solution PLLs or fiddling with digital PLLs. TCI’s PLLs are available with ring-oscillator and LC-tank architectures, fractional-N division and frequency spreading for EMI reduction. TCI's DLLs are available in multi-slave and multi-phase versions and different sizes and form factors. They delay a set of signals by precise and adjustable fractions of a reference clock cycle independent of voltage and temperature and are ideal for high-speed DDR and ONFI interface applications. Customized PLL and DLL solutions are also available for specialized chip applications.

True Circuits PLLs and DLLs are available for immediate customer delivery in TSMC, GLOBALFOUNDRIES and UMC processes from 180nm to 4nm. For more information about True Circuits IP products, visit  www.truecircuits.com/tci_technology.html and www.truecircuits.com/product_matrix.html.

About True Circuits DDR PHYs

The DDR PHY is a high-performance, scalable system using a radically new architecture that continuously and automatically adjusts each pin individually, correcting skew within byte lanes. This state-of-the-art tuning acts independently on each pin, data phase and chip select value. Read gate and data eye timing are also continuously adjusted. Fully automatic training is managed by a light weight special purpose processor and includes multi-cycle write leveling and read gate training and also read/write data eye training, including PHY Vref and DRAM Vref settings.

The PHY employs a localized and optimized PHY-to-memory controller interface to ease timing closure. The circuitry in each pin is able to measure the data eye and jitter, and calculate flight delays. The PHY also includes a full speed read/write BIST, which tests the complete read and write paths of every pin simultaneously with pseudo-random data.

Remarkable physical flexibility allows the PHY to adapt to each customer's die floorplan and package constraints, yet is verified and delivered as a unit for easy timing closure with no assembly required. The PHY supports LPDDR5, DDR4, LPDDR4, DDR3 and LPDDR3, and is DFI 5.1 compliant.  When combined with an appropriate DDR memory controller, a complete and fully-automatic DDR system is realized.

The True Circuits DDR PHY is silicon proven and immediately available for customer delivery in TSMC's 28/22nm HPC/HPC+ processes. The PHY is also available upon request in a variety of TSMC processes from 40nm to 4nm. Interested customers can obtain more product information on the web at http://www.truecircuits.com/ddr_phy.html or by contacting True Circuits at sales@truecircuits.com.

About True Circuits

True Circuits develops and markets a broad range of industry leading PLLs, DLLs and DDR PHY hard macros for ICs for the semiconductor, systems and electronics industries. TCI's robust state-of-the-art circuits, methodical and proven design strategy, and close association with the world's leading foundries, IDMs, and design services companies allow the company to quickly and reliably create new and innovative designs in a variety of advanced process technologies. Over the last 24 years, True Circuits has distinguished itself as the technology leader in the timing IP space, and its PLLs and DLLs are used extensively around the world in its customers' products with production volumes well into the billions.