Analogue IP blocks are pre-wrapped in digital logic to ease integration

Cambridgeshire-based IC design intellectual property company Agile Analog has created a range of analogue peripheral blocks that are already wrapped in digital logic to connect them to a standard on-chip bus, such as AMBA APB.

The aim is to “reduce the effort required to integrate multiple analogue IPs into any asic by allowing the IP to be dropped straight into a digital design flow”, according to the company. “Crucially, customers no longer need to deal with the mixed-signal boundary between analogue and digital – the sub-systems look just like a normal block of digital IP, with the standard interfaces that engineers would expect, making them easy to understand and handle.”

Initially, the company is offering three sub-systems, for: power management (‘agilePMU’), process-voltage-temperature (PVT) sensing (‘agilePVT’), and sleep manangement (‘agileSMU’).

The IP blocks within a subsystem are from Agile’s existing portfolio and can be customised to customer requirements inside the digital wrapper, and it pre-verifies the mixed-signal sub-system so that the customer does not have to.

“The wrapped sub-systems are process and foundry agnostic, and each design is optimised for the customer’s specific PDK [process design kit],” said Agile.

Deliverables include SystemVerilog models for integration into customers’ existing digital verification flows.

The power management sub-system (left) has power-on-reset, multiple programmable low drop-out regulators and a reference generator. It has a digital controller for control over start-up, supply sequencing and shut-down. Status monitoring provides real-time feedback.

The PVT sensor (top) sub-system has process, voltage and temperature sensors, a reference generator and a digital controller for start-up and shut-down. Status monitors provide real-time feedback.

The sleep management sub-system (right) will typically contain a programmable oscillator for low frequency SoC operation and a number of comparators which can be used to initiate the wake-up sequence. A power-on-reset generator is included, as is a programmable RC-based oscillator. Activities are overseen by a digital controller, and status monitors provide real-time feedback.

Agile Analog is headquartered in Cambridge, UK.