True Circuits Announces New Line of Low Power, 32KHz IoT PLLs

Perfect for IoT applications like wearables and sensors

Los Altos, California, March 14, 2016 -- True Circuits, Inc. (TCI), a leading provider of analog and mixed-signal intellectual property (IP) for the semiconductor, systems and electronics industries announced today the availability of a new line of Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) hard macros specifically tailored to the stringent power requirements and wide frequency operation range of the rapidly-growing IoT market. Sipping only 45uW at 30MHz and running from core power, the “IoT PLL” is designed for very low power. With multiplication factors up to 8192, the PLL is able to run off of a small and inexpensive 32KHz crystal and still clock a 32-bit CPU at up to 250MHz. The IoT PLL is ideal for applications like wearables and senor devices, where the power-performance profile must be managed tightly, and possibly over a very wide frequency range. The PLL is delivered as a single hard macro, and is available in a variety of TSMC, GLOBALFOUNDRIES and UMC processes.

“Designers and architects of IoT products are faced with difficult tradeoffs when managing power, so being able to operate clocks as low as 32KHz, and any place in between, is important”, remarked Brian Gardner, True Circuits, Vice President of Business Development. “A low power heartbeat mode can also be valuable, and stepping up into various power-performance points can allow for fine-grained power management. 32KHz crystals have been used in watches for decades, so they are small, cheap and available in endless variety. With its wide range, low power operation and ease of integration, our versatile IoT PLL is well suited to meet the many challenges of IoT product design.”

Price and Availability

True Circuits IoT PLLs are available in TSMC, GLOBALFOUNDRIES and UMC processes from 65nm to 28nm. Customers can license TCI timing IP either directly from TCI or through its global network of design services partners and sales reps. The hard macros are available for a per use license fee and no royalty fees. The license fee includes integration support from TCI and its partners to ensure a successful customer tape out. The deliverables include GDSII and LVS Spice netlists, behavioral and synthesis models, Library Exchange Format (LEF) files and extensive user documentation.

About True Circuits PLLs and DLLs

In addition to the new IoT PLL, True Circuits offers a complete family of standardized and silicon-proven General Purpose, Clock Generator, Deskew, Spread Spectrum and Ultra PLLs and DDR 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 from foundries or other vendors. TCI's DLLs are available in mutli-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 16nm. 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

True Circuits also offers a high performance DDR 4/3 PHY that 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 data eye and gate timing are also continuously adjusted. Automatic training is included for multi-cycle read gate timing and write leveling, write data eye timing, and internal and external (on DRAM) Vref setting.

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, and is delivered and verified as a single unit for easy timing closure with no assembly required. The PHY is also DFI 3.1 compliant, and when combined with a suitable DDR 4/3 memory controller, a complete and fully-automatic DDR 4/3 system is realized.

The True Circuits DDR 4/3 PHY is initially available for customer delivery in TSMC's 28nm HPM/HPC process. The PHY will be available in additional TSMC and GLOBALFOUNDRIES processes in the very near future. Interested customers can obtain more product information on the web at 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 18 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 in the billions.

True Circuits is headquartered at 4300 El Camino Real, Suite 200, Los Altos, California 94022 and can be found on the web at www.truecircuits.com. Product inquiries can be made by calling the company directly at (650) 949-3400 or via e-mail at sales@truecircuits.com.