Circuit device, real-time clocking device, electronic apparatus, vehicle, and verification method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10432177-B2
Application number	US-201815872200-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 16, 2018
Priority date	Jan 20, 2017
Publication date	Oct 1, 2019
Grant date	Oct 1, 2019

Abstract

A circuit device includes an oscillation circuit that generates an oscillation signal by using an resonator, a clocking circuit that generates clocking data which is real-time clock information based on the oscillation signal, a verification data generation circuit that generates verification data for verifying the clocking data based on the oscillation signal, and an interface circuit that outputs the clocking data and the verification data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A circuit device comprising:
an oscillation circuit configured to generate an oscillation signal for oscillating a resonator connected to the circuit device;
a clocking circuit configured to receive clock signals indicative of the oscillation signal and generate clocking data based on the oscillation signal, wherein the clocking data corresponds to real-time clock information indicating an elapsed time;
a verification data generation circuit configured to receive the clock signals and generate verification data for verifying the clocking data based on the oscillation signal; and
an interface circuit configured to receive the clocking data and the verification data and output the clocking data and the verification data.

2. The circuit device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the interface circuit is configured to restrict or prohibit write access for the verification data generation circuit.

3. The circuit device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the verification data generation circuit includes a counter configured to count clock signals based on the oscillation signal, and
wherein the verification data is based on a counted value of the counter.

4. The circuit device according to claim 3 ,
wherein the verification data generation circuit outputs the counted value as the verification data.

5. The circuit device according to claim 3 ,
wherein the verification data generation circuit outputs a difference between a value obtained by converting the clocking data into a time elapsed from a reference time and the counted value of the counter as the verification data.

6. The circuit device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the verification data generation circuit includes a second clocking circuit configured to generate second clocking data based on the oscillation signal, and
wherein the verification data is based on the second clocking data.

7. The circuit device according to claim 6 ,
wherein the verification data generation circuit outputs the second clocking data as the verification data.

8. The circuit device according to claim 6 ,
wherein the verification data generation circuit outputs a difference between the clocking data and the second clocking data as the verification data.

9. The circuit device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the clocking circuit performs a first counting operation based on a first clock signal, which is obtained by performing frequency division of the oscillation signal, to generate the clocking data, and
wherein the verification data generation circuit performs a second counting operation based on a second clock signal having the same frequency as the clock signal, which is obtained by performing frequency division of the oscillation signal, to generate the verification data.

10. The circuit device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the clocking circuit performs a first counting operation based on a first clock signal, which is obtained by performing frequency division of the oscillation signal and has a first frequency, to generate the clocking data, and
wherein the verification data generation circuit performs a second counting operation based on a second clock signal, which is obtained by performing frequency division of the oscillation signal and has a second frequency lower than the first frequency, to generate the verification data.

11. A real-time clocking device comprising:
the circuit device according to claim 1 ; and
the resonator.

12. An electronic apparatus comprising:
the circuit device according to claim 1 ; and
a device that receives the clocking data and the verification data.

13. The electronic apparatus according to claim 12 ,
wherein the device performs a process of verifying the clocking data based on the clocking data and the verification data.

14. A vehicle comprising the circuit device according to claim 1 .

15. A method of verifying clocking data which is output by a real-time clocking device including a clocking circuit that generates the clocking data based on an oscillation signal and a verification data generation circuit that generates verification data for verifying the clocking data based on the oscillation signal, wherein the clocking data corresponds to real-time clock information indicating an elapsed time, the method comprising:
causing the clocking circuit to perform a process of setting a present time;
reading out the clocking data and the verification data from the real-time clocking device; and
performing a process of verifying the clocking data based on the clocking data and the verification data as read out from the real-time clocking device.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Usuda Toshiya

Classifications

• H03B5/36

  active element in amplifier being semiconductor device ({H03B5/323, H03B5/326} , H03B5/38 take precedence) · CPC title

• H03B5/04

  Modifications of generator to compensate for variations in physical values, e.g. power supply, load, temperature · CPC title

• G06F1/14 Primary

  Time supervision arrangements, e.g. real time clock · CPC title

• H03K3/0231 Primary

  Astable circuits {(H03K3/0315 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• H03B2200/004

  including a variable capacitance, e.g. a varicap, a varactor or a variable capacitance of a diode or transistor · CPC title