Patents by Inventor Keith G. Hawkins

Keith G. Hawkins has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5925133
    Abstract: An integrated processor is fabricated on a single monolithic circuit and employs circuitry to accommodate data-intensive, view-intensive and voice-intensive requirements of modern-day PIDs. The integrated processor includes a CPU core, a memory controller, and a variety of peripheral devices to achieve versatility and high performance functionality. The integrated processor consumes less power by provision of a clock control unit including a plurality of phase-locked loops for generating clock signals of differing frequencies to appropriately clock the various subsystems of the integrated processor. The clock signals provided to the various subsystems by the clock control unit are derived from a single crystal oscillator input signal. A power management unit is incorporated within the integrated processor to control the frequency and/or application of certain clock signals to the various subsystems, as well as to control other power management related functions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1999
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Clark L. Buxton, Donald G. Craycraft, Keith G. Hawkins, Gary Baum
  • Patent number: 5742832
    Abstract: A computer system is presented which includes an output driver circuit with a drive strength that varies depending upon the speed of a peripheral device being accessed, the frequency of a system clock signal, and/or the system configuration. Reducing drive strength when a slow peripheral device is being accessed, the frequency of the system clock signal is reduced, or bus loading is low reduces the occurrence of large switching transients and accompanying ground bounce, power supply droop, and radiated EMI. A power management unit produces a clock frequency control signal which controls the frequency of the system clock. In one embodiment, the output driver circuit includes an address storage unit, an address comparator unit, a bus loading storage unit, a control unit, and one or more adjustable drive circuits having an output terminal coupled to a signal line of a peripheral bus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 21, 1998
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices
    Inventors: Clark L. Buxton, Keith G. Hawkins
  • Patent number: 5666071
    Abstract: An integrated circuit incorporating programmable pullup and pulldown devices into each input/output (I/O) pad is described. Each I/O pad may be individually programmed to include a pullup or pulldown function. Pullup and pulldown resistors may be removed from a system employing the present integrated circuit. Programming of the I/O pads may be accomplished in a number of ways. Following the deassertion of a reset signal, high impedance states may be transferred into a shift data storage within the integrated circuit. Once the states are received, they are shifted to the respective I/O pads through a serial chain connection of the pullup and pulldown devices within each I/O pad. The states are then maintained by each pullup and pulldown device until a subsequent reprogramming. Software programs may also reprogram the pullup and pulldown states by storing appropriate values into the shift data storage. The program then sets an appropriate value into a status register included within the integrated circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 9, 1997
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Keith G. Hawkins, Harikumar B. Nair, Shivachandra I. Javalagi
  • Patent number: 5586308
    Abstract: An integrated processor is fabricated on a single monolithic circuit and employs circuitry to accommodate data-intensive, view-intensive and voice-intensive requirements of modern-day PIDs. The integrated processor includes a CPU core, a memory controller, and a variety of peripheral devices to achieve versatility and high performance functionality. The integrated processor consumes less power by provision of a clock control unit including a plurality of phase-locked loops for generating clock signals of differing frequencies to appropriately clock the various subsystems of the integrated processor. The clock signals provided to the various subsystems by the clock control unit are derived from a single crystal oscillator input signal. A power management unit is incorporated within the integrated processor to control the frequency and/or application of certain clock signals to the various subsystems, as well as to control other power management related functions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 17, 1996
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Keith G. Hawkins, Carl K. Wakeland
  • Patent number: 5583454
    Abstract: An integrated circuit is presented having a driver circuit programmable to produce a variety of output voltages and conductive to the voltage levels of circuits interfaced by the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes programmable pullup and pulldown functions. The integrated circuit may be configured into an application having devices powered by a power supply voltage which is substantially larger than the voltage supplying the core section of the integrated circuit. Additionally, the present integrated circuit may be configured into other applications having devices powered by a power supply voltage substantially similar to the voltage supplying the integrated circuit core section. The present integrated circuit therefore retains utility for a large variety of applications. The pullup and pulldown transistors may be programmed to provide a resistive one, resistive zero, or neither.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 10, 1996
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Keith G. Hawkins, Harikumar B. Nair, Shivachandra I. Javalagi, Kuok Y. Ling
  • Patent number: 5509037
    Abstract: A data phase alignment circuit (34) is provided to align incoming plesiochronous data with a known clock phase. Multiple phases of a clock signal are provided to a data capture circuit (40), which captures the incoming plesiochronous data with at least one of the clock phases. A data transition decoder (44) then determines the time of data transition with respect to the multiple phases of the clock. The captured data is then realigned with a selected phase of the multiple clock phases by a data retimer circuit (50) and provided as the output (64). The resultant data is therefore aligned with a known phase of the clock signal and is no longer plesiochronous with respect to the clock signal. Data shifting due to data jitter, drift and wander may also be correct with a slip buffer (38).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 16, 1996
    Assignee: DSC Communications Corporation
    Inventors: Wade B. Buckner, David A. Roberts, Keith G. Hawkins