Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Pre-discharged bypass flip-flop circuit

Abstract:

A pre-discharged edge-triggered flip-flop, in which internal nodes determinative of an output signal are discharged to VSS prior to an evaluation phase of a clock signal, is provided to enable improved clock-to-output response times when provided with a rising edge of a clock pulse. In operation, during a pre-discharge phase of the clock signal, multiple internal nodes of a differential master latch circuit of the flip-flop are discharged to VSS. In response to a rising edge of the clock signal signaling the beginning of an evaluation phase, one of the internal nodes (selected depending on the logical value of an input signal to the flip-flop) is charged to VDD while other of the internal nodes remain at VSS. A single clock signal inverter is disposed between the input clock signal and a multiplexer providing the output data signal.