Risa controller for an RF integrated circuit (RFIC) having improved execution speed

1. A method of executing multiple tasks in an integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a data stream;

(b) extracting a first portion of bits from the data stream received over a first interval of time, the first portion of extracted bits comprising control bits that specify an operation;

(c) extracting a second portion of bits from the data stream received over a second interval of time, the second portion of extracted bits comprising data bits corresponding to the operation specified by the control bits, the second interval of time coming after the first interval of time; and

(d) executing a task using the data bits, the task dependent on the specified operation and the task started after the first interval of time is complete and before the second interval of time is complete.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first interval of time is shorter than the second interval of time for at least one type of the data stream received.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the control bits specify a register that when read from or written to causes the task to be performed.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of receiving the data stream further comprises receiving the data bits in order of most significant bit to least significant bit.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the task is a digital-to-analog conversion of the data bits of the data stream and the step of executing the task further comprises performing the digital-to-analog conversion of the data bits, the most significant bit of the data bits being converted to an analog value before the least significant data bit is received.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the receiving of the data stream is performed with reference to a stream of clock pulses and the digital-to-analog conversion of the data bits is completed before a period of time has elapsed, the period of time beginning at the receipt of the least significant data bit and ending one cycles of the clock pulses later.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the task is an analog-to-digital conversion of an analog signal and the step of executing the task further comprises performing the analog-to-digital conversion of the analog signal, the analog-to-digital conversion beginning before the least significant data bit is received.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the analog-to-digital conversion is completed before the least significant data bit is received.

9. An RF system on a chip configured for executing multiple tasks comprising:

a serial input bus for receiving a data stream including control bits and data bits, the data stream configured so that the control bits are received before the data bits, the control bits specifying an operation;

one or more registers coupled to the serial input for storing the control bits and data bits as they are received; and

control logic configured to:

examine the control bits as they are received to ascertain the operation specified by the control bits before the data bits are received; and

initiate a task corresponding to the operation specified by the control bits before the data bits are received.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the control bits specify a register that when read from or written to causes the task to be performed.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the serial input is configured to receive the data bits in order of most significant bit to least significant bit.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the task is a digital-to-analog conversion of the data bits of the data stream and the control circuitry is further configured to direct the digital-to-analog conversion of the data bits, the most significant bit of the data bits being converted to an analog value before the least significant data bit is received.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the serial input is configured to receive the data stream with reference to a stream of clock pulses and the control circuitry is configured to complete the digital-to-analog conversion of the data bits before a period of time has elapsed, the period of time beginning at the receipt of the least significant data bit and ending one cycle of the clock pulses later.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the task is an analog-to-digital conversion of an analog signal and the control circuitry is further configured to direct the analog-to-digital conversion of the analog signal, the analog-to-digital conversion beginning before the least significant data bit is received.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the control circuitry is configured to complete the analog-to-digital conversion before the least significant data bit is received.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein

the data stream in step (a) is received by an RF system on a chip (RFSoC), and

the task executed in step (d) includes digital-to-analog conversion to control an RF output value of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), and an analog-to digital conversion to determine an RF input value.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the data stream includes a plurality of packets, each packet having the first and second portions of bits,

the first portion includes the control bits and the second portion includes the data bits, and

the data bits comprise an RF value.