Interrupter, a method of responding to a monitored event and an integrated circuit including an interrupter
View Patent ↗An interrupter, a method of responding to a monitored event and an IC are disclosed. In one embodiment, the interrupter includes: (1) a monitoring circuit configured to monitor for an occurrence of at least one event and generate an external event signal when detecting the occurrence, (2) a microprocessor, having: (2A) at least one functional pin and (2B) a reset input pin, coupled to the monitoring circuit, the microprocessor configured to begin a reset process in response to receiving the external event signal at the reset input pin and thereby set the functional pin to a reset state, and (3) a responding circuit coupled to the functional pin and configured to initiate a predetermined action when the functional pin is set to a reset state.
1. An interrupter, comprising:
a monitoring circuit configured to monitor for an occurrence of at least one event and generate an external event signal when detecting said occurrence;
a microprocessor, including:
at least one functional pin; and
a reset input pin, coupled to said monitoring circuit, said microprocessor configured to begin a reset process in response to receiving said external event signal at said reset input pin and thereby set said functional pin to a reset state; and
a responding circuit coupled to said functional pin and configured to initiate a predetermined action when said functional pin is set to a reset state.
2. The interrupter as recited in claim 1 wherein said microprocessor further comprises a differentiator configured to determine if said reset process was initiated by said external event signal or another reset source.
3. The interrupter as recited in claim 2 wherein said differentiator is further configured to initiate a control process for said occurrence if said reset process was initiated by said external event signal.
4. The interrupter as recited in claim 3 wherein said control process includes maintaining said predetermined action.
5. The interrupter as recited in claim 2 wherein said differentiator is configured to determine if said reset process was initiated by said external event signal or said another reset source by determining a reset status of said microprocessor.
6. The interrupter as recited in claim 1 wherein said microprocessor does not include an interrupt functionality.
7. The interrupter as recited in claim 1 wherein said responding circuit includes a switch that is operated to initiate said predetermined action.
8. A method of responding to a monitored event, comprising:
initiating a reset process of a microprocessor;
automatically setting at least one functional pin of said microprocessor to a reset state in response to said reset process;
operating circuitry that is external to said microprocessor based on said automatically setting to initiate an action; and
determining if said reset process was initiated by an external event signal or another reset source associated with said microprocessor.
9. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said external event signal indicates an occurrence of an event.
10. The method as recited in claim 9 further comprising initiating a control process for said occurrence if said reset process was initiated by said external event signal.
11. The method as recited in claim 10 wherein said control process is to maintain said action.
12. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said microprocessor does not include an interrupt functionality.
13. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said operating circuitry includes a switch.
14. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein said determining includes determining a reset status of said microprocessor.
15. An integrated circuit, comprising:
a functional block; and
an interrupter, comprising:
a monitoring circuit configured to monitor for an occurrence of an event associated with said functional block and generate an external event signal when detecting said occurrence;
a microprocessor, including:
a functional pin; and
a reset input pin, coupled to said monitoring circuit, said microprocessor configured to begin a reset process in response to receiving said external event signal at said reset input pin and thereby set said functional pin to a reset state; and
a responding circuit coupled to said functional pin and configured to initiate a predetermined action when said functional pin is set to said reset state.
16. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 15 wherein said microprocessor further comprises a differentiator configured to determine if said reset process was initiated by said external event signal or another reset source associated with said microprocessor.
17. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 16 wherein said differentiator is further configured to initiate a control process for said occurrence if said reset process was initiated by said external event signal.
18. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 17 wherein said control process includes maintaining said predetermined action.
19. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 15 wherein said microprocessor does not include an interrupt functionality.
20. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 15 wherein said microprocessor includes an external event controller configured to perform a control process when said reset process is initiated by said external event signal.