Timed GPIO

Intel® Core™ Processor (Series 3)

Formerly known as Wildcat Lake, Datasheet, Volume 1 of 2

ID	Date	Version	Classification
913965	05/19/2026	001	Public

The processor supports two Timed GPIOs as native function (TIME_SYNC) that is multiplexed on GPIO pins. The intent usage of the Timed GPIO function is for time synchronization purpose.

Timed GPIO can be an input or an output:

As an input, a GPIO input event triggers the HW to capture the processor Always Running Timer (ART) time in the Time Capture register. The GPIO input event must be asserted for at least two crystal oscillator clocks period in order for the event to be recognized.

As an output, a match between the ART time and the software programmed time value triggers the HW to generate a GPIO output event and capture the ART time in the Time Capture register. If periodic mode is enabled, HW generates the periodic GPIO events based on the programmed interval. The GPIO output event is asserted by HW for at least two crystal oscillator clock periods.

Note:TIME_SYNC can be set as input when both Direction (DIR) bit and Enable (EN) bit in Timed GPIO Control Register are set to 1 (refer to Datasheet Vol2 for the register info). When EN bit is set to 0, TIME_SYNC will default to output low regardless of DIR bit setting.

Timed GPIO supports event counter. When Timed GPIO is configured as input, event counter increments by one for every input event triggered. When Timed GPIO is configured as output, event counter increments by one for every output event generated. The event counter provides the correlation to associate the Timed GPIO event (the nth event) with the captured ART time. The event counter value is captured when a read to the Time Capture Value register occurs.

Note:When Timed GPIO is enabled, the crystal oscillator will not be shut down as crystal clock is needed for the Timed GPIO operation. As a result, SLP_S0# will not be asserted. This has implication to platform power (such as IDLE or S0ix power). Software should only enable Timed GPIO when needed and disable it when Timed GPIO functionality is not required.