This invention relates generally to generating clock signals, and more specifically, to a synchronizing circuit that can be used for maintaining a pseudo-synchronous phase relationship for clock signals of different time domains.
Internal clock signals for a memory device are typically derived from a core system clock. The core system clock signal generally has a lower frequency than is desirable for internal clock signals, and consequently, higher frequency clock signals are generated from the core system signal for use as internal clock signals. The higher frequency clock signals generally have a frequency that is a multiple of the frequency of the core clock signal. For example, it is not unusual for internal clock signals to have a clock frequency that is two, three, or four times the core clock signal frequency. Techniques for generating clock signals having higher frequencies from the core clock signal are well known. Generally, it can be described that the core system clock is in a first clock domain and the internal clock signals having a common higher clock frequency are in a second clock domain, and similarly, internal clock signals having the same, but even higher clock frequency, are yet in a third clock domain. In some instances, different devices are operating in different clock domains, but operation needs to be synchronized. For example, a memory device may be operating in a higher frequency clock domain, but a memory controller communicating with the memory device may be operating in a lower frequency clock domain. However, successful operation of the memory device and memory controller depend on the signals transmitted between the two meeting established timing relationships.
Typically, the higher frequency clock signals that are generated from the core clock signal have a fixed phase relationship with the core clock signal. For example, as shown in
It is often desirable to adjust the phase relationship of an internal clock signal with respect to the core clock signal from which internal clock signal is generated. Adjusting the phase relationship provides the ability to accommodate inherent time delays that alter the expected phase relationship. For example, phase shifts can result from line loading issues, varying line impedances, and propagation delays. Another example is different lengths of different conductive signal paths will cause different time delays. Thus, two synchronized clock signals on two different length signal paths will have two different time delays, and consequently, arrive at their respective destinations at different times. Where an operation relies on the synchronization of the two clock signals, clearly this situation is undesirable.
Additionally, delay circuits can also be used to alter the relative timing of signals to modify various timing margins of signals. That is, signals that are internal to a memory device, as well as signals that are provided externally of the memory device, can have the timing adjusted with respect to the timing of other signals in order to provide greater or lesser timing margins, but still remain within published timing specifications. For example, where a memory controller is coupled to a memory device, and a write operation is to be requested, the relative timing of a write data strobe with respect to the transmission of data can be modified through the use of delay circuits in order to shift the time relationship at which the write data strobe is provided to the memory device by the memory controller and when the data is actually provided by the memory controller to the memory device. Having the flexibility to change the relative timing of internal and external signals, including external signals that are provided between different devices, is often desirable in order to accommodate process and device variations that result in performance variations.
The relative phase of a clock signal can be adjusted by adding a delay into the signal path of the clock signal. The added time delay to a clock signal causes the clock signal to shift in time, thus, resulting in the phase of the delayed clock signal shifting. A time delay can be selected such that a clock signal that would otherwise become unsynchronized because of the inherent time delays is further delayed so that the clock signal can again be synchronized. An adjustable delay circuit provides the flexibility of adjusting the time delay added to the clock signal. With many conventional delay circuits, the time delay is adjusted by changing a value applied to the delay circuit that is indicative of the amount of time delay desired. Such adjustable delay line circuits are well known in the art.
A problem related to conventional delay circuits is that glitch or runt pulses are often output from the delay circuit in response to changing the time delay. In some cases, the particular design of the delay circuit is inherently susceptible to generating glitch pulses when the time delay is changed. Factors such as the timing of an input clock signal relative to when a delay circuit is disabled in order to change the time delay or switching noise also contribute to the generation of glitch pulses. The problem results from the possibility that the glitch pulses may inadvertently trigger a response by a circuit coupled to the output of the delay circuit. Thus, when changing the time delay of a delay circuit, an errant pulse may cause unexpected results.
Another problem with using conventional delay lines arises with respect to maintaining a phase relationship between a first clock signal and a second, higher frequency clock signal, when adjusting the time delay of a delay line circuit used in delaying the second clock signal. In the process of adjusting the time delay of the delay circuit, the phase relationship of the second clock signal relative to the first clock signal may be lost. More specifically, a circuit that performs a function in response to the second clock signal, that results in performing the function generally coincident with a clock transition of the first clock signal, can end up performing the function at the wrong time with respect to the first clock signal because the phase relationship of the second clock signal changes relative to the first clock signal is lost when the time delay is adjusted.
For example,
One aspect of the invention provides a method for adjusting a delay of an adjustable delay. The method includes decoupling an input of the adjustable delay and decoupling an output of the adjustable delay. The delay is adjusted from a current delay to a new delay. The output of the adjustable delay is recoupled and the input of the adjustable delay is recoupled.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method for generating a clock signal. The method includes receiving a clock signal in a first clock domain and generating a clock signal in a second clock domain having a phase relationship relative to a clock edge of the clock signal in the first clock domain. The method further includes ceasing generation of the clock signal in the second clock domain and adjusting the phase relationship between the clock signals in the first and second clock domains to a new phase relationship. The clock signal in the second clock domain is generated having the new phase relationship relative to the clock edge of the clock signal in the first clock domain.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method for suppressing the generation of a spurious clock pulse. The method includes receiving a first clock signal and generating a second clock signal having a frequency greater than the first clock signal and having a phase relationship relative to an edge of the first clock signal. The second clock signal is provided to an adjustable delay to generate a delayed clock signal having a time delay relative to the second clock signal. The method further includes draining partial clock pulses from the adjustable delay and adjusting the time delay. The delayed clock signal is generated having the adjusted time delay relative to the second clock signal.
The synchronizer circuit 300 includes a plurality of series connected positive edge triggered D flip-flops 304a-j. The first flip-flop 304a is coupled to receive a control signal DELOFF and a first clock signal CLK having a first frequency. It will be appreciated that the CLK signal can represent a core clock signal of a first clock domain. As will be explained in greater detail below, an active (HIGH) DELOFF signal indicates that changing the time delay of an adjustable delay circuit (shown in
The synchronizer circuit 300 further includes a D flip-flop 312 is coupled to receive at its input the output of a two input AND gate 320 having a first input coupled to the true output of the flip-flop 304f and a second input coupled to the “not” output of the flip-flop 312. The flip-flop 312 is coupled to trigger in response to the positive edge of the CLK2X signal. A D flip-flop 316 is coupled to receive at its input the output of a two input OR gate 322 having a first input coupled to the true output of the flip-flop 304f and a second input coupled to the true output of the D flip-flop 312. The D flip-flop 316 is coupled to trigger in response to the negative edge of the CLK2X signal. The true output of the flip-flop 316 provides a delay input select signal DEL_IN_SEL.
Operation of the synchronizer circuit and the delay circuit 400 will be explained with reference to the timing diagram of
As previously discussed, an active DELOFF signal is used to initiate an operation to allow for the DELTAP value for the delay circuit 400 (
At a time T2, the output of the flip-flop 304f switches HIGH in response to the positive edge of the CLK2X signal. The DELOFF2X-Q signal reflects the change of flip-flop 304f by having a value of 0×01FH at the time T2, corresponding to the HIGH outputs of flip-flops 304b-304f. In response to the flip-flop 304f having a HIGH output, the input to the flip-flop 316 switches from HIGH to LOW. At the next negative edge of the CLK2X signal following the positive edge at the time T2, the DEL_IN_SEL signal provided at the output of the flip-flop 316 switches from LOW to HIGH at a time T3. The DEL_IN_SEL signal switching from LOW to HIGH causes the multiplexer 401 (
At a time T5, the output of the flip-flop 304j switches HIGH in response to the positive edge of the CLK2X signal and the DEL_OUT_SEL signal at the output of the AND gate 308 goes HIGH as well. The HIGH DEL_OUT_SEL signal causes the multiplexer 402 to couple its output to ground, thus, decoupling the output of delay circuit 400 from providing the DELOUT signal. The sequence of decoupling the input of the delay circuit 400 from receiving the CLK2X signal at the time T3 and then decoupling the output of the delay circuit 400 from the output of the multiplexer 402 at the time T5 allows the delay circuit 400 to drain any runt pulses. That is, any part of a clock pulse of the CLK2X signal cutoff at the time the DEL_IN_SEL signal goes HIGH to propagate through the delay circuit 400 before decoupling its output. With the input and output of the delay circuit 400 decoupled, the DELTAP value can be changed at a time T6 to adjust the time delay of the delay circuit 400.
As previously discussed, problems may arise if the phase of a clock signal in the second time domain relative to a clock in the first time domain is not maintained when the delay circuit is recoupled to provide an output clock signal. In
In operation, the output of the flip-flop 312 is LOW until it switches HIGH at a time T4 in response to the next positive edge of the CLK2X signal following the time T3 when the output of the flip-flop 304f switches HIGH. In the arrangement shown, the output of the flip-flop 312, shown in
Following the time T6 but before a time T7, the DELOFF signal input to the flip-flop 304a goes LOW (not shown) indicating that recoupling of the input and output of the delay circuit 400 has been requested. The output of the flip-flop 304a goes LOW at the time T7 in response to the positive edge of the CLK2X signal. The LOW output of the flip-flop 304a will begin to propagate through the remaining flip-flops 304b-j in sequence in response to each positive edge of the CLK2X signal. At a time T8, the output of the flip-flop 304c switches to LOW, and in response, the DEL_OUT_SEL signal of the AND gate 308 switches LOW. The LOW DEL_OUT_SEL signal causes the multiplexer 402 to recouple the output of the delay circuit 400 to provide the CLKDEL signal as the DELOUT signal. At the time T8, although the output of the delay circuit 400 is recoupled, the input has yet to be recoupled to receive the CLK2X signal. Consequently, the output of the delay circuit at this time is still LOW.
At a time T9, the output of the flip-flop 304f switches LOW in response to the positive edge of the CLK2X signal. The LOW output of the flip-flop 304f will cause the DEL_IN_SEL signal output by the flip-flop 316 to switch to LOW at the following negative edge of the CLK2X signal if the output of the flip-flop 312 is also LOW. However, as shown in
As shown in
It will be appreciated that minor modifications can be made to the synchronizer circuit 300 without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the number of series coupled flip-flops 304a-j can be modified to change the relative timing of the various signals used for decoupling and recoupling the delay line 400 to provide the DELOUT signal. Alternatively, the output of which flip-flop 304a-j the flip-flops 312 and 316 are coupled can be modified to change the relative timing of the various signals as well.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the synchronizer circuit 300 is modified for use with a clock signal that has a higher multiple of the frequency of the CLK signal, for example, 4× the frequency of the CLK signal. An asynchronous FIFO (not shown) can substituted for the flip-flop 312 in order to keep track of the four possible positive edges that occur for one period of the CLK signal. Minor modifications well within the understanding of those ordinarily skilled in the art may be made to the logic circuits coupled to the asynchronous FIFO in the case clock signals having higher multiples of the frequency of the CLK signal are used. Using the asynchronous FIFO provides that the first clock pulse of the DELOUT signal following the recoupling of the output of the delay circuit 400 will occur having the same relative phase relationship with CLK signal as when the input of the delay circuit 400 was decoupled from receiving the clock signal having 4× the frequency of the CLK signal. Such asynchronous FIFOs are well known to those ordinarily skilled in the art, and can be implemented using conventional designs and circuitry. A conventional 1:n counter circuit or a timing chain can also be used to track the phase relationship relative to the CLK signal in order to maintain the correct phase relationship when the first pulse of the delayed clock signal is output by the delay circuit 400. It will be appreciated that other substitutions can be made for the flip-flop 312 without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The memory device 600 includes a control logic and command decoder 634 that receives a plurality of command and clocking signals over a control bus CONT, typically from an external circuit such as a memory controller (not shown). The command signals typically include a chip select signal CS*, a write enable signal WE*, a column address strobe signal CAS*, and a row address strobe signal RAS*, while the clocking signals include a clock enable signal CKE and complementary clock signals CLK, CLK*, with the “*” designating a signal as being active low. The command signals CS*, WE*, CAS*, and RAS* are driven to values corresponding to a particular command, such as a read, write, or auto-refresh command. The CKE signal is used to activate and deactivate the internal clock, input buffers and output drivers. In response to the clock signals CLK, CLK*, the command decoder 634 latches and decodes an applied command, and generates a sequence of clocking and control signals that control the components 602-632 to execute the function of the applied command. The command decoder 634 latches command and address signals at positive edges of the CLK, CLK* signals (i.e., the crossing point of CLK going high and CLK* going low), while the input registers 630 and data drivers 624 transfer data into and from, respectively, the memory device 600 in response to both edges of the data strobe signal DQS and thus at double the frequency of the clock signals CLK, CLK*. This is true because the DQS signal has the same frequency as the CLK, CLK* signals. The memory device 600 is referred to as a double-data-rate device because the data words DQ being transferred to and from the device are transferred at double the rate of a conventional SDRAM, which transfers data at a rate corresponding to the frequency of the applied clock signal. The detailed operation of the control logic and command decoder 634 in generating the control and timing signals is conventional, and thus, for the sake of brevity, will not be described in more detail.
Further included in the memory device 600 is an address register 602 that receives row, column, and bank addresses over an address bus ADDR, with a memory controller (not shown) typically supplying the addresses. The address register 602 receives a row address and a bank address that are applied to a row address multiplexer 604 and bank control logic circuit 606, respectively. The row address multiplexer 604 applies either the row address received from the address register 602 or a refresh row address from a refresh counter 608 to a plurality of row address latch and decoders 610A-D. The bank control logic 606 activates the row address latch and decoder 610A-D corresponding to either the bank address received from the address register 602 or a refresh bank address from the refresh counter 608, and the activated row address latch and decoder latches and decodes the received row address. In response to the decoded row address, the activated row address latch and decoder 610A-D applies various signals to a corresponding memory bank 612A-D to thereby activate a row of memory cells corresponding to the decoded row address. Each memory bank 612A-D includes a memory-cell array having a plurality of memory cells arranged in rows and columns, and the data stored in the memory cells in the activated row is stored in sense amplifiers in the corresponding memory bank. The row address multiplexer 604 applies the refresh row address from the refresh counter 608 to the decoders 610A-D and the bank control logic circuit 606 uses the refresh bank address from the refresh counter when the memory device 600 operates in an auto-refresh or self-refresh mode of operation in response to an auto- or self-refresh command being applied to the memory device 600, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
A column address is applied on the ADDR bus after the row and bank addresses, and the address register 602 applies the column address to a column address counter and latch 614 which, in turn, latches the column address and applies the latched column address to a plurality of column decoders 616A-D. The bank control logic 606 activates the column decoder 616A-D corresponding to the received bank address, and the activated column decoder decodes the applied column address. Depending on the operating mode of the memory device 600, the column address counter and latch 614 either directly applies the latched column address to the decoders 616A-D, or applies a sequence of column addresses to the decoders starting at the column address provided by the address register 602. In response to the column address from the counter and latch 614, the activated column decoder 616A-D applies decode and control signals to an I/O gating and data masking circuit 618 which, in turn, accesses memory cells corresponding to the decoded column address in the activated row of memory cells in the memory bank 612A-D being accessed.
During data read operations, data being read from the addressed memory cells is coupled through the I/O gating and data masking circuit 618 to a read latch 620. The I/O gating and data masking circuit 618 supplies N bits of data to the read latch 620, which then applies two N/2 bit words to a multiplexer 622. In the embodiment of
A data strobe driver 626 receives a data strobe signal DQS from a strobe signal generator 626. The data strobe driver 626 is coupled to a clock generator 629, which provides the data strobe driver 626 with a clock signal used for synchronizing its operation. AS with the clock generator 627, the clock generator 629 includes a synchronizing circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention to maintain the pseudo-synchronous phase relationship between clock signals of different clock domains. The clock generator 629 receives and input clock signal from the DLL 623. The DQS signal is used by an external circuit such as a memory controller (not shown) in latching data from the memory device 600 during read operations. In response to the delayed clock signal CLKDEL, the data driver 624 sequentially outputs the received N/2 bits words as a corresponding data word DQ, each data word being output in synchronism with a rising or falling edge of a CLK signal that is applied to clock the memory device 600. The data driver 624 also outputs the data strobe signal DQS having rising and falling edges in synchronism with rising and falling edges of the CLK signal, respectively. Each data word DQ and the data strobe signal DQS collectively define a data bus. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the CLKDEL signal from the DLL 623 is a delayed version of the CLK signal, and the DLL 623 adjusts the delay of the CLKDEL signal relative to the CLK signal to ensure that the DQS signal and the DQ words are placed on the data bus to meet published timing specifications for the memory device 600. The data bus also includes masking signals DM0-M, which will be described in more detail below with reference to data write operations. It will be appreciated that the number of clock generators including in the memory device can be changed without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, additional clock generators can be included for other internal clock signals to provide greater flexibility in changing the relative timing of those internal clock signals with respect to a core clock signal.
During data write operations, an external circuit such as a memory controller (not shown) applies N/2 bit data words DQ, the strobe signal DQS, and corresponding data masking signals DM0-X on the data bus. A data receiver 628 receives each DQ word and the associated DM0-X signals, and applies these signals to input registers 630 that are clocked by the DQS signal. In response to a rising edge of the DQS signal, the input registers 630 latch a first N/2 bit DQ word and the associated DM0-X signals, and in response to a falling edge of the DQS signal the input registers latch the second N/2 bit DQ word and associated DM0-X signals. The input register 630 provides the two latched N/2 bit DQ words as an N-bit word to a write FIFO and driver 632, which clocks the applied DQ word and DM0-X signals into the write FIFO and driver in response to the DQS signal. The DQ word is clocked out of the write FIFO and driver 632 in response to the CLK signal, and is applied to the I/O gating and masking circuit 618. The I/O gating and masking circuit 618 transfers the DQ word to the addressed memory cells in the accessed bank 612A-D subject to the DM0-X signals, which may be used to selectively mask bits or groups of bits in the DQ words (i.e., in the write data) being written to the addressed memory cells.
The system controller 710 also serves as a communications path to the processor 704 for a variety of other components. More specifically, the system controller 710 includes a graphics port that is typically coupled to a graphics controller 712, which is, in turn, coupled to a video terminal 714. The system controller 710 is also coupled to one or more input devices 718, such as a keyboard or a mouse, to allow an operator to interface with the computer system 700. Typically, the computer system 700 also includes one or more output devices 720, such as a printer, coupled to the processor 704 through the system controller 710. One or more data storage devices 724 are also typically coupled to the processor 704 through the system controller 710 to allow the processor 704 to store data or retrieve data from internal or external storage media (not shown). Examples of typical storage devices 724 include hard and floppy disks, tape cassettes, and compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs).
The system controller 710 contains a memory hub controller 728 coupled to several memory modules 730a-n through a bus system 734. Each of the memory modules 730a-n includes a memory hub 740 coupled to several memory devices 748 through command, address and data buses, collectively shown as bus 750. The memory hub 740 efficiently routes memory requests and responses between the controller 728 and the memory devices 748. The memory devices 748 can be synchronous DRAMs, such as the memory device 600 previously described with respect to
Embodiments of the present invention can be utilized in the memory devices 748, the memory hub controller 728, or the memory hub 740. As shown in
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.
This application is a continuation of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/274,857, filed Nov. 14, 2005, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/819,366 filed Apr. 5, 2004 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,980,042 on Dec. 27, 2005. These applications and patent are each incorporated by reference herein.
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