This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-089763, filed on Apr. 28, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The embodiments discussed herein are related to a jitter measurement circuit and a jitter measurement system.
A clock generation circuit for generating a clock signal to be used for data reception is used in a reception circuit used for communication inside a large scale integrated circuit (LSI) chip (hereinafter abbreviated as a “chip”) or communication between chips. As the clock generation circuit, there is a clock data recovery (CDR) circuit for recovering a value (data) and a clock signal from a data signal. In the CDR circuit, in order to perform data determination (sampling) at an appropriate timing, a phase difference between the clock signal for data determination and the data signal is detected, and the phase of the clock signal is adjusted.
In recent years, with improvement in the performance of information processing apparatuses such as communication trunk apparatuses and servers, the information processing speed in an apparatus and in a chip has also been increased and the data rate of a data signal transmitted in the apparatus has become high. With the increase in the data rate, the fluctuation (jitter) of the data signal or the clock signal in the time axis direction has a greater influence on a bit error rate (BER) which is an index as to whether or not the value of the data signal may be correctly determined.
In order to detect a BER, there has been conventionally proposed a CDR circuit including an eye monitor function. The eye monitor function is implemented by, for example, a circuit (eye sampler) that determines the value of a data signal using a clock signal that may be adjusted in phase, which is different from the clock signal used in the phase control circuit described above, or a circuit that calculates the BER based on an output value of the eye sampler.
Related techniques are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2014-174131.
According to an aspect of the invention, a jitter measurement circuit includes an addition circuit configured to add a digital rectangular signal to an adjustment signal generated by a clock generation circuit that generates a first error signal based on a phase difference between a first clock signal or a data signal on which the first clock signal is superimposed and a second clock signal and generates the adjustment signal by filtering the first error signal, the clock generation circuit adjusting a phase or a frequency of the second clock signal based on the adjustment signal, and a calculation circuit configured to calculate a first correlation value for representing an autocorrelation of the first error signal when the digital rectangular signal is not added to the adjustment signal, and a second correlation value for representing the autocorrelation when the digital rectangular signal is added to the adjustment signal, based on the first error signal and a second error signal obtained by delaying the first error signal by a variable delay amount, and output the first correlation value and the second correlation value.
The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
With the conventional eye monitor function, it is impossible to directly measure a jitter which causes a problem in a clock generation circuit. This is because, for example, in a CDR circuit including the conventional eye monitor function, BER is detected using a circuit separate from a circuit which actually controls the phase of a clock signal used for data determination, and a jitter is obtained based on the BER. Since the BER is affected by a noise (error in a voltage direction) in addition to the jitter, the jitter obtained based on BER may be different from a jitter to be measured.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure capable of directly measuring a jitter will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the example of
In order to execute the above-described function, the clock generation circuit 10 includes a phase detection circuit 10a, a filter 10b, and phase adjustment circuits 10c and 10d. The phase detection circuit 10a receives the data signal Di on which a clock signal is superimposed, and the clock signals CKd and CKe. Then, the phase detection circuit 10a generates and outputs an error signal based on a phase difference between the data signal Di and the clock signal CKe. In the example of
The filter 10b is, for example, a digital loop filter, which filters the error signal output from the phase detection circuit 10a and outputs an adjustment value (digital value). The phase adjustment circuit 10c adjusts the phase of the clock signal CKd based on the adjustment value output from the filter 10b. The phase adjustment circuit 10d adjusts the phase of the clock signal CKe based on the adjustment value output from the filter 10b. In the example of
The jitter measurement circuit 11 includes an addition circuit 11a, an autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b, and a control circuit 11c. The addition circuit 11a adds the rectangular wave signal based on the digital value to the adjustment value generated and output by the filter 10b. In the example of
The rectangular wave generation circuit 11a1 generates a rectangular wave signal having predetermined frequency and amplitude under the control of the control circuit 11c. For example, when the amplitude is m, the rectangular wave signal is a signal in which m and 0 are repeated with a duty ratio of 50%. The rectangular wave signal may be supplied from the outside of the jitter measurement circuit 11 (e.g., the outside of the chip).
The adder 11a2 adds the rectangular wave signal to the adjustment value. A switch whose on/off operation is controlled by the control circuit 11c may be interposed between the rectangular wave generation circuit 11a1 and the adder 11a2. In that case, whether or not the rectangular wave signal is added to the adjustment value is controlled by the on/off operation of the switch.
The autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b receives the error signal output from the phase detection circuit 10a, and calculates and outputs a correlation value representing the autocorrelation of the received error signal based on the received error signal and an error signal obtained by delaying the received error signal by a variable delay amount.
The autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b calculates and outputs both a correlation value obtained when the rectangular wave signal is not added to the adjustment value and a correlation value obtained when the rectangular wave signal is added to the adjustment value. The correlation value R(n) obtained when the delay amount is n is an average value of the products of PDOUT(k) and PDOUT(k−n) as expressed by the following equation (1).
R(n)=E[PDOUT(k)PDOUT(k−n)] (1)
PDOUT(k) represents an error signal output by the phase detection circuit 10a in response to the kth clock cycle of the clock signal Cke, and PDOUT(k−n) represents an error signal output by the phase detection circuit 10a in response to the (k−n)th clock cycle of the clock signal CKe. That is, PDOUT(k) is an error signal delayed by the delay amount n with respect to PDOUT(k−n).
The correlation value reflects a jitter ψER which is the fluctuation of the phase of the clock signal CKe in the time axis direction with respect to the data signal Di. The jitter ψER may also be said to be a difference between the jitter of the data signal Di and the jitter of the clock signal CKe.
Meanwhile, when the rectangular wave signal is being added, a jitter ψTOT of the error signal output by the phase detection circuit 10a has such a value that the jitter ψER is superimposed on the rectangular wave signal, as illustrated in
When the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b calculates and outputs the correlation value R(n) when no rectangular wave signal is added and the correlation value R(n) when the rectangular wave signal is added, the jitter calculation device 12 may calculate the effective value (standard deviation) σER of the jitter ψER. The reason for this will be described later.
The control circuit 11c supplies a control signal for changing the delay amount n to the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b. Further, the control circuit 11c controls whether or not the rectangular wave generation circuit 11a1 outputs a rectangular wave signal.
Instead of the control circuit 11c, for example, a control device (e.g., the jitter calculation device 12) outside the jitter measurement circuit 11 may perform the same processing as the control circuit 11c. The jitter calculation device 12 calculates the effective value σER of the jitter ψER based on the correlation value output by the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b. The jitter calculation device 12 may be, for example, a computer (e.g., a personal computer) or may be, for example, a processor installed on the same substrate (or chip) as the clock generation circuit 10 and the jitter measurement circuit 11.
In
The data signal Di is input to the data input terminals of the flip-flops 10a1 and 10a3, and the output terminal of the flip-flop 10a1 is connected to the data input terminal of the flip-flop 10a2. The output terminal of the flip-flop 10a3 is connected to the data input terminal of the flip-flop 10a4. The clock signal CKd for data determination is supplied to the clock input terminals of the flip-flops 10a1 and 10a2, and the clock signal CKe is supplied to the clock input terminals of the flip-flops 10a3 and 10a4.
When the potential of a signal input to the data input terminals exceeds a threshold value Vth at a rising timing of the clock signal CKd, the flip-flops 10a1 and 10a2 output “1” (a potential whose logic level is high (H)). When the potential of the signal input to the data input terminal is lower than the threshold value Vth at the rising timing of the clock signal CKd, the flip-flops 10a1 and 10a2 output “0” (a potential whose logic level is low (L)). When the potential of a signal input to the data input terminal exceeds the threshold value Vth at the rising timing of the clock signal CKe, the flip-flops 10a3 and 10a4 output “1.” When the potential of the signal input to the data input terminal is lower than the threshold value Vth at the rising timing of the clock signal CKe, the flip-flops 10a3 and 10a4 output “0.”
The error signal generation circuit 10a5 outputs an error signal based on an output signal B of the flip-flop 10a1, an output signal A of the flip-flop 10a2, and an output signal T of the flip-flop 10a4. There are three types of error signals, +1, 0, and −1. The three types of error signals are represented by, for example, 2-bit values, as will be described later.
In the example of
At a timing t2, the potential of the clock signal CKe rises from the L level to the H level. At this timing t2, the flip-flop 10a3 takes in and outputs the value of the data signal Di. Further, the flip-flop 10a4 takes in and outputs the output signal of the flip-flop 10a3 at the timing t2. That is, the output signal T of the flip-flop 10a2 indicates a value one symbol before the value of the data signal Di indicated by the output signal of the flip-flop 10a3.
At a timing t3, the potential of the clock signal CKd again rises from the L level to the H level again. At this timing t3, the flip-flop 10a1 takes in and outputs the value of the data signal Di. Further, the flip-flop 10a2 takes in and outputs the output signal B of the flip-flop 10a1 at the timing t3.
When the output signals A and T are 0 and the output signal B is 1 or when the output signals A and T are 1 and the output signal B is 0, it indicates that the rising timing of the clock signal CKe is earlier than the edge portion of the data signal Di, that is, the phase of the clock signal CKe leads. At this time, the error signal generation circuit 10a5 outputs a 2-bit value “01.” This corresponds to −1 among the above-mentioned three types of error signals.
When the output signal A is 0 and the output signals T and B are 1 or when the output signal A is 1 and the output signals T and B are 0, it indicates that the rising timing of the clock signal CKe is later than the edge portion of the data signal Di, that is, the phase of the clock signal CKe lags. At this time, the error signal generation circuit 10a5 outputs a 2-bit value “10.” This corresponds to +1 of the above-mentioned three types of error signals.
When the output signals A and B are 0 and the output signal T is 1 or when the output signals A and B are 1 and the output signal T is 0, it indicates that a glitch noise occurs. At this time, the error signal generation circuit 10a5 outputs a 2-bit value “11.” This corresponds to 0 among the above-mentioned three types of error signals of +1, 0, and −1.
The error signal generation circuit 10a5 having the input/output relationship as illustrated in
The phase adjustment circuit 10d includes transconductors 10d1 and 10d2, low pass filters 10d3 and 10d4, variable resistive elements 10d5 and 10d6, and an amplifier 10d7. The transconductor 10d1 converts the reference clock CKr1 into a current value and outputs the current value. The transconductor 10d2 converts the reference clock CKr2 into a current value and outputs the current value.
The low pass filter 10d3 filters and outputs the output signal of the transconductor 10d1. The low pass filter 10d4 filters and outputs the output signal of the transconductor 10d2. As a result, the output waveforms of the low pass filters 10d3 and 10d4 are not rectangular but dull.
The variable resistive element 10d5 is connected between the output terminal of the low pass filter 10d3 and a node 10d8, and has a resistance value that varies based on the adjustment value. The variable resistive element 10d6 is connected between the output terminal of the low pass filter 10d4 and the node 10d8, and has a resistance value that varies based on the adjustment value.
The amplifier 10d7 amplifies the potential of the node 10d8 to generate the clock signal CKe which is a rectangular wave.
In the following description, it is assumed that the waveform 15a is represented by sin(t) (t is time), and the waveform 15b is represented by cos(t). Assuming that the ratio of the resistance values of the variable resistive element 10d5 and the variable resistive element 10d6 adjusted based on the adjustment value is X:1−X (X is a weighting factor), the waveform 15c is expressed as (1−X)sin(t)+X cos(t).
The phase of the output clock signal CKe may be changed by changing the weighting coefficient X based on the adjustment value.
The m flip-flop sections 16a1 to 16am are connected in series and function as a delay circuit. The flip-flop sections 16a1 to 16am take in and output the signal of the data input terminal at a timing synchronized with the clock signal CKe. An error signal output by the phase detection circuit 10a is supplied to the data input terminal of the first-stage flip-flop section 16a1.
Each of the flip-flop sections 16a1 to 16am has two flip-flops, for example, so that a 2-bit error signal may be held. In addition, each of the flip-flop sections 16a1 to 16am is connected to the multiplier 16c via one of the switches 16b1 to 16bm. For example, the flip-flop section 16a1 is connected to the multiplier 16c via the switch 16b1, and the flip-flop section 16a2 is connected to the multiplier 16c via the switch 16b2. The input terminal of the first-stage flip-flop section 16a1 is connected to the multiplier 16c via the switch 16b0.
Such (m+1) switches 16b0 to 16bm, for example, receive a control signal output from the control circuit 11c and adjust the number of the flip-flop sections 16a1 to 16am to be validated based on the control signal to change the delay amount.
The multiplier 16c outputs a multiplication result obtained by multiplying error signals output by the phase detection circuit 10a by each other or multiplying an output signal of any of the flip-flop sections 16a1 to 16am by an error signal output by the phase detection circuit 10a. This multiplication result corresponds to the product of PDOUT(k) and PDOUT(k−n) in Equation (1).
For example, when the switch 16b0 is turned on and the switches 16b1 to 16bm are all turned off, all the flip-flop sections 16a1 to 16am are invalidated and the multiplier 16c outputs a multiplication result obtained by multiplying the error signals output by the phase detection circuit 10a by each other. This multiplication result corresponds to a case where n in PDOUT(k)×PDOUT(k−n) is 0, that is, the square of PDOUT(k).
In addition, among the switches 16b0 to 16bm, when all but the switch 16bm are turned off, all the flip-flop sections 16a1 to 16am are validated. In this case, the multiplier 16c outputs a multiplication result obtained by multiplying the error signal output from the phase detection circuit 10a by the output signal of the flip-flop section 16am. In a case where the delay amount by each of the flip-flop sections 16a1 to 16am is 1, this multiplication result corresponds to a case where n in PDOUT(k)×PDOUT(k−n) is m, that is, PDOUT(k)×PDOUT(k−m). At this time, the delay amount n becomes maximal.
The multiplication result output by the multiplier 16c becomes +1 when the inputs are both +1 (indicating that the phase of the clock signal CKe lags) or when the inputs are both −1 (indicating that the phase of the clock signal Cke leads). The multiplication result output by the multiplier 16c becomes −1 when one input is +1 and the other input is −1. The multiplication result output by the multiplier 16c is 0 when at least one of the inputs is 0.
The adder 16d outputs the addition result obtained by adding the multiplication result output by the multiplier 16c and the output signal of the flip-flop section 16e. The flip-flop section 16e takes in and outputs the addition result output by the adder 16d at the timing synchronized with the clock signal CKe. The output of the flip-flop unit 16e is the correlation value R(n).
Such a circuit including the adder 16d and the flip-flop section 16e functions as an integration circuit. The integration circuit has a function of averaging the multiplication results by integrating the multiplication results. For example, the correlation value R(n) which is the average value of the products of PDOUT(k) and PDOUT(k−n) in Equation (1) may be obtained by integrating the multiplication results for plural clock cycles (e.g., 100 clock cycles). Alternatively, the jitter calculation device 12 may calculate R(n) by dividing the integration of the multiplication results for plural clock cycles by the number of clock cycles.
When there is no autocorrelation in the error signal PDOUT(k), the frequencies at which +1 and −1 are supplied as the error signal PDOUT(k) are equal to each other, and as a result, the correlation value R(n) becomes substantially equal to 0. Meanwhile, when a rectangular wave signal having a positive value is added to the adjustment value, the phase of the clock signal CKe leads and the frequency at which −1 is supplied as the error signal PDOUT(k) to the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b increases. As a result, the correlation value R(n) decreases.
An example of a jitter measurement operation using the jitter measurement circuit 11 of the first embodiment will be described below.
Jitters to be input to the phase detection circuit 10a may include a jitter ψDAT of the data signal Di and a jitter ψCK of the clock signal CKe output by the phase adjustment circuit 10d. In the phase detection circuit 10a, a difference between the jitter ψDAT and the jitter ψCK is a jitter ψER which is the fluctuation of the phase of the clock signal CKe in the time axis direction with respect to the data signal Di. The jitter ψER is amplified with the gain KPD of the phase detection circuit 10a, and a jitter (quantization error jitter) ψPD generated in the phase detection circuit 10a is added to the amplified jitter ψER to obtain a jitter ψTOT. The jitter ψTOT propagates to the filter 10b and the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b.
Meanwhile, a jitter propagated from the filter 10b to the adder 11a2 is added with a rectangular wave signal (jitter ψINJ) generated by the rectangular wave generation circuit 11a1. Further, a jitter ΨPI generated in the phase adjustment circuit 10d and a jitter ΨREF of the reference clock CKr are added to obtain a jitter ΨCK.
When the effective value σER of the jitter ΨER among the plurality of jitters becomes large, it is difficult to match the rising timing of the clock signal CKe with the edge of the data signal Di, as illustrated in
First, the control circuit 11c of the jitter measurement circuit 11 sets the delay amount n of the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b to 0 (operation S1). For example, when the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b as illustrated in
Further, the control circuit 11c controls the rectangular wave generation circuit 11a1 to stop the output of the rectangular wave signal. As a result, the jitter ΨINJ becomes 0 (operation S2).
The autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b outputs R(0) which is the correlation value R(n) under the condition of n=0 and ΨINJ=0 (operation S3). As illustrated in
The reason for calculating such R(0) (transition probability αT) will be explained below. Equation (1) may be expressed as the following equation (2).
R(n)=KPD2E[ψER(k)ψER(k−n)]+σPD2δ[n] (2)
In Equation (2), ψER(k) is a jitter ψER generated in the kth clock cycle of the clock signal Cke, and ψER(k−n) is a jitter ψER generated in the (k−n)th clock cycle of the clock signal CKe. The n corresponds to the delay amount in the delay circuit 11b1. The delay amount n means a delay of n clock cycles of the clock signal CKe. The σPD is the effective value of the jitter ψPD. The δ[n] is a delta function, which is 1 when n=0 and 0 when n=0.
In Equation (2), in the case of n=0, R(0) is expressed by the following equation (3).
R(0)=αT=KPD2σER2+σPD2 (3)
Therefore, when R(0), the gain KPD of the phase detection circuit 10a, and the effective value σPD of the jitter ΨPD are obtained, the effective value σER desired to be obtained may be calculated. This is the reason for calculating R(0).
When the jitter ΨPD follows the Gaussian distribution, the gain KPD of the Bang-Bang type phase detection circuit 10a is expressed by the following equation (4) (see M. J. Park and J. Kim, “Pseudo-linear analysis of bang-bang controlled timing circuits,” IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers, vol. 60, no. 6, pp. 1381-1394, June 2013).
The following equation (5) is obtained from Equations (3) and (4).
That is, the effective value σPD may be obtained from R(0) (transition probability αT). Meanwhile, the gain KPD may be obtained by a process to be described later.
In operation S3, the control circuit 11c controls the delay amount n to be 0 by a predetermined number of clock cycles (e.g., 100 cycles) of the clock signal Cke. Then, the control circuit 11c controls the addition circuit 11a to start the addition of the rectangular wave signal to the adjustment value (operation S4).
The control circuit 11c increases the delay amount n of the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b (operation S5). For example, when the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b as illustrated in
The autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b outputs the correlation value R(n) each time the delay amount n increases (operation S6). In operation S6, the control circuit 11c controls the delay amount n to have the same value by a predetermined number of clock cycles (e.g., 100 cycles) of the clock signal Cke. Then, the control circuit 11c determines whether or not the delay amount n reaches the maximum value (MAX) (operation S7).
When it is determined that the delay amount n is not MAX, the process from operation S5 is repeated. For example, when the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b as illustrated in
When the delay amount n is MAX, for example, the control circuit 11c controls the addition circuit 11a to stop the addition of the rectangular wave signal to the adjustment value and ends the jitter measurement. Meanwhile, as illustrated in
Thereafter, the jitter calculation device 12 acquires the correlation value R(n) (operation S12).
The correlation value R(n) becomes a triangular wave as illustrated in
Δ≈KPD2σINJ2 (6)
Since the jitter ΨINJ is a rectangular wave signal with a duty ratio of 50%, when the amplitude m of the rectangular wave signal as illustrated in
In order to obtain the gain KPD, the jitter calculation device 12 measures 2Δ from the acquired correlation value R(n) (operation S13) and calculates the gain KPD using Equation (6) (operation S14).
In the case where the autocorrelation calculation circuit 11b as illustrated in
In order to calculate the gain KPD using Equation (6), the jitter calculation device 12 has a value of the amplitude m (=2A) of the rectangular wave signal which is the effective value σINJ of the jitter ΨINJ. For example, the value of the amplitude m (=2A) of the rectangular wave signal is held in a memory (not illustrated) in the jitter calculation device 12.
After operation S14, the jitter calculation device 12 calculates the effective value σER (operation S15). When the rectangular wave signal is added, the transition probability αT can be expressed by the following equation (7).
R(0)=σT=KPD2[σER2+σINJ2]+σPD2 (7)
In Equation (7), σ2INJ is A2.
In operation S15, the jitter calculation device 12 calculates the effective value σER from Equation (7) using the obtained gain KPD and effective value σPD, the acquired transition probability αT, and A which is stored in the memory (not illustrated).
From Equations (5), (6), and (7), the effective value σER is expressed by the following equation (8).
The jitter calculation device 12 may calculate the effective value σER according to Equation (8) without calculating the gain KPD using Δ. The jitter calculation device 12 may store the calculated effective value σER in a memory (not illustrated) or may present the calculated effective value σER to a user by displaying the calculated effective value σER on a display device (not illustrated).
As a result, the user may take measures against jitter based on the effective value σER. As described above, the jitter measurement circuit 11 of the first embodiment calculates the correlation value representing the autocorrelation of the error signal at the time of addition and non-addition of the rectangular wave signal to the adjustment value for adjusting the phase of the clock signal CKe. As described above, this correlation value reflects the jitter ΨER, and the jitter calculation device 12 may calculate the effective value σER of the jitter ΨER based on the correlation value. In the CDR circuit having the eye monitor function, a jitter is measured from BER detected by using a circuit separate from a circuit which actually controls the phase of the clock signal used for data determination. Meanwhile, the jitter measurement circuit 11 may directly measure the jitter ΨER (effective value σER) by using a signal propagating through a circuit that controls the phase of the clock signal actually used for data determination. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately evaluate the jitter ΨER that actually becomes problematic.
In addition, in the CDR circuit having the eye monitor function, a circuit of a relatively large circuit scale such as an eye sampler is used, but the jitter measurement circuit 11 of the first embodiment may measure the jitter with an additional circuit of a smaller scale. In addition, since the increase in circuit scale may be suppressed, the increase in power consumption may be suppressed accordingly.
The jitter measurement circuit 21 according to the second embodiment processes plural error signals output in parallel by the clock generation circuit 20 operating in a time interleaving manner to output a correlation value. A phase detection circuit 20a of the clock generation circuit 20 operating in the time interleaving manner has plural phase detection circuits 10a as illustrated in
The plural error signals are output in parallel from the phase detection circuit 20a. A filter 20b is, for example, a digital loop filter and filters the plural error signals output by the phase detection circuit 20a to output an adjustment value.
A phase adjustment circuit 20c adjusts the phases of the clock signals CKd1 to CKdx based on the adjustment value. A phase adjustment circuit 20d adjusts the phases of the clock signals CKe1 to CKex based on the adjustment value.
According to such a clock generation circuit 20, even when the frequency of the input data signal Di is high, a process may be performed using the low-speed clock signals CKd1 to CKdx and CKe1 to CKex.
The jitter measurement circuit 21 includes a filter 21a and a majority decision circuit 21b, in addition to the elements of the jitter measurement circuit 11 illustrated in
The majority decision circuit 21b receives the plural error signals output from the filter 21a and outputs the most frequent value (one of +1, 0, and −1) among the three types of values.
The majority decision circuit 21b may be implemented by using, for example, a logic circuit in which a plurality of NAND circuits and an OR circuit is combined with each other (see, e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-273322) or a 2-bit adder.
The other operations of the jitter measurement circuit 21 are the same as those of the jitter measurement circuit 11 of the first embodiment. By using such a majority decision circuit 21b, the frequency of a clock signal supplied to each of the flip-flops (see
Further, according to the jitter measurement circuit 21 of the second embodiment, the same effects as the jitter measurement circuit 11 of the first embodiment are obtained. The Bang-Bang type phase detection circuits 10a and 20a are used in the jitter measurement circuit 11 of the first embodiment and the jitter measurement circuit 21 of the second embodiment as described above. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. A phase detection circuit that performs phase detection with one sampling per symbol may be used. Such a phase detection circuit is also called Muller-Muller (MM) type phase detection circuit.
The MM type phase detection circuit 30a includes comparators 30a1 and 30a2, a data sampler 30a3, and an error signal generation circuit 30a4. The comparator 30a1 outputs a comparison result obtained by comparing a threshold value e− and the data signal Di. The comparator 30a1 outputs 1 when the data signal Di is larger than the threshold value e−, and outputs 0 when the data signal Di is smaller than the threshold value e−.
The comparator 30a2 outputs a comparison result obtained by comparing a threshold value e+and the data signal Di. The comparator 30a2 outputs 1 when the data signal Di is larger than the threshold value e+, and outputs 0 when the data signal Di is smaller than the threshold value e+.
The data sampler 30a3 determines a value (0 or 1) based on the potential level of the data signal Di at the rising timing of the clock signal CKd.
The error signal generation circuit 30a4 takes in the determination result of the value of the data signal Di output by the data sampler 30a3 and the comparison results output by the comparators 30a1 and 30a2 at the rising timing of the clock signal CKd. Then, the error signal generation circuit 30a4 generates and outputs an error signal based on the determination result of the value of the data signal Di of two symbols output by the data sampler 30a3 and the comparison results of two symbols output by the comparators 30a1 and 30a2.
When Dn−1 and E+n−1 are 0 and Dn, E−n−1, E+n, and E−n are 1 or when Dn−1 and E−n−1 are 1 and Dn, E+n−1, E+n, and E−n are 0, the rising timing of the clock signal CKd is later than the edge portion of the data signal Di. That is, the phase of the clock signal CKd lags.
For example, as illustrated in
In such a case, since the phase of the clock signal CKd lags, the error signal generation circuit 30a4 outputs a 2-bit value “10.” This corresponds to +1 of the above three types of error signals.
When Dn and E−n are 1 and Dn−1, E+n−1, E−n−1, and E+n are 0 or when Dn and E+n are 0 and Dn−1, E+n−1, E−n−1, and E−n are 1, the rising timing of the clock signal CKd is earlier than the edge portion of the data signal Di. That is, the phase of the clock signal CKd leads.
For example, as illustrated in
In such a case, since the phase of the clock signal CKd leads, the error signal generation circuit 30a4 outputs a 2-bit value “01.” This corresponds to −1 of the above three types of error signals.
For other inputs of the error signal generation circuit 30a4, the error signal generation circuit 30a4 outputs a 2-bit value “00.” This corresponds to 0 among the above three types of error signals of +1, 0, and −1.
When the MM type phase detection circuit 30a is used, the addition circuit 11a of the jitter measurement circuit 11 has a function of adding a rectangular wave signal to the adjustment value output by the filter 30b. The adjustment value to which the rectangular wave signal is added is supplied to the phase adjustment circuit 30c for adjusting the phase of the clock signal CKd. Then, the jitter measurement circuit 11 outputs the correlation value R(0) and the correlation value R(n) according to the same operation as the above-mentioned operation, and the jitter calculation device 12 calculates the effective value σER.
The calculated effective value σER is the effective value of the jitter ψER that is the fluctuation of the phase of the clock signal CKd in the time axis direction with respect to the data signal Di. In this way, when the MM type phase detection circuit 30a is used instead of the Bang-Bang type phase detection circuit 10a, the same effects may also be obtained by the jitter measurement circuit 11.
That is, it is possible to directly measure the jitter ΨER (effective value σER) by using a signal propagating through a circuit that controls the phase of the clock signal actually used for data determination. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately evaluate the jitter ΨER that actually becomes problematic.
It is also possible to operate the above-mentioned plural phase detection circuits 30a installed in parallel in the time interleaving manner, like the clock generation circuit 20 of the second embodiment. In that case, a jitter measurement circuit 21 as illustrated in
In the above description, the clock generation circuits 10, 20, and 30 functioning as a CDR circuit are used. However, the clock generation circuits are not limited to the CDR circuit but may be a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit.
The phase comparison circuit 40a generates and outputs an error signal based on a phase difference between a clock signal (reference clock) CKR and a clock signal CK2 output by the frequency division circuit 40d. The filter 40b filters the error signal output by the phase comparison circuit 40a and outputs an adjustment value.
The VCO 40c outputs a clock signal CK1 whose frequency is adjusted based on the adjustment value output by the filter 40b. A rectangular wave signal may be added to the adjustment value supplied to the VCO 40c by the addition circuit 11a of the jitter measurement circuit 11 described above.
The frequency division circuit 40d divides the frequency of the clock signal CK1 to generate a clock signal CK2. When the clock generation circuit 40 functioning as a PLL circuit is used, the addition circuit 11a of the jitter measurement circuit 11 has a function of adding a rectangular wave signal to the adjustment value output by the filter 40b. The adjustment value to which the rectangular wave signal is added is supplied to the VCO 40c which adjusts the frequency of the clock signal CK1. Then, the jitter measurement circuit 11 outputs the correlation value R(0) and the correlation value R(n) according to the same operation as the above-mentioned operation, and the jitter calculation device 12 calculates the effective value σER.
The calculated effective value σER is the effective value of the jitter ψER that is the fluctuation of the phase of the clock signal CK2 in the time axis direction with respect to the clock signal CKR. In this way, when the clock generation circuit 40 functioning as a PLL circuit is used, the jitter measurement circuit 11 may also directly measure the jitter ΨER (effective value σER) by using a signal propagating through a circuit that controls the phase of the generated clock signal CK1. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately evaluate the jitter ΨER that actually becomes problematic.
Although one aspect of a jitter measurement circuit of the present disclosure has been described above by way of embodiments, these embodiments are merely examples and are not limited to those described above.
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to an illustrating of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2017-089763 | Apr 2017 | JP | national |