The present invention relates generally to the field of clock signal duty cycle control devices and methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for correcting, adjusting or maintaining a clock signal duty cycle using a digital feedback mechanism.
All electronic systems include communication channels for transmitting signals from one component to another. Many electronic systems use clock signals to time the transmission of such signals. In such systems it is important that the duty cycle of clock signal be maintained at a desired ratio. For example, in most computer systems it is important that the clock signal is maintained at a specified duty cycle.
Computer systems generally include a memory subsystem that contains memory devices where instructions and data are held for use by a processor of the computer system. Because the processor is typically capable of operating at a higher rate than the memory subsystem, the operational speed of the memory subsystem has a significant impact on the performance of the computer system.
In the past, the memory devices making up the memory subsystem, such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (“DRAM”), were typically asynchronous devices, i.e., the memory devices stored or output data in response to control signals from a processor. However, asynchronous operation results in a delay between the time that a control signal, e.g., a read command and address value, is received by the memory device and the time that the device responds, e.g., the data becomes available at the output of the memory device. An approach that has been developed to improve memory performance is called double data-rate (“DDR”) and is used in DDR DRAM memory devices. In a DDR DRAM, data during a burst is output on both the rising and falling edges of the clock cycles, which effectively doubles the rate of operational frequency of the memory subsystem.
A DDR memory controller typically contains a clock generation circuit that is configured to generate a clock signal. Frequently, the clock generation circuit is a high-speed, low-jitter clock source that generates a high-speed clock signal CLK0. The clock generation circuit may be an “on-chip” clock generation source or an “off-chip” clock generation source. If an “on-chip” clock generation circuit is used, the circuit may employ a phase-locked loop (“PLL”) with an “off-chip” signal used as a reference. In such an embodiment, the PLL may multiply the clock frequency of the reference signal to obtain a desired high-frequency clock signal.
The clock generation circuit may derive a lower frequency clock signal by using a divider that divides the high-speed clock signal to generate a lower-frequency clock signal that is then output to the DDR memory device. The divider may divide the frequency of the high-speed clock signal by an integer N.
Because data is transferred on both edges of the clock signal in a DDR system, it is desirable, and in some cases necessary, to have a 50% duty cycle. Because of the very high rate of switching associated with the data transfers, the tolerance on duty cycle errors is quite small. Even small errors in a clock's duty cycle can impose a significant reduction on system performance.
Typical duty cycle correction circuits may utilize a field effect transistor (“FET”) based charge pump to generate a voltage that is provided to a shaping circuit via an analog feedback circuit, which is then used to modify the duty cycle. When the desired duty cycle is achieved, the feedback voltage generated from the charge pump stabilizes and remains constant at a value that provides the required correction via the analog feedback circuit. One disadvantage of such a system is that the voltage difference in the charge pump nodes induces an error within the charge pump. Specifically, current characteristics of transistor devices used within the charge pump may vary slightly as the voltages vary. For example, varying drain-to-source voltages can have an effect on the FET channel length, referred to as channel length modulation, which in turn effects the drain-to-source current. Thus, in a charge pump device relied upon to detect small variations in duty cycle based on small changes in FET currents, any voltage variations that may induce channel length modulation in the charge pump FETs may cause the circuit to indicate a locked condition when in fact a small duty cycle offset is present.
Thus, there is a need to more precisely control clock signal duty cycles.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following drawings, in which:
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a method for adjusting, correcting or maintaining a clock's duty cycle is provided. An incremental error signal is generated in response to the clock signal, and a cumulative error signal is generated in response to the incremental error signal. The duty cycle of the clock signal is adjusted in response to the cumulative error signal.
In one preferred embodiment, the duty cycle adjuster, or duty cycle correction circuit, detects a duty cycle error with an analog detector, (such as, for example, a charge pump) but then accumulates the error in a digital fashion. Because the detector does not also serve as an error accumulator, the detector can be repeatedly reset and operated over a small range of output voltages. The analog detector, having a small dynamic range, may be designed to provide very accurate indications of a duty cycle error. The analog detector, which may be implemented as an analog detector circuit, may also be programmable, thereby providing a duty cycle adjuster that can be used to provide any desired duty cycle in a dynamic manner.
Furthermore, because some preferred embodiments of the accumulator operate in a digital fashion, it can be used to implement duty cycle correction algorithms, including filtering, state-based filtering, fast relock based on previous lock information, adjustments based on temperature, lock searching algorithms, etc.
In accordance with another embodiment, the present invention provides a duty cycle adjuster which may be used to do one or more of adjust, correct and control the duty cycle of a clock signal. The duty cycle adjuster of this embodiment may also be used to adjust, correct and/or control the duty cycle of other periodic signals that are used for other purposes other than providing a clock signal. The duty cycle adjuster of the present invention may include a clock generator that provides a clock waveform signal. The clock generator has a duty cycle correction input. In various embodiments, the duty cycle correction input may be a digital (e.g., binary) signal or in the form of an analog signal. The duty cycle adjuster of the present embodiment also includes a duty cycle detector, which preferably includes a charge pump that generates a voltage in the presence of a duty cycle error and an analog to digital converter for generating a digital incremental error measurement responsive to the voltage. The duty cycle detector may also be configured to generate an analog error voltage or a digital signal used to fine tune the clock generator.
In addition, the duty cycle adjuster of the present embodiment includes a duty cycle error accumulator connected to the duty cycle detector, wherein the duty cycle error accumulator generates a duty cycle correction signal representing an accumulated error measurement in response to the digital incremental error measurement. The duty cycle error accumulator also provides the duty cycle correction signal to the duty cycle correction input. The charge pump may be selectively reset, resulting in the voltage remaining substantially within a predetermined range when the duty cycle correction signal representing an accumulated error measurement is sufficient to obtain a desired duty cycle. Persons skilled in the art will recognize that the clock generator, the duty cycle detector and the duty cycle error accumulator may be implemented, respectively, as a clock generation circuit, a duty cycle detection circuit and a duty cycle error accumulation circuit.
In various embodiments, the duty cycle adjuster or duty cycle correction circuit of the present invention may utilize an incremental error measurement in the form of a multiple bit signal representing a quantization value corresponding to the duty cycle error voltage. The error voltage is preferably reset using a switch, typically a FET device, and may be reset when the quantization value exceeds a predetermined threshold.
The duty cycle adjuster may include a comparator connected to the charge pump. The comparator preferably includes two thresholds for detecting a high or low voltage. In an alternative embodiment, the duty cycle adjuster may utilize an incremental error measurement that is output in the form of a logic value, wherein a first logic value, for example a logic 1, indicates a positive error and second logic value, for example a logic 0, indicates a negative error. The incremental error measurement may be a quantized multi-bit digital value obtained via an analog to digital converter. This multi-bit value could be used to help determine the best next digital duty cycle correction value, thus speeding lock time or increasing accuracy of the overall duty cycle corrector.
The duty cycle adjuster may include a duty cycle shaping circuit and a clock waveform circuit, where the shaping circuit has a first and second capacitor and a differential amplifier, together with a digital to analog converter, wherein the digital to analog converter receives the duty cycle correction signal and responsively adjusts current flow to the first and second capacitors. The current is adjusted in such a manner that the rise time of the first capacitor and the fall time of the second capacitor change in one direction, and the fall time of the first capacitor and the rise time of the second capacitor change in the opposite direction, thereby adjusting the duty cycle of the signal in a well defined manner. In certain preferred embodiments, the rate of change of the rise time of the first capacitor is essentially the same as the rate of change of the fall time of the second capacitor; and the rate of change of the fall time of the first capacitor is essentially the same as the rate of change of the rise time of the second capacitor. The overall variation in slew rates of the signals is dependent on the ratios of the adjusted currents and the capacitance seen by the current source. To accommodate a wide frequency range, the reference current utilized may be proportional to frequency via a switched capacitance bias current generator.
In some embodiments, the methods and apparatuses of the present invention are employed in memory systems and are used to correct, adjust or control the duty cycle of one or more of the memory system's clock signal. Because clock duty cycles may become distorted as they are buffered and distributed throughout a chip or among different chips, the methods and apparatuses described herein may be incorporated in or on memory devices and/or memory controllers. Because DDR memory systems frequently require precise duty cycle control, the methods and apparatuses of the present invention may be particularly useful in or on DDR memory devices and/or DDR memory controllers. In view of the wide variety of embodiments that will be described hereinafter, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to memory systems, and the methods and devices described hereinafter could be equally applicable in any other system that may have a need for duty cycle correction, adaptation, or control. Devices that may employ the methods and/or apparatuses of the present invention, include, for example, memory devices, memory controllers, microprocessors, digital signal processors, micro-controllers, any digital logic circuitry, hybrid logic circuits (for example, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, motor controllers, etc.), etc. Systems that may usefully employ the methods and/or apparatuses of the present invention, include, for example, memory systems, computer systems, data systems, telecommunication systems, automated manufacturing systems, process control systems, test systems, etc.
With reference to
The clock signal 18 is provided to the duty cycle corrector circuit 22. The duty cycle corrector circuit 22 includes a duty cycle detector 24 and an error accumulator 25. The duty cycle detector generates an incremental error signal that is passed to the error accumulator 25. The error accumulator is configured to generate a duty cycle correction signal and provide it to the duty cycle shaping circuit 14 over line 28. The duty cycle correction signal represents an accumulated error measurement. In certain embodiments, the duty cycle correction signal may be generated in part in response to the incremental error measurements, and in other embodiments it may be generated in response to other inputs as described herein.
The duty cycle correction signal from the error accumulator may be an analog voltage or analog current that is used to shape the CLOCKVCO waveform. Alternatively, the duty cycle correction signal may be in digital format (e.g., binary). Line 28 may be a parallel signal bus comprising a plurality of conductors to accommodate parallel binary signals.
In the embodiment of
As shown in
In the embodiment of
Furthermore, both
One embodiment of duty cycle shaping circuit 14 will be described with respect to
Capacitors 58 and 60 are provided to delay the rising edge and falling edge of the signals on nodes 70 and 72, respectively. As shown in
DAC 76 in
Thus, a modified waveform W3 shown in
In
The coarse duty cycle correction signal may be a digital signal provided to a DAC 76 as depicted in
A further alternative duty cycle shaping circuit is shown in
In this manner, the DAC inputs D0–D3 control the current paths that are used to charge and discharge capacitor 90, which in turn affect the voltage waveforms at node 93. Inverter 92 provides the final signal shaping to derive a final clock signal on node 94.
The waveforms are shown in
Thus, the DAC provides a mechanism to alter the voltage characteristics at node 93 to accomplish duty cycle corrections or modifications. By diverting current flow from capacitor 90, the rate of charging may be further delayed, and the rate of discharge may be increased. Of course alternate circuit arrangements may be used to provide a clock signal. For example, selectively adding capacitance to node 93 affects the rate of change of voltage across capacitor 90.
As one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize, there are numerous alternative circuit arrangements that may be used in the duty cycle shaping circuits 14, 15, to alter the waveform characteristics based on an input signal from an error accumulator, thereby resulting in a change in the duty cycle. One such further alternative is to use a comparator in place of inverter 92 and a DAC (not shown) to alter the reference voltage of the comparator. Any asymmetries in the charging and discharging of capacitor 90, (with or without a programmable current or capacitive element), may be used in conjunction with the comparator to modify the duty cycle. As shown in
With respect to
Digital input D0-D7122 controls the FET devices shown in
In an alternative embodiment, the circuit of
In an alternative embodiment, the FETs in
Further embodiments of the DAC circuits discussed above include having current sources with differing values within current source circuit 128. This allows a greater range of currents to be programmed and provided by the DAC. For example, if four current sources were used, having values of I, 2I, 4I and 8I, any current having an integer value from zero to 16I (0, 1I, 2I, . . . , 16I) may be provided. Similarly, the capacitive values of the circuit depicted in
The incremental error detector 26 may be implemented as a differential charge pump 140 as shown in
Thus, if (i) the capacitors 158 and 160 are equal valued, (ii) the duty cycle is 50%, and (iii) the DAC 176 is inactive, then the voltages on nodes 170 and 172 will remain relatively constant—at an equilibrium. In the presence of a duty cycle error, a differential voltage will develop because one capacitor gradually increases its charge each cycle (due to more current going into the capacitor than is removed as a result of the FET being off longer than it is on), while the other capacitor gradually discharges (more current is removed than is provided during each cycle). The differential voltage will continue increasing until the offset is corrected, at which point the differential voltage will stabilize. The differential voltage is thus an incremental duty cycle error indication.
In the circuit of
In an alternative embodiment, the DAC 176 may be incorporated into the current source 166. That is, by making the current sources 162 and 164 programmable, the same current steering affect may be achieved. Specifically, if current source 162 is programmed to deliver incrementally less current, and current source 164 is programmed to deliver incrementally more current, then only a CLOCK signal having a proportionally lower duty cycle will stabilize the voltage at nodes 170 and 172. If the current sources are programmed in an opposite manner, a higher duty cycle will result.
As discussed previously, the charge pump is used to generate an incremental error measurement. The incremental error measurement is preferably a digital signal that is then accumulated by the error accumulator 32. In the duty cycle corrector of
The comparators may be configured to sample the error voltage continuously or periodically, perhaps as frequently as every clock cycle. In the embodiment of
In addition, the differential voltage across the charge pump is eliminated by resetting the charge pump with the RESET signal applied to FET 178, thereby equalizing DCP and DCN and minimizing the voltage difference. In this manner, the duty cycle correction signal from the error accumulator circuit 32 continues to increase (or decrease) in response to repeated incremental error signals, thereby adjusting the duty cycle, until the charge pump 140 remains at or near equilibrium, having substantially zero differential voltage, such that the differential incremental duty cycle error voltage remains between both predetermined thresholds.
Practically, however, some duty cycle error may still exist and the differential voltage may gradually increase, eventually causing the generation of an incremental error signal. A corresponding change in the duty cycle correction signal from the accumulator circuit may result in overcompensation, eventually resulting in the generation of a further incremental error signal, but in the opposite direction. Thus, incremental error signals in alternating directions (an “UP” signal followed by a “DOWN” signal, followed by another “UP” signal) may be used as an indication of duty cycle lock.
In alternative embodiments of incremental error detector 26, the differential voltages DCP and DCN from nodes 170 and 172 may be used to supplement the duty cycle correction signal. Specifically, the charge pump may continue to generate incremental error signals for accumulation, but in addition may provide an analog signal in the form of a differential voltage (DCP-DCN) to control an analog amplifier 77 as described with reference to
In a further embodiment, the fine duty cycle adjustment signal may be digitized and may be used to control an additional DAC, or may be used to control the least significant bit or bits of the input to DAC 76 of
In the various embodiments described herein, it can be seen that by providing an accumulated duty cycle correction signal allows the charge pump 140 to be used to generate incremental error signals, and to operate at a reduced differential voltage. In addition, the threshold values that are used to generate the incremental error signals may be made arbitrarily small, typically only restricted by the noise levels inherent in the circuit. As a result, the duty cycle corrector 22 has increased sensitivity and increased dynamic range because of the reduced constraints on the duty cycle detector 21, 24. Still further, embodiments providing both a coarse duty cycle correction signal and a fine duty cycle correction signal provide design flexibility and the ability to further increase the sensitivity of the duty cycle corrector 22.
In a further alternative embodiment, the charge pump 140 may be implemented as a single-ended charge pump as depicted in
FET 186 is provided to reset the voltage on node 183 after the error threshold has been exceeded. The reset FET 186 may, for example, set the node 183 to VDD/2.
The ADC function is provided by comparators 188 and 190. If the voltage across capacitor 185 goes above a positive threshold REFP or below a negative threshold REFN, the comparators 190 and 188, respectively, will provide a logic 1 output and via OR gate 192, provide a COUNT ENABLE signal. The output of one of the comparators is also used to provide an indication of the direction of the error (an “up” count U, or “down” count D). As discussed above, alternative ADCs may be used, such as an ADC providing a quantized value representative of the analog voltage on node 183.
In an alternative embodiment, DAC 180 takes the form of parallel-connected FET devices that can alter the current flow to and/or from node 183 in a manner similar to the FET arrangement depicted in
In the embodiment of
In one embodiment shown in
The count filter 222 provides as an output the next value to be loaded into the count register 224. This value represents the accumulated error signal. A decoder 226 is then provided to perform any necessary translation of the digital counter value to an appropriate control signal for the DAC. Specifically, the DAC input may require specific signals to control FETs such as FET 125 and FET 127. Thus, depending on the particular DAC embodiment being used, and the particular implementation of the count filter 222, a decoder 226 may be preferred, or may not be required.
In one preferred embodiment, the count filter 222 increments the counter value stored in the count register 224 by eight in response to the filter info signal so as to provide rapid adjustment of the accumulated error signal. The counter increment may be adjustable to accommodate various step sizes and correspondingly modify the rate of lock convergence. Specifically, the rate of convergence refers to the speed at which the optimal duty cycle correction signal is generated. In the case of a large duty cycle error, the rate convergence may be increased by increasing the step size, thus causing a larger change in the accumulated error signal due to a single occurrence of an incremental error signal. Thus, the counter step size may be selected from a plurality of step sizes, depending on whether the counter is in a fast lock mode, or if the incremental error signals are generated rapidly, etc. That is, the rapid adjustment may be enabled for an initial lock period following power on or following an idle or “nap” mode, or it may be done in response to the speed at which the incremental error signal is generated after a reset operation, or the change in speed at which the incremental error signal is generated. In the embodiment shown, count filter 222 can load any value into the counter register 224. This may facilitate rapid recovery from an idle or “nap” mode. In addition, the nap recovery value of the digital duty cycle correction signal to be loaded into the count register 224 may be a value calculated from the value obtained during a previous locked state. The calculation may involve an adjustment to compensate for a temperature decrease that would be expected (or one that is measured) during an idle period.
In a further embodiment the error accumulator circuit includes a state machine, preferably implemented as a sequential logic circuit. However, a software based state machine could also be used. The state machine may be programmed to implement a variety of duty cycle correction algorithms, and could include states associated with naps or idle, lock, rapid relock, etc. The state machine may implement a state-based filtering operation using a register or series of registers acting as a ROM table to provide lookup values for the desired digital duty cycle correction signals corresponding to the various states or algorithms. A typical algorithm that may be desirable is a binary search algorithm to provide a quick lock, or an adjustable counter increment, or a temperature adjustment, or nap recovery, as discussed herein.
In an alternative embodiment, the ADC 42 of
In a further embodiment, an incremental error signal may be ignored if its frequency is very low, indicating a duty cycle locked condition that is within the tolerance of the duty cycle corrector 22. That is, if the duty cycle error is low enough that an error voltage develops very slowly, then it is preferable to ignore the occurrence of incremental error rather than to adjust the DAC of the duty cycle shaping circuit. Alternatively, a RESET signal may be provided to the incremental error detector at a relatively low frequency even in the absence of the incremental error exceeding a threshold.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the duty cycle corrector 22 provides a lock signal indicating that duty cycle lock has been achieved. The duty cycle lock signal may be provided when a transition occurs between an initial sequence of up signals (i.e., U/D′ is a logic high) signals followed by a down signal (i.e., U/D′ is a logic low), or between an initial sequence of down signals followed by a up signal. Alternatively, the lock signal may be provided when the frequency of incremental error signals is below a predetermined threshold (i.e., an incremental error signal is not being generated very often). Preferably, the lock signal may be provided as a status signal to other devices and circuits. The count filter 222 preferably generates the lock signal as shown in
In a further embodiment, the error accumulator 32 may provide a duty cycle correction signal in the form of an analog signal representative of the accumulated error. The analog signal may be generated by storing a charge on one or more capacitors in response to the generation of an incremental error signal, where the stored voltage is representative of an accumulated error comprising the duty cycle correction signal. One such embodiment will be described with respect to
In an alternative embodiment, a single ended voltage may be generated. In such an embodiment, a single capacitive element is charged and discharged to store a voltage representative of an accumulated error comprising the duty cycle correction signal.
In other embodiments, the duration of the UP and DOWN signals may be varied in response to the rate at which incremental error signals are generated. Specifically, if the time (as measured e.g., by a number of clock cycles) between the generation of incremental error signals is short, the duration of the corresponding control signal (either the UP or DOWN) can be increased, thereby allowing a greater change in the stored voltage. As the time between incremental error signals increases, the duration of the UP and DOWN signals may be decreased, allowing smaller changes in the stored voltage. Other signals or conditions may be used to control the duration of the UP and DOWN signals thereby controlling the sensitivity of the duty cycle correction signal. Such other signals include the occurrence of an UP signal after repeated occurrences of a DOWN signal, or the converse condition of the occurrence of a DOWN signal after repeated occurrences of an UP signal. Another condition is if the duty cycle corrector is in a fast-relock state as might be the case upon awakening from a nap or low power mode. Those of skill in the art will recognize that other conditions may also be used to alter the sensitivity of the adjustment to the duty cycle correction signal.
With respect to
The step 304 of generating an incremental error signal may include the steps of generating an incremental duty cycle error voltage, which is compared to a first and second threshold voltage. In addition, the incremental error signal may have a logic value indicating whether the error is positive or negative. The step of generating an incremental duty cycle error voltage is preferably performed by a programmable charge pump, which also may include a DAC to provide programmability. Once the incremental error signal is generated, the incremental error signal is reset, but as discussed above, it may also be reset independent of generating an incremental error signal (or without otherwise adjusting the cumulative error signal). The incremental error signal may be reset by, for example, resetting of the charge pump voltage, (which provides an incremental duty cycle error voltage). Still further, the order of the steps of the method may be varied.
In alternative embodiments, the step of generating an incremental error signal may be performed by generating a duty cycle error voltage in response to the clock signal, and generating an incremental error signal having a binary quantization value representative of the differential voltage value. In this embodiment, the resetting of the incremental error signal is performed in response to the binary quantization value exceeding a digital threshold value, or upon action of the accumulator. The accumulator may determine whether or not to include the incremental error indication into the accumulated error value as discussed below.
The step 306 of generating a cumulative error signal in response to the incremental error signal may be performed by, for example, filtering the incremental error signal, altering a state of an error accumulator in response to the incremental error signal, or adjusting a counter value. The counter value may, for example, be incremented by large steps while in a fast lock mode, or it may be set according to a binary search algorithm. Alternatively, the cumulative error signal may be an analog voltage generated by charging and/or discharing one or more capacitors used to store a voltage, in response to the incremental error signal.
The step of adjusting the duty cycle of the clock signal (step 308) may be performed in a variety of ways. For example step 308 may be performed by adjusting a current steering circuit, adjusting a capacitance, or adjusting a comparator threshold voltage. In addition, the steps 304 through 310 may be performed iteratively until incremental error signals are no longer generated, or until their frequency of occurrence is below a predetermined threshold.
With respect to
This may be achieved by the generalized circuit shown in
For the other half of charge pump shown in
In yet another embodiment, a variable duty cycle detector may be implemented without a DAC. In this embodiment, the rate at which the incremental error detector generates an incremental error is used as a measurement of the duty cycle. Specifically, after the incremental error detector is reset, the time it takes for the incremental error signal to be generated is determined (by way of a counter or other suitable timing mechanism). The time measurement is proportional to the duty cycle. Thus, a circuit may be designed, for example, with an incremental error detector that will not generate an error if the duty cycle is, say, 50%. On the other hand, any duty cycle error will cause an incrementally increasing voltage signal to be generated. Further, the sensitivity of the incremental error detector may be selected (statically, or programmably by way of a capacitive or current-steering DAC as disclosed herein), so that the rate of increase (or decrease) may be used to determine the duty cycle variance. For example, the incremental error detector may be designed (or programmed) such that a duty cycle of 0.45 will cause an incremental error signal to be generated in 100 cycles. Because the relationship is generally geometric in nature, a duty cycle of 0.4 will cause an incremental error signal to be generated in 50 cycles, and a duty cycle of 0.35 will cause an incremental error signal to be generated in 25 cycles, etc. In this way, a desired duty cycle may be obtained by providing a cumulative error signal to a clock waveform shaper sufficient to generate a CLOCK signal that will induce the generation of an incremental error signal in the appropriate time frame. The desired programmable range and desired sensitivity may be set by the selection of component values (current sources and capacitors) and by providing programmability by way of a DAC as disclosed herein.
It should be noted that all of the exemplary embodiments are only for illustrative purposes, and actual circuit designs may take into account the particular desired range of programmable duty cycles, the desired sensitivity of the detector, the level of accuracy of the control feedback loop, the need for certain bias currents, and the current source values that are desired and easily implemented.
In the above description it is contemplated that signals transmitted between the functional blocks may be sent directly, or may be slightly modified prior to reception by the receiving block. That is, a signal may be amplified, attenuated, delayed, latched, buffered, inverted, filtered, digitized, level shifted or otherwise converted, etc., between the sending and receiving logic blocks. The description of the above embodiments should be interpreted to include equivalent signals, where the informational and/or functional aspect of the signals determines equivalence. Thus, the description above contemplates embodiments where the signal transmitted by one block is altered, thereby generating a derived signal that is received by another block.
Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that circuit elements in circuit diagrams and boundaries between logic blocks are merely illustrative and that alternative embodiments may merge logic blocks or circuit elements or impose an alternate decomposition of functionality upon various logic blocks or circuit elements. For example, the DAC converter 76 of the duty cycle shaping circuit may alternatively be grouped with the duty cycle corrector circuit 22. Similarly, the error accumulator 32, 40 may be combined with the duty cycle detector 21, 24, 27. The ADC 28, 42 may be combined with the error accumulator 32, 40. Still further, both the decoder 226 and the count register 224 may be combined with the counter filter 222. Numerous other examples will be apparent to those of skill in the art.
Although the transistors of the above-described embodiments are MOSFETs, those skilled in the art will recognize that other types of transistors (e.g., bipolar transistors, IGFETs, etc.) and other circuits configured to perform similar functions may be used where appropriate. Various waveform shaping circuits, DACs, ADCs, and error accumulators or filters have been described, yet still others may be used, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art. Additionally, as used herein, signal names may also refer to the nodes that carry the signals, and node names may also refer to the signals carried thereon.
While the invention has been described in connection with a number of exemplary embodiments, the foregoing is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to a particular form, circuit arrangement, or semiconductor topology. To the contrary, the invention is intended to include such alternatives, modifications and variations as may be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing detailed description.
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