Patents Examined by Reford N Barnie
  • Patent number: 7592877
    Abstract: In a variable frequency oscillator in a semiconductor device, as the variation of an oscillation frequency caused by the variation of temperature and supply voltage and process variation is large, it is difficult to reduce the conversion ratio of control voltage dependent upon phase noise and the oscillation frequency and therefore, phase noise is large. The variation of the oscillation frequency is suppressed and phase noise is reduced by connecting a voltage-to-current conversion circuit that converts input control voltage to control current of a ring oscillator to the ring oscillator where delay circuits a delay time of which increases and decreases according to the amplitude of input control current are cascade-connected by a plurality of stages in a ring and increasing/decreasing current dependent upon any of temperature, supply voltage and the threshold voltage of a transistor inside the voltage-to-current conversion circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2009
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Nobuhiro Shiramizu, Toru Masuda