Phase Lock Loop Patents (Class 327/156)
  • Patent number: 12038725
    Abstract: A bipolar TDC apparatus with a phase detection and signal switching circuitry and a phase error measurement circuitry. The phase detection and signal switching circuitry include a multiplexer and phase detector, together referred to as PD_MUX. The PD_MUX is used to handle the order of the two input signal phases of a TDC, or in other words, to enable TDC the bipolarity detection of the phase error. The apparatus detects first the polarity of the phase error and then prepares the right phase order when they arrive at the TDC measurement elements of the phase error measurement circuitry to ensure that always the earlier one starts the TDC and the later one triggers the measurement event. As such, the phase measurement circuitry (or measurement block) provides the phase error magnitude information, while the PD_MUX provides the sign—polarity information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2024
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventor: Zheng Gu
  • Patent number: 12021539
    Abstract: A translation reference loop frequency synthesizer for generating an output signal with sub-Hz frequency steps over a full octave. The synthesizer has a phase lock loop circuit and a translation reference loop. The phase lock loop circuit generates a phase lock oscillator output signal based on a phase lock feedback signal and a phase lock reference signal. The translation reference loop generates the phase lock reference signal based on mixing a translation reference frequency signal and a translation reference loop divided signal. The translation reference loop includes a series of translation loop dividers for generating the translation reference loop divided signal by dividing a frequency of the phase lock oscillator output signal. The translation reference loop includes a translation reference frequency generator for generating the translation reference frequency signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2024
    Assignee: Signal Hound, LLC
    Inventor: Justin Crooks
  • Patent number: 12013421
    Abstract: An electronic circuit including an output circuit capable of reducing breakage while satisfying the characteristics of an output signal is provided. For this purpose, the electronic circuit includes output signal generation elements 201 and 202 configured to generate an output signal, switches 203 and 204, and a voltage monitor circuit 205 configured to monitor a voltage applied to an output terminal 112. Here, the output signal generation elements 201 and 202 are connected to the output terminal 112 via the switches 203 and 204, and the voltage monitor circuit 205 is configured to be able to measure a voltage higher than a power supply voltage VDD connected to the output signal generation element 201 and controls the switches 203 and 204 so as to disconnect the output signal generation elements 201 and 202 and the output terminal 112 when the voltage of the output terminal 112 becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined value set higher than the power supply voltage VDD.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2024
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuo Nakagawa, Akeo Satoh, Akira Kotabe
  • Patent number: 12003612
    Abstract: A clock recovery circuit includes a clock detector configured to receive a serial data stream from a remote device over a reverse channel, wherein the serial data stream includes clock reference data, reverse channel data, or a combination of the clock reference data and the reverse channel data, and the clock detector configured to output a clock detect signal in response to detecting the clock reference data in the serial data stream; a phase lock loop including a first detector configured to receive the serial data stream and to detect phase and frequency; and a controller configured to receive the clock detect signal and to selectively enable the first detector based on the clock detect signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2024
    Assignee: Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.
    Inventor: Jerzy A. Teterwak
  • Patent number: 11984900
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for storing a control voltage of a phased-locked loop (PLL) when switching from mission mode to standby mode for the PLL, and for restoring the control voltage of the PLL when switching back to mission mode. An example PLL circuit includes a charge pump, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) having a control input coupled to an output of the charge pump via a node, and a tracking circuit coupled to the node. The tracking circuit is generally configured to sample a voltage of the node during a mission mode, save a representation of the sampled voltage before entering a standby mode, and restore the sampled voltage to the node for reentering the mission mode using the saved representation of the sampled voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Jianjun Yu, Yue Chao, Tomas O'Sullivan, Lai Kan Leung
  • Patent number: 11979162
    Abstract: A semiconductor device has a current controlled oscillation circuit configured to generate an oscillation clock in response to a current supplied, a first circuit configured to output a first signal when a phase of the oscillation clock is later than a phase of reception data, and to output a second signal when a phase of the oscillation clock is earlier than a phase of the reception data, and a current control circuit configured to control a current to be supplied to the current controlled oscillation circuit such that the number of times of output of the first signal from the first circuit matches the number of times of output of the second signal from the first circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: Kioxia Corporation
    Inventor: Masatomo Eimitsu
  • Patent number: 11967965
    Abstract: Clock generation circuit generating multiple divided signals satisfying respective desired offsets. A phase locked loop (PLL) is used to generate a PLL output having a frequency which is a desired multiple of that of a reference clock. The circuit divides the PLL output by a corresponding divisor to generate a corresponding divided signal, wherein each divided signal is offset from a common reference by at least an associated desired time offset. The common reference is timed with respect to the reference clock when the reference clock is available and with respect to a time reference signal otherwise. This arrangement is extended to use the internal time reference signal even for the cases where the reference clock is present by blocking the reference clock while the output systems across PLLs are aligned using the internal time reference signal to ensure desired offsets across different PLLs with a small uncertainty.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Shaoxing Yuanfang Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Raja Prabhu J, Ankit Seedher, Srinath Sridharan, Rakesh Kumar Gupta, Nitesh Naidu, Shivam Agrawal, Jeevabharathi G, Purva Choudhary
  • Patent number: 11959747
    Abstract: A system having a micromechanical clocking system component a clocking system component. The system includes a micromechanical oscillation element, which is able to be induced to an oscillation with a natural frequency, and a first circuit, which generates from the natural frequency of the oscillation element a clock frequency which is pre-calibrated to a predefined setpoint clock frequency; a memory for the remaining deviation of the clock frequency from the setpoint clock frequency, the deviation having been individually determined for the clocking system component; and a processing unit which generates a reference time basis for at least a part of the system on the basis of the generated clock frequency and the stored deviation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventors: Gerhard Lammel, Timo Giesselmann
  • Patent number: 11955980
    Abstract: Some example embodiments herein disclose an electronic apparatus and method for reducing or minimizing coarse lock time of Phase Locked Loop (PLL). The method includes controlling a voltage transient in the ABC current DAC of the PLL using the plurality of switchable voltage clamps, where the ABC current DAC includes a plurality of MOSFETs. Further, the method includes dividing the loop filter capacitor of the PLL into two segments to reduce the LPF settling time. Further, the method includes minimizing or reducing the coarse lock time of the PLL using the controlled voltage transients and the divided loop filter capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Venkatasuryam Setty Issa, Subba Reddy Siddamurthy, Aswani Aditya Kumar Tadinada, Vasu Bevara
  • Patent number: 11946969
    Abstract: Systems, apparatuses, and methods for implementing a multi-die clock stop trigger are described. A computing system includes a plurality of semiconductor dies connected together and sharing a global clock stop trigger signal which is pulled high via a resistor tied to a supply voltage. Each semiconductor die has a clock generation unit which generates local clocks for the die. Each clock generation unit monitors for local clock stop triggers, and if one of the local triggers is detected, the clock generation unit stops local clocks on the die and pulls the global clock stop trigger signal low. When the other clock generation units on the other semiconductor dies detect the global clock stop trigger at the logic low level, these clock generation units also stop their local clocks. Captured data is then retrieved from the computing system for further analysis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Charles J. Fleckenstein, Tal Lazmi, Ori Isachar
  • Patent number: 11936392
    Abstract: In a phase locked loop composed of digital circuits, the circuit scale of a circuit that generates phase difference information is reduced. A multi-phase clock generation circuit generates a plurality of feedback clock signals having different phases. A feedback side frequency divider divides frequencies of the plurality of feedback clock signals and outputs the feedback clock signals as frequency-divided clock signals. A reference clock latch circuit holds the frequency-divided clock signals in synchronization with a reference clock signal and outputs a held value. A control circuit controls the frequencies of the plurality of feedback clock signals on the basis of the held value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tsutomu Kurihara, Tetsuya Fujiwara
  • Patent number: 11936388
    Abstract: A clock and data recovery circuit includes a sampling circuit, a phase detector, a first processing circuit, a second processing circuit and an oscillator circuit. The sampling circuit is configured to sample input data according to an output clock, and generate a sampling result. The phase detector is configured to generate a detection result according to the sampling result. The first processing circuit is configured to process the sampling result to generate a first digital code. The second processing circuit is configured to accumulate a portion of the first digital code to generate a second digital code. A rate of change of a code value of the second digital code is slower than a rate of change of a code value of the first digital code. The oscillator circuit is configured to generate the output clock according to the detection result, the first digital code and the second digital code.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: M31 TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Guo-Hau Lee, Huai-Te Wang, Cheng-Liang Hung
  • Patent number: 11936387
    Abstract: One embodiment of a duty-cycle corrector phase shift (DCCPS) circuit includes a voltage-controlled delay line circuit, a duty-cycle correct circuit, an error amplifier circuit, and DC sampler circuits. Another embodiment of a duty-cycle corrector phase shift circuit includes a digital-controlled delay line circuit, a duty-cycle correct circuit, DC sampler circuits, a comparator circuit, a counter circuit, a control circuit, and a lock detector circuit. In some instances, the DCCPS circuit provides a clock signal with a duty-cycle of approximately fifty percent (50%) and a given phase shift between an input clock signal and the output clock signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Wei Shuo Lin
  • Patent number: 11923858
    Abstract: A clock data recovery circuit includes a phase detector, a first signal processing path, a second signal processing path, an oscillator circuit and a phase control circuit. The phase detector samples input data signal according to first clock signals to generate an up control signal and a down control signal. The first signal processing path includes at least one first signal processing device generating a phase control signal according to the up control signal and the down control signal. The second signal processing path includes at least one second signal processing device generating a frequency control signal according to the up control signal and the down control signal. The oscillator circuit generates second clock signals according to the frequency control signal. The phase control circuit controls phases of the second clock signals according to the phase control signal to generate the first clock signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
    Inventor: Yi-Jyun Lin
  • Patent number: 11923857
    Abstract: Embodiments herein describe correcting nonlinearity in a Digital-to-Time Converter (DTC) by relaxing a DTC linearity requirement, which results in the correction being co-adapted with a DTC gain calibration loop which can operate in parallel with a DTC integral nonlinearity (INL) correction loop. In one embodiment, the DTC gain calibration loop and the DTC INL correction loop are constrained when determining a nonlinearity correction code to improve the likelihood they converge. Once determined, the nonlinearity correction code can be combined with an digital code output by a time-to-digital converter (TDC) to generate a phase difference between a reference clock and a feedback clock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: XILINX, INC.
    Inventors: Hongtao Zhang, Ankur Jain, Yanfei Chen, Ronan Sean Casey, Winson Lin, Hsung Jai Im
  • Patent number: 11923860
    Abstract: A DCO is configured such that, during a period in which a selection signal is asserted, a ring oscillator is formed so as to oscillate at a frequency that corresponds to a control code, and such that, during a period in which the selection signal SEL is negated, an injection edge based on a reference clock can be injected. During the startup period of a PLL circuit, a controller repeats a cycle including (i) a process in which the selection signal is asserted so as to oscillate the DCO, and phase comparison is made between an oscillator clock and the reference clock, and (ii) a process in which the selection signal is negated so as to stop the DCO, and the control code is updated by a binary search based on a result of the phase comparison.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masanobu Tsuji
  • Patent number: 11863299
    Abstract: A shared bus time interleaves 1 PPS signal and control and coordination information between a primary timing source and line cards that need to be synchronized using the 1 PPS signals. The shared bus utilizes 1 second frames divided into time slots. The 1 PPS signals are interleaved at predetermined locations in the frame so the delays introduced by interleaving the 1 PPS data in time can be precisely removed. While the bus is not being used for 1 PPS signals, the bus is available to send control and coordination information between the line cards and the primary timing source, avoiding the use of another system and increasing utilization of an available communication path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Skyworks Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert P. Coulter
  • Patent number: 11829198
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for producing an output clock signal with a target frequency using an oscillator circuit portion configured to receive a control value and produce an output clock signal with a frequency dependent on the control value. In one embodiment, the method comprises providing a first control value to the oscillator circuit portion corresponding to the target frequency, so as to cause the oscillator circuit portion to produce the output clock signal with a first frequency, comparing the output clock signal with a reference clock signal having a reference frequency to determine an offset between the first frequency and the target frequency, and providing a second control value to the oscillator circuit portion that differs from the first control value by a magnitude calculated with reference to the determined offset, to cause the oscillator circuit portion to produce the output clock signal with a second frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Nordic Semiconductor ASA
    Inventors: Bartosz Gajda, Frode Pedersen
  • Patent number: 11817870
    Abstract: Oscillator circuitry is disclosed. The oscillator circuitry comprises a free-running oscillator for generating pulses at a frequency, and a frequency adjustment circuit for adaptively adjusting the frequency of the free-running oscillator. The frequency adjustment circuit comprises a counter configured to count a number of pulses generated by the free-running oscillator and logic configured to compare the number of pulses with an expected number of pulses (corresponding to a target frequency) to determine a difference value and to adjust the frequency of the free-running oscillator in dependence on the difference value. The frequency adjustment circuit is configured, in response to receiving a synchronisation pulse, to trigger an update of the number of pulses to be compared.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Volker Langer, Thomas Kattwinkel
  • Patent number: 11777703
    Abstract: A line card in a network box receives a SyncE clock signal and an input synchronization (SYNC) signal. A phase-lock loop (PLL) in the line card receives the SyncE clock signal as a reference clock signal and generates an output SyncE clock signal. The line card regenerates a SYSCLK signal using a digitally controlled oscillator that receives a timing signal from the SyncE PLL and receives a control signal from control logic on the line card. The frequency and phase information contained in the SYNC signal is utilized to control the DCO. The SYSCLK signal is divided to generate an output SYNC signal. The control logic uses the time difference between the input SYNC signal and a SYNC feedback signal to control the DCO to provide a zero delay SYNC output signal. The output SYNC signal and the SYSCLK signal control a time of day counter in the line card.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Skyworks Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Vivek Sarda
  • Patent number: 11768794
    Abstract: An interface between two devices is disclosed. To consume power, the signals used in the interface utilize CMOS signalling. Further, to achieve high speed, a reduced frequency clock is transmitted from one device to the second device. The second device has a clock multiplier to recreate the original clock. Both devices utilize a clock phase alignment block which aligns the phase of the clock with the incoming data. The clock phase alignment block utilizes a digital PLL to consume power. Further, since the digital PLL retains its state, the reduced frequency clock may be disabled when data is not being transmitted. This interface may be used to transmit serial data at rates up to and exceeding 2.5 Gbits/sec.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventors: Aslam Rafi, Thomas Saroshan David, Daniel Cooley
  • Patent number: 11754724
    Abstract: For cross-channel spectral analysis of measurement data from multiple recording units with independent sampling clocks, a processing method corrects phase mismatch between the data received over the different channels. Blocks of sampled measurement data are buffered in a hardware logic circuit and timestamps are associated with successive blocks through a hardware interrupt to a GPS receiver of each recording unit. For each first channel data block, the block's starting point, a closest point in time in a data block of the second channel, and the starting point of that second channel data block are determined, using GPS timestamps associated with those data blocks, nominal sampling rate and block size. Phase correction based on the time offset between starting points of the pairs of data blocks and the interval between starting points of successive blocks is applied in the frequency domain after a time-to-frequency domain transformation. Multiple frames of phase-corrected spectra may then be averaged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Crystal Instruments Corporation
    Inventor: James Q. Zhuge
  • Patent number: 11664810
    Abstract: Disclosed are a control signal pulse width extraction-based phase-locked acceleration circuit and a phase-locked loop system, the phase-lock acceleration circuit includes a pulse width extraction control circuit and a current injection switch module; the control output terminal of the pulse width extraction control circuit is connected to the current injection control terminal of the current injection switch module, and the stepping current control terminal of the current injection switch module and the driving input terminal of the pulse width extraction control circuit are both connected to the preset control signal output end of a phase frequency detector for use in controlling, according to pulse width changes of signals outputted by the preset control signal output end, the current injection switch module to inject charges until the phases of a reference clock signal and feedback clock signal inputted by the phase frequency detector are synchronized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: AMICRO SEMICONDUCTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Huaiyu Han, Yaohua Shao, Weibing Zhao
  • Patent number: 11646738
    Abstract: The present invention provides a processor including a core circuit, a plurality of clock signal generation circuits, a multiplexer and a detection circuit is disclosed. The core circuit is supplied by a supply voltage. The plurality of clock signal generation circuits are configured to generate a plurality of clock signals with different frequencies, respectively, wherein a number of the plurality of clock signals is equal to or greater than three. The multiplexer is configured to receive the plurality of clock signals, and to select one of the plurality of clock signals to serve as an output clock signal according to a control signal, wherein the core circuit uses the output clock signal to serve as an operating clock. The detection circuit is configured to detect a level of the supply voltage received by the core circuit in a real-time manner, to generate the control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
    Inventors: Chao-Min Lai, Han-Chieh Hsieh, Tang-Hung Chang, Hung-Wei Wang, Chun-Yi Kuo
  • Patent number: 11626882
    Abstract: A wide band frequency synthesizer may include a primary phase-locked loop (PLL) to receive a signal that include a local signal and a VCO signal mixed together and to generate the tuning voltage based on a phase comparison of the local signal and the VCO signal. The local signal may be obtained from a reference signal through frequency multiplication. If the primary PLL fails to lock onto an output frequency, a secondary PLL (acquisition circuit) may be switched in performing a phase comparison between the reference signal and the VCO signal to generate the tuning voltage. The secondary PLL may then provide the tuning voltage to an output of the primary PLL.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: VIAVI SOLUTIONS INC.
    Inventors: Byung-Kuk An, Young-Joung Hong, Hyoung-Kyoun Park
  • Patent number: 11616527
    Abstract: A transmitter/receiver (1) up-converts, using an LO signal as a local oscillation signal, an IF signal having a predetermined frequency band, thereby generating a transmission signal RFTX. Moreover, the transmitter/receiver (1) generates a (LO+IF)2 signal and a (LO?IF)2 signal based on the IF signal and the LO signal. Using the LO signal obtained by adding-up of the (LO+IF)2 signal and the (LO?IF)2 signal, a reception signal RFRX is down-converted. Thus, a local oscillation signal generation unit of a receiving unit is not necessary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: HIROSHIMA UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Kyoya Takano, Minoru Fujishima
  • Patent number: 11606097
    Abstract: A PLL circuit includes a phase comparator, an integrator path, a proportional path, a current controlled oscillator, a divider, and a double integrator path. The double integrator path includes an intermittent operation gm amplifier, a filter circuit, and a voltage-current conversion circuit. The intermittent operation gm amplifier receives an output voltage of a filter circuit. When a pulse CLK for an intermittent operation is ON, the intermittent operation gm amplifier outputs its voltage to the filter circuit. When the pulse CLK for the intermittent operation is OFF, the intermittent operation gm amplifier does not output the output voltage of the filter circuit to the filter circuit. Even when the pulse CLK for the intermittent operation is OFF, an input potential of the voltage-current conversion circuit is held by the filter circuit, and a current to the current controlled oscillator flows. This makes it possible to oscillate at a high frequency without increasing an area of the filter circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Atsushi Motozawa
  • Patent number: 11599483
    Abstract: A memory system includes a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device, a second memory device, and a memory controller circuit. The memory controller circuit is coupled to the DRAM device by a first data channel configured to transfer first data between the memory controller circuit and the DRAM device on behalf of a host, and is also coupled to the DRAM device by a second data channel configured to transfer second data between the memory controller circuit and the DRAM device on behalf of the second memory device while the first data is being transferred across the first data bus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventor: Liji Gopalakrishnan
  • Patent number: 11595031
    Abstract: A circuit and a method for eliminating a spurious signal are provided. The circuit includes a phase detector, a spurious estimation and regeneration device, and a phase shifter. After an actual clock signal containing a spurious signal is obtained, the contained spurious signal is estimated based on the reference clock signal that does not contain the spurious signal. Reverse adjustment is performed on the actual clock signal based on the estimated spurious signal to eliminate the spurious signal in the actual clock signal, ensuring eliminating the generated spurious signal by performing reverse adjustment, improving the signal transmission quality, thereby solving the problem of reduced signal quality due to that the spurious signal cannot be suppressed in generation according to the conventional technology.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: NEWCOSEMI (BEIJING) TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Deyi Pi, Gongbao Cheng
  • Patent number: 11569822
    Abstract: A clock and data recovery circuit includes a sampling circuit, a phase detector, a first processing circuit, a second processing circuit and an oscillator circuit. The sampling circuit is configured to sample input data according to an output clock, and generate a sampling result. The phase detector is configured to generate a detection result according to the sampling result. The first processing circuit is configured to process the sampling result to generate a first digital code. The second processing circuit is configured to accumulate a portion of the first digital code to generate a second digital code. A rate of change of a code value of the second digital code is slower than a rate of change of a code value of the first digital code. The oscillator circuit is configured to generate the output clock according to the detection result, the first digital code and the second digital code.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: M31 TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Guo-Hau Lee, Huai-Te Wang, Cheng-Liang Hung
  • Patent number: 11550355
    Abstract: A phase correction circuit includes: a test clock generation unit including a plurality of signal paths and configurable to generate a plurality of test clock signals in response to a plurality of selection signals and a plurality of phase control signals; a detection unit configured to generate a plurality of detection voltages using the plurality of test clock signals; and a control unit configured to generate the plurality of selection signals, detect phase skews of the plurality of signal paths according to the plurality of detection voltages, and generate the plurality of phase control signals for correcting the phase skews.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
    Inventor: Gi Moon Hong
  • Patent number: 11544160
    Abstract: The systems and methods described herein provide the ability to detect a clocking element fault within an IC device and switch to an alternate clock. In response to detection of a fault in a phase-lock-loop (PLL) clocking element, the device may switch to an alternate clock so that error reporting logic can make forward progress on generating error message. The error message may be generated within an Intellectual Property (IP) cores (e.g., IP blocks), and may send the error message from the IP core to a system-on-a-chip (SOC), such as through an SOC Functional Safety (FuSA) error reporting infrastructure. In various examples, the clocking error may also be output to a hardware SOC pin, such as to provide a redundant path for error indication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Prashant D. Chaudhari, Michael N. Derr, Bradley Coffman, Arthur Jeremy Runyan, Gustavo Patricio Espinosa, Daniel James Knollmueller, Ivan Rodrigo Herrera Mejia
  • Patent number: 11545934
    Abstract: An oscillating signal generator circuit includes an oscillator circuit, a feedback circuit, and a voltage regulator circuit. The oscillator circuit is configured to generate a first and second oscillating signal at a first and second output terminal according to a first reference voltage. The first and second oscillating signals are a differential pair of signals. The oscillator circuit includes a common mode sensing circuit coupled between the first and second output terminals. The common mode sensing circuit is configured to sense a common mode component of the first and second oscillating signals so as to generate a sense voltage. The feedback circuit, coupled to the common mode sensing circuit, is configured to generate a feedback voltage according to the sense voltage. The voltage regulator circuit is coupled to the oscillator circuit and the feedback circuit, and configured to regulate a supply voltage so as to generate the first reference voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: REALTEK SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ping-Yuan Deng, Ka-Un Chan
  • Patent number: 11515880
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a clock generating circuit and a jitter measurement circuit. The clock generating circuit is input with a control value for changing a cycle of the clock thereof. The jitter measurement circuit has a first logic circuit operated with using an output clock of the clock generating circuit as an input and a first delay element, and is configured to output the presence/absence of a jitter of the clock generating circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yasuyuki Hiraku
  • Patent number: 11509410
    Abstract: A method for a slave device for calibrating an output timing for transmitting data to a master device is provided. The master and slave devices are communicatively coupled via an interface. The method includes: receiving, from the master device, one or more consecutive first signal edges indicating a synchronization event; recovering a reference clock of the master device based on the one or more consecutive first signal edges; transmitting one or more predetermined second signal edges to the master device and generated using the recovered reference clock; receiving, from the master device, data indicating one or more sampled values of the master device for the one or more predetermined second signal edges; and adjusting the output timing based on a comparison of the one or more predetermined second signal edges and the one or more sampled values of the master device for the one or more predetermined second signal edges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Wolfgang Furtner
  • Patent number: 11509450
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for clocking data processing modules, with different average clock frequencies and for transferring data between the modules are provided. The apparatus includes a device for providing a common clock signal to the modules. Clock pulses are deleted from the common clock signal to individual modules in dependence on the clocking frequency required by each module. The clock pulses are applied to the modules between which the data is to be transferred at times consistent with the data transfer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: Imagination Technologies Limited
    Inventor: Paul Rowland
  • Patent number: 11500336
    Abstract: An example digital to time converter includes: a first switch having a first terminal, a second terminal, and a first control terminal configured to receive a control signal. A second switch having a third terminal coupled to second terminal, a fourth terminal, and a second control terminal configured to receive a divided clock signal. A third switch having a fifth terminal coupled to the second terminal and the third terminal, a sixth terminal, and a third control terminal configured to receive an inverted version of divided clock signal. A fourth switch having a seventh terminal coupled to the second terminal, an eighth terminal, and a fourth control terminal configured to receive an inverted version of control signal. A fifth switch having a ninth terminal coupled to the eighth terminal and a fifth control terminal configured to receive the inverted divided clock signal. A capacitor coupled to the sixth terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Yogesh Darwhekar, Subhashish Mukherjee, Narala Raghavendra Reddy
  • Patent number: 11451234
    Abstract: A delay locked loop (DLL) circuit that includes a delay line, a pattern injecting circuit, a pattern detecting circuit and a counter is introduced. The delay line may align a phase of a reference clock signal with a phase of a feedback clock signal. The pattern injecting circuit injects a predetermined pattern to the reference clock signal to generate an injected reference clock signal and asserts the injected reference clock signal to the delay line. The pattern detecting circuit detects the predetermined pattern in the feedback clock signal. The counter determines a delay of the delay locked loop circuit according to a first timing when the injected reference clock signal is asserted to the delay line and a second timing when the predetermined pattern is detected in the feedback clock signal. A method of measuring a delay of the DLL circuit is also introduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: NANYA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: John Austin, Joseph Iadanza, Fran Keyser
  • Patent number: 11437999
    Abstract: A phase locked loop (PLL) comprises: a reference oscillator to generate a reference clock having a reference frequency; a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) to generate a VCO clock having a VCO frequency controlled in response to a control signal applied to the VCO; a first integrator to integrate the reference frequency into a first ramp slope; a second integrator to integrate the VCO frequency into a second ramp slope; and a slope comparator to generate a slope difference between the first ramp slope and the second ramp slope and that is conveyed by the control signal, such that the control signal is configured to drive the VCO frequency toward the reference frequency to minimize the slope difference and frequency lock the VCO frequency to the reference frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
    Inventor: Tzi-Wei Lee
  • Patent number: 11429141
    Abstract: A data processing device includes a data processing circuit and a data processing control circuit. The data processing circuit is configured to perform data processing on processing target data by use of an external clock, the processing target data being included in a data signal received from an outside, the external clock being included in the data signal. The data processing control circuit is configured to detect a state of the external clock and control execution of the data processing on the processing target data in accordance with the state of the external clock. The data processing control circuit is configured to operate with a clock having a lower impedance than an impedance of the external clock, and discard the processing target data received during a period in which an abnormality of the external clock is detected, in a case of detecting the abnormality of the external clock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Tomohiro Sasa, Hajime Tsukahara
  • Patent number: 11418201
    Abstract: A phase-locked loop (PLL) device includes: 1) a detector configured to output an error signal to indicate a phase offset between a feedback clock signal and a reference clock signal; 2) a charge pump coupled to the detector and configured to output a charge pump signal based on the error signal; 3) an integrator with a feedback path, an input node, a reference node, and an output node, wherein the input node is coupled to the charge pump and receives the charge pump signal; 4) a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) coupled to the output node of the integrator via a resistor; and 5) a feedforward circuit coupled directly to the detector and configured to apply an averaged version of the error signal to correct a voltage level received by the VCO.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Debapriya Sahu, Rittu Sachdev
  • Patent number: 11417371
    Abstract: A quantizer generates a thermometer coded signal from an analog voltage signal. Data weighted averaging (DWA) of the thermometer coded signal is accomplished by controlling the operation of a crossbar switch controlled by a switch control signal to generate an output DWA signal. The output DWA signal is latched to generate a latched output DWA signal which is processed along with bits of the thermometer coded input signal in feedback loop to generate the switch control signal. The latching of the output DWA signal is performed in an input register of a digital-to-analog converter which operates to convert the latched output DWA signal to a feedback analog voltage from which the analog voltage signal is generated. The switch control signal specifies a bit location for a beginning logic transition of the output DWA signal cycle based on detection of an ending logic transition of the latched DWA signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Ankur Bal, Rupesh Singh, Vivek Tripathi
  • Patent number: 11418198
    Abstract: In certain aspects, a digital circuit comprises a delay line to generate a plurality of delayed versions of an input clock. The digital circuit also comprises selection circuitry to provide a selected one of the plurality of delayed versions of the input clock based on a clock selection signal and feedback circuitry to generate the clock selection signal based on the selected one of the plurality of delayed versions of the input clock and based on the input clock. The clock selection signal is further used for selecting and generating other clocks and/or for variation control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Farshid Nowshadi, John Bruce
  • Patent number: 11387834
    Abstract: An example apparatus includes: a first flip flop having a first output and a first reset input, a second flip flop having a first data input, a second output, and a second reset input, the second reset input coupled to the first reset input, a logic gate having a first logic input, a second logic input, and a first logic output, the first logic input coupled to the first output and the second logic input coupled to the second output, a delay cell having a delay cell input and a delay cell output, the delay cell input coupled to the first logic output and the delay cell output coupled to the first reset input and the second reset input, and pulse swallowing circuitry having a circuitry input and a circuitry output, the circuitry input coupled to the second output and the circuitry output coupled to the first data input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Pranav Kumar, Abhrarup Barman Roy, Apoorva Bhatia, Arpan Sureshbhai Thakkar, Jagdish Chand
  • Patent number: 11381248
    Abstract: A phase detection method and apparatus, and a storage medium and an electronic apparatus are provided. A sampling operation is performed on a clock signal to be detected to obtain binary sequences. Phase intervals of the clock signal to be detected in initial sampling periods are determined, according to the binary sequences, as first phase intervals. Based on a reference phase interval in the first phase intervals, a standardization operation is performed on other phase intervals in the first phase intervals to obtain second phase intervals, wherein the reference phase interval is a phase interval determined within a first sampling period after the sampling operation is triggered, and the other phase intervals are phase intervals determined within sampling periods following the first sampling period. The second phase intervals are converged, and phase information of the clock signal to be detected is obtained according to the converged second phase intervals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: ZTE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Rui Pang, Boming Wang, Qin Yang
  • Patent number: 11356104
    Abstract: A phase locked loop circuit includes a phase comparator that compares phases of a reference signal through a first frequency divider and a local signal through a second frequency divider to output a phase comparison signal; a loop filter that smooths the phase comparison signal to output the control voltage signal; a controller that sets frequency division ratios of the first and the second frequency dividers; a free-running voltage generator that generates a free-running voltage signal of the voltage control oscillator; a measurement circuit that measures a voltage of the control voltage signal; a storage circuit that stores therein the voltage of the control voltage signal; and a low-pass filter that transmits, to the voltage control oscillator, a corrected free-running voltage signal based on a free-running voltage correction value calculated by the free-running voltage generator based on the control voltage signal before the frequency division ratios are changed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: JVCKENWOOD Corporation
    Inventor: Ryo Kuboshima
  • Patent number: 11356109
    Abstract: A frequency synthesizer includes a clock multiplier unit configured to receive a first clock and output a second clock in accordance with a multiplication factor; a divide-by-three circuit configured to receive the second clock and output a third clock; a first divide-by-two circuit configured to receive the second clock and output a fourth clock; a second divide-by-two circuit configured to receive the fourth clock and output a fifth clock; a first multiplexer configured to receive the third clock and the fourth clock and output a seventh clock in accordance with a first selection signal; a second multiplexer configured to receive the third clock and the fifth clock and output an eighth clock in accordance with a second selection signal; and a mixer configured to receive the seventh clock and the eighth clock and output an output clock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: REALTEK SEMICONDUCTOR CORP.
    Inventor: Chia-Liang (Leon) Lin
  • Patent number: 11342926
    Abstract: A method for operating a clock product includes selectively coupling a first output divider and a second output divider based on a determination of whether the first divider value is integrally related to the second divider value. In response to the first divider value being integrally related to the second divider value, the selectively coupling includes cascading the first output divider with the second output divider. In in response to the first divider value being non-integrally related to the second divider value, the selectively coupling includes configuring the second output divider to be cascaded with a first phase-locked loop and in parallel with the first output divider and to be responsive to an error correction signal based on a difference in response times of the first output divider and the second output divider to a change in a filtered phase difference signal of the first phase-locked loop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventors: James D. Barnette, William Anker, Xue-Mei Gong
  • Patent number: 11343670
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for transmitting, by a first device, a transmission signal that includes a carrier signal modulated with a TM signal. Receiving a response signal from a second device in response to the transmission signal. Determining, whether the response signal includes the TM signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: TM IP HOLDINGS, LLC
    Inventors: Richard C. Gerdes, Daniel L. Hodges, Quinn Colin McIntosh
  • Patent number: 11336288
    Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed for a charge pump with voltage tracking. In an example aspect, the apparatus includes a locked loop having a charge pump, a filter, a second switch, and a buffer. The charge pump includes a first current source, a second current source, and a first switch coupled between the first current source and the second current source. The filter is coupled to the charge pump between the first switch and the second current source. The second switch is coupled to the charge pump between the first current source and the first switch. The buffer is coupled between the filter and the second switch, with the buffer comprising a voltage buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Hung-Chuan Pai, Marco Zanuso