Abstract:
Techniques designing an electronic circuit system including multiple transistors and passive components are presented. According to one aspect of the techniques, some or all of the transistors and passive components are systematically adjusted to minimize artifacts resulting from system-level interactions among these functional building blocks. The adjustment is based on a ratio of Electrically Equivalent Channel Geometry (EECG) of each of the adjusted the transistors and passive components.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No.: 09/947,643, filed Sep. 5, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,433,595, and entitled “Method of System Circuit Design and Circuitry for High Speed Data Communication” and U.S. application Ser. No.: 10/136,165, filed Apr. 30, 2002, and entitled “A 2-Level Series-Gated CML-Based Circuit With Inductive Components For Optical Communication”. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of data communication. More particularity, the present invention concerns a generic design methodology of a new family of Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Integrated Circuits (IC). Thus, its direct applications include a variety of subsystem and system functions such as Master Slave D-type Flip Flop (MS-DFF), Divider, Bang Bang Phase Detector (BBPD), Frequency Detection (FD), Phase and Frequency Detection (PFD), Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) and Phase Locked Loop (PLL) in an optical switch IC for data communications. Optical Fiber has been used in voice and data communication for some time now due to its high bandwidth and excellent signal quality resulting from its immunity to electromagnetic interference. The inherent optical data rate from a modulated single-mode laser beam travelling through an optical fiber is expected to well exceed 1000 Gbit/sec. 
     However, short of a completely optical communication system, the practically realizable bandwidth of fiber optical communication systems has been limited by the need of signal conversion between optical and electrical domain and the associated electronics hardware. With the usage of CMOS ICs, the advantages of low manufacturing cost, low operating power consumption, low supply voltage requirement and fairly good circuit density are realized while achieving a moderate speed capability. To fully realize the speed capability of CMOS IC at the circuit system level with good output signal quality, U.S. Pat. No.: 6,433,595 teaches a method of systematically adjusting an Electrically Equivalent Channel Geometry (EECG) of some or all of the individual CMOS transistors within each of the otherwise topologically similar building blocks. Using this method, a maximum operating clock frequency of approximately 12 GHz is realizable when the IC is implemented with a 0.18 μm CMOS Silicon wafer process. Further U.S. application Ser. No.: 10/136,165 teaches the inclusion of inductive components into a fundamental building block of 2-level series-gated Current Mode Logic (CML)-based Field Effect Transistor (FET) circuit for an electronic circuit system for optical communication to achieve a higher load-driving capacity under a much higher operating frequency of up to 50 GHz. 
     In practice, a circuit may include other components such as resistive and inductive components. Therefore, there is a need for techiques of designing other components in an IC system to reach a much higher operating clock frequency while maintaining good output signal quality. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a new family of high speed CMOS ICs including both resistive and inductive circuit components and a corresponding generic design methodology. 
     One of the objects of this invention is to provide a generic design methodology for a family of ICs including, in addition to the active transistors, both resistive and inductive circuit components while maintaining good output signal quality. 
     Other object, together with the foregoing are attained in the exercise of the invention in the following description and resulting in the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     The current invention will be better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: 
     FIG. 1 shows, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a circuit architecture of a Divide-by-2 divider with current mode switching wherein both resistive and inductive circuit components are used; 
     FIG. 2A shows a logic functional block representation of the Divide-by-2 divider of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 2B is a logic functional block diagram of a Divide-by-16 divider using the Divide-by-2 divider of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 graphically details the quantitative design of the Divide-by-2 building blocks of the Divide-by-16 divider of FIG. 2B; 
     FIG.  4  through FIG. 7 successively depicts an output signal quality of the four Divide-by-2 dividers of the Divide-by-16 divider of FIG. 2B; 
     FIG. 8 shows a circuit architecture of an MS-DFF with current mode switching wherein both resistive and inductive circuit components are used; 
     FIG. 9A is a logic functional block representation of the MS-DFF of FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 9B is a logic functional block diagram of a typical BBPD using the MS-DFF of FIG. 9A as its logic building block; 
     FIG. 10 graphically details the quantitative design of the MS-DFF building blocks of the BBPD of FIG. 9B; and 
     FIG. 11 depicts the output signal quality of the BBPD of FIG.  9 B. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following detailed description of the present invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will become obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessary obscuring aspects of the present invention. The detailed description is presented largely in terms of logic blocks and other symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble the operations of signal processing devices coupled to networks. These descriptions and representations are the means used by those experienced or skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. 
     Reference herein to “one embodiment” or an “embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Further, the order of blocks in process flowcharts or diagrams representing one or more embodiments of the invention do not inherently indicate any particular order nor imply any limitations of the invention. 
     FIG. 1 shows a circuit architecture of a Divide-by-2 DIVIDER  1  with current mode switching. To facilitate the description of the present invention, FIG. 1 is based on CMOS circuitry. In this embodiment, the supply voltage AVDD is shown 1.8 Volt although other values could be used, for example 2.5 Volt. AGND designates “analog ground” and VCS is a bias voltage applied to the gates of transistors Mc 1  and Mc 2  to set tip a corresponding amount of source current flowing through them. Through DIVIDER  1 , the frequency of a differential signal between CLK  11  and  CLK   12  will be divided in half into the differential signal between Qh  17  and  Qh   18 . The differential signals Qh  17  and  Qh   18  are then buffeted through an Output Buffer  15 , whose details are not shown here to avoid obscuring aspects of the present invention, to become the differential signal between QL  13  and  QL   14 . The various active transistors (e.g. NMOS) are designated as Mc 1 , Mc 2 , M 1 , M 2 , . . . and M 16 . The four pull-up resistors are designated as R 3 , R 4 , R 13  and R 14 . Each of the two resistors RL 1  and RL 10  performs a simple function of voltage level shifting. As explained in U.S. application Ser. No.: 10/136,165, the added inductive components L 3 , L 4 , L 13  and L 14 , together with their formed transformers T 34  and T 134  of respective coupling coefficients K 34  and K 134 , enable the DIVIDER  1  to achieve a higher operating frequency while providing a higher load-driving capacity. Further, U.S. Application Ser. No. 09/947,643 teaches a method of systematically adjusting an Electrically Equivalent Channel Geometry (EECG) of all the individual CMOS transistors within each of the otherwise topologically similar building blocks. Therefore, the present invention proposes to adjust the functionally relevant electrical parameters of each or all of the active and passive circuit components of the otherwise topologically similar building blocks. This can be illustrated with a first embodiment of a Divide-by-16 circuit system having four Divide-by-2 building blocks. 
     FIG. 2A shows a logic functional block representation of the Divide-by-2 divider of FIG.  1 . FIG. 2B is a logic functional block diagram of a Divide-by-16 DIVIDER  60  using the Divide-by-2 divider from FIG. 2A as its logic building block. Specifically, the replicated logic building blocks are labeled as DIVIDER  20 , DIVIDER  30 , DIVIDER  40  and DIVIDER  50 . For those skilled in the art, it can be easily seen that the frequency of INPUT CLOCK  21  gets divided by two (2) as a differential signal QL− QL =DOUT1 at the output of DIVIDER  20 . Likewise, the frequency of INPUT CLOCK  21  gets divided by four (4) as a differential signal QL− QL =DOUT2 at the output of DIVIDER  30 . The frequency of INPUT CLOCK  21  gets divided by eight (8) as a differential signal QL− QL =DOUT3 at the output of DIVIDER  40 . Finally, the frequency of INPUT CLOCK  21  gets divided by sixteen (16) as a differential signal QL− QL =DOUT4 at the output of DIVIDER  50 . 
     It is well known in the art that, at the IC-design level for a given wafer process, the conductance of a transistor is primarily determined by the following parameter: 
     W/L, where W=channel width and L=channel length. 
     For convenience, the following parameter is defined: 
     Electrically Equivalent Channel Geometry (EECG)=W/L. 
     To conveniently describe the functionally relevant and adjustable electrical parameters of some or all the components in a building block within a circuit system, an Electrically Equivalent Component Parameter (EECP) is defined as follows: 
     EECP of a resistor=its resistance value; 
     EECP of an inductive component=its inductance value; 
     EECP of a transformer formed with coupled inductive components=a vector quantity consisting of the individual inductance value and the coupling coefficient between the inductive components; 
     EECP of a capacitive component=its capacitance value; and 
     EECP of an transistor=its EECG. 
     Given the above definition and as a result of the present invention, the detailed quantitative designs of the four Divide-by-2 building blocks of DIVIDER  20 , DIVIDER  30 , DIVIDER  40  and DIVIDER  50  of the Divide-by-16 DIVIDER  60  are arrived and shown in the following TABLE-1A, TABLE-1B, TABLE-1C and TABLE-1D: 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1A 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Design of EECP for DIVIDER 20 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 RATIO 
               
               
                   
                 Component 
                 EECP 
                 Unit 
                 of EECP 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 R3 
                 25 
                 Ohm 
                 1.667 
               
               
                   
                 R4 
                 25 
                 Ohm 
                 1.667 
               
               
                   
                 R13 
                 15 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R14 
                 15 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 L3 
                 250 
                 Picohenry 
                 16.667 
               
               
                   
                 L4 
                 250 
                 Picohenry 
                 16.667 
               
               
                   
                 L13 
                 180 
                 Picohenry 
                 12.000 
               
               
                   
                 L14 
                 180 
                 Picohenry 
                 12.000 
               
               
                   
                 K34 
                 0.5 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.033 
               
               
                   
                 K134 
                 0.5 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.033 
               
               
                   
                 MC1 
                 260 
                 dimensionless 
                 17.333 
               
               
                   
                 MC11 
                 260 
                 dimensionless 
                 17.333 
               
               
                   
                 M1 
                 160 
                 dimensionless 
                 10.667 
               
               
                   
                 M2 
                 160 
                 dimensionless 
                 10.667 
               
               
                   
                 M11 
                 160 
                 dimensionless 
                 10.667 
               
               
                   
                 M12 
                 160 
                 dimensionless 
                 10.667 
               
               
                   
                 M3 
                 120 
                 dimensionless 
                 8.000 
               
               
                   
                 M4 
                 120 
                 dimensionless 
                 8.000 
               
               
                   
                 M5 
                 170 
                 dimensionless 
                 11.333 
               
               
                   
                 M6 
                 170 
                 dimensionless 
                 11.333 
               
               
                   
                 M13 
                 140 
                 dimensionless 
                 9.333 
               
               
                   
                 M14 
                 140 
                 dimensionless 
                 9.333 
               
               
                   
                 M15 
                 170 
                 dimensionless 
                 11.333 
               
               
                   
                 M16 
                 170 
                 dimensionless 
                 11.333 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1B 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Design of EECP for DIVIDER 30 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 RATIO 
               
               
                   
                 Component 
                 EECP 
                 Unit 
                 of EECP 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 R3 
                 90 
                 Ohm 
                 1.500 
               
               
                   
                 R4 
                 90 
                 Ohm 
                 1.500 
               
               
                   
                 R13 
                 60 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R14 
                 60 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 L3 
                 850 
                 Picohenry 
                 14.167 
               
               
                   
                 L4 
                 850 
                 Picohenry 
                 14.167 
               
               
                   
                 L13 
                 750 
                 Picohenry 
                 12.500 
               
               
                   
                 L14 
                 750 
                 Picohenry 
                 12.500 
               
               
                   
                 K34 
                 0.5 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.008 
               
               
                   
                 K134 
                 0.5 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.008 
               
               
                   
                 MC1 
                 240 
                 dimensionless 
                 4.000 
               
               
                   
                 MC11 
                 240 
                 dimensionless 
                 4.000 
               
               
                   
                 M1 
                 120 
                 dimensionless 
                 2.000 
               
               
                   
                 M2 
                 120 
                 dimensionless 
                 2.000 
               
               
                   
                 M11 
                 120 
                 dimensionless 
                 2.000 
               
               
                   
                 M12 
                 120 
                 dimensionless 
                 2.000 
               
               
                   
                 M3 
                 150 
                 dimensionless 
                 2.500 
               
               
                   
                 M4 
                 150 
                 dimensionless 
                 2.500 
               
               
                   
                 M5 
                 180 
                 dimensionless 
                 3.000 
               
               
                   
                 M6 
                 180 
                 dimensionless 
                 3.000 
               
               
                   
                 M13 
                 140 
                 dimensionless 
                 2.333 
               
               
                   
                 M14 
                 140 
                 dimensionless 
                 2.333 
               
               
                   
                 M15 
                 160 
                 dimensionless 
                 2.667 
               
               
                   
                 M16 
                 160 
                 dimensionless 
                 2.667 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1C 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Design of EECP for DIVIDER 40 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 RATIO 
               
               
                   
                 Component 
                 EECP 
                 Unit 
                 of EECP 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 R3 
                 200 
                 Ohm 
                 0.667 
               
               
                   
                 R4 
                 200 
                 Ohm 
                 0.667 
               
               
                   
                 R13 
                 300 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R14 
                 300 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 L3 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L4 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L13 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L14 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 K34 
                 0 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 K134 
                 0 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 MC1 
                 240 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.800 
               
               
                   
                 MC11 
                 240 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.800 
               
               
                   
                 M1 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.333 
               
               
                   
                 M2 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.333 
               
               
                   
                 M11 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.333 
               
               
                   
                 M12 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.333 
               
               
                   
                 M3 
                 80 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.267 
               
               
                   
                 M4 
                 80 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.267 
               
               
                   
                 M5 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.300 
               
               
                   
                 M6 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.300 
               
               
                   
                 M13 
                 80 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.267 
               
               
                   
                 M14 
                 80 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.267 
               
               
                   
                 M15 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.300 
               
               
                   
                 M16 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.300 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1D 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Design of EECP for DIVIDER 50 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 RATIO 
               
               
                   
                 Component 
                 EECP 
                 Unit 
                 of EECP 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 R3 
                 250 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R4 
                 250 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R13 
                 250 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R14 
                 250 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 L3 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L4 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L13 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L14 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 K34 
                 0 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 K134 
                 0 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 MC1 
                 180 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.720 
               
               
                   
                 MC11 
                 180 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.720 
               
               
                   
                 M1 
                 80 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.320 
               
               
                   
                 M2 
                 80 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.320 
               
               
                   
                 M11 
                 80 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.320 
               
               
                   
                 M12 
                 80 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.320 
               
               
                   
                 M3 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.400 
               
               
                   
                 M4 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.400 
               
               
                   
                 M5 
                 150 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                 M6 
                 150 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                 M13 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.400 
               
               
                   
                 M14 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.400 
               
               
                   
                 M15 
                 150 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                 M16 
                 150 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     To facilitate the understanding of the present invention, the following examples from TABLE-1A, the design of EECP for the DIVIDER  20 , are provided to appreciate some of the table entries: 
     Design of EECP: 
     Resistor R 3 =25 Ohm 
     Resistor R 14 =15 Ohm 
     Inductive component L 13 =180 Picohenry (10 −12  henry) 
     Inductive component L 14 =180 Picohenry (10 −12  henry) 
     K 134 =coupling coefficient between L 13  and L 14 =0.5 (dimensionless) 
     Transistor Mc 1  has an EECG of 260 (dimensionless) 
     Transistor M 1  has an EECG of 160 (dimensionless) 
     Thus, the corresponding “RATIO of EECP” is given by: 
     25:15:180:180:0.5:260:160=1.667:1.000:12.000:12.000:0.033:17.333:10.667 
     In arriving at the above RATIO of EECP, a choice of using the EECP of R 14  as a common divisor is made. It is remarked that this choice is arbitrary for as long as the resulting RATIO of EECP falls within a convenient range for easy presentation of the inventive concept. It may be noted that, while there is a general absence of EECP for a capacitive component in the above tables, for those skilled in the art, it should be understood that the adjustment of EECP for numerous capacitive components have already been implicitly included in the present invention. This is due to the presence of inherent capacitance components among the gate, the source, the drain and the bulk of any transistors within a building block and the EECP of these capacitance components would vary according to the adjustment of EECG for each particular transistor under consideration. It may be observed from the above tables that each of the DIVIDERS  20 ,  30 ,  40  and  50  has a set of RATIOS and further, one set of RATIOS for a DIVIDER (e.g.  20 ) is different from another set of RATIOS for another DIVIDER (e.g.,  60 ). As used herein, a set of the RATIOS is referred to as a Common Factor (CF), being defined as a ratio matrix or ratio vector (if all ratios are arranged in a column). Accordingly, as one of the features in the present invention, one CF for one DIVIDER (e.g.,  20 ) is made different from one CF for another DIVIDER (e.g.,  60 ). 
     TABLE-1E summarizes a design overview of the Divide-by-16 DIVIDER  60  according to one embodiment of the present invention. Among the four Divide-by-2 building blocks of DIV 1  (DIVIDER  20 ), DIV 2  (DIVIDER  30 ), DIV 3  (DIVIDER  40 ) and DIV 4  (DIVIDER  50 ), the four columns of “RATIO of EECP” are all different and they are further graphically illustrated in FIG.  3 . The corresponding output waveforms, given an INPUT CLOCK  21  frequency of 50 GHz, from DIVIDER  20 , DIVIDER  30 , DIVIDER  40  and DIVIDER  50  are respectively shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG.  6  and FIG.  7 . Except for a slight signal distortion  65  from DIVIDER  50  (FIG.  7 ), the rest of the output waveforms (FIG. 4, FIG.  5  and FIG. 6) exhibit no visible distortion. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1E 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Overview of Design of EECP for DIVIDER 60 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 RATIO 
                 RATIO 
                 RATIO 
                 RATIO 
               
               
                   
                 of EECP 
                 of EECP 
                 of EECP 
                 of EECP 
               
               
                 Component 
                 DIV1 
                 DIV2 
                 DIV3 
                 DIV4 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 R3 
                 1.667 
                 1.500 
                 0.667 
                 1.000 
               
               
                 R4 
                 1.667 
                 1.500 
                 0.667 
                 1.000 
               
               
                 R13 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
               
               
                 R14 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
               
               
                 L3 
                 16.667 
                 14.167 
                 0.000 
                 0.000 
               
               
                 L4 
                 16.667 
                 14.167 
                 0.000 
                 0.000 
               
               
                 L13 
                 12.000 
                 12.500 
                 0.000 
                 0.000 
               
               
                 L14 
                 12.000 
                 12.500 
                 0.000 
                 0.000 
               
               
                 K34 
                 0.033 
                 0.008 
                 0.000 
                 0.000 
               
               
                 K134 
                 0.033 
                 0.008 
                 0.000 
                 0.000 
               
               
                 MC1 
                 17.333 
                 4.000 
                 0.800 
                 0.720 
               
               
                 MC11 
                 17.333 
                 4.000 
                 0.800 
                 0.720 
               
               
                 M1 
                 10.667 
                 2.000 
                 0.333 
                 0.320 
               
               
                 M2 
                 10.667 
                 2.000 
                 0.333 
                 0.320 
               
               
                 M11 
                 10.667 
                 2.000 
                 0.333 
                 0.320 
               
               
                 M12 
                 10.667 
                 2.000 
                 0.333 
                 0.320 
               
               
                 M3 
                 8.000 
                 2.500 
                 0.267 
                 0.400 
               
               
                 M4 
                 8.000 
                 2.500 
                 0.267 
                 0.400 
               
               
                 M5 
                 11.333 
                 3.000 
                 0.300 
                 0.600 
               
               
                 M6 
                 11.333 
                 3.000 
                 0.300 
                 0.600 
               
               
                 M13 
                 9.333 
                 2.333 
                 0.267 
                 0.400 
               
               
                 M14 
                 9.333 
                 2.333 
                 0.267 
                 0.400 
               
               
                 M15 
                 11.333 
                 2.667 
                 0.300 
                 0.600 
               
               
                 M16 
                 11.333 
                 2.667 
                 0.300 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     According to another embodiment of the current invention, FIG.  8  and FIG. 9A show a typical circuit architecture of an MS-DFF  70  with current mode switching and its associated logic functional block representation. In this embodiment, the supply voltage AVDD is shown to be 1.8 Volt although other values could be used, for example 2.5 Volt. The input clock signals are CLK  71  and  CLK   72 . The input data signals are D  73  and  D   74 . The pre-output differential signals  76   a  and  77   a  are then buffered through an Output Buffer  75  to become the output differential signal pairs (Qh  76 ,  Qh   77 ) and (QI  78 ,  QI   79 ). The various active NMOS transistors are designated as Mc 1 , Mc 2 , M 1 , M 2 , . . . , and M 16 . The four pull-up resistors are designated R 3 , R 4 , R 13  and R 14 . Like before, the added inductive components L 3 , L 4 , L 13  and L 14 , together with their formed transformers T 34  and T 134  of respective coupling coefficients K 34  and K 134 , expect to enable the MS-DFF  70  to achieve a higher operating frequency while providing a higher load-driving capacity. Similarly, the embodiment proposes to adjust the EECPs of some or all the active and passive circuit components of the otherwise topologically similar building blocks. This can be illustrated with an exemplary Bang Bang Phase Detector (BBPD) circuit having three MS-DFF building blocks. 
     FIG. 9B is a logic functional block diagram of a typical BBPD  80  using the MS-DFF  70  from FIG. 9A as its logic building block. Specifically, the replicated logic building blocks are labeled as MS-DFF  81 , MS-DFF  82  and MS-DFF  83 . The input signals include VCO  85  and DATA-IN  86 . The output signals include a PHASE  88  and  PHASE   89 . For those skilled in the art, it can be seen that the logic state of PHASE  88  and  PHASE   89  will change according to the phase relationship of leading or lagging between the two input signals VCO  85  and DATA-IN  86 . For convenience, the following differential signal is also defined: 
     
       
         ΔPHASE=PHASE− PHASE . 
       
     
     Like before, while using the same circuit architecture of an MS-DFF  70  with current mode switching as the building blocks, a system level design of BBPD  80 , by virtue of the present invention, yields a high level of output signal quality especially for high VCO frequency commonly used in optical communications. This is illustrated, in a manner similar to the first exemplary case of DIVIDER  60 , for a BBPD  80  of VCO  85  frequency=40 GHz and DATA-IN  86  date rate=41.66 Gbit/sec with TABLE-2A, TABLE-2B and TABLE-2C below: 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2A 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Design of EECP for MS-DFF 81 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 RATIO 
               
               
                   
                 Component 
                 EECP 
                 Unit 
                 of EECP 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 R3 
                 150 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R4 
                 150 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R13 
                 150 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R14 
                 150 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 L3 
                 700 
                 Picohenry 
                 4.667 
               
               
                   
                 L4 
                 700 
                 Picohenry 
                 4.667 
               
               
                   
                 L13 
                 700 
                 Picohenry 
                 4.667 
               
               
                   
                 L14 
                 700 
                 Picohenry 
                 4.667 
               
               
                   
                 K34 
                 0.5 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.003 
               
               
                   
                 K134 
                 0.5 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.003 
               
               
                   
                 MC1 
                 260 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.733 
               
               
                   
                 MC11 
                 260 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.733 
               
               
                   
                 M1 
                 200 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.333 
               
               
                   
                 M2 
                 200 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.333 
               
               
                   
                 M11 
                 200 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.333 
               
               
                   
                 M12 
                 200 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.333 
               
               
                   
                 M3 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                 M4 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                 M5 
                 70 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.467 
               
               
                   
                 M6 
                 70 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.467 
               
               
                   
                 M13 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                 M14 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                 M15 
                 70 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.467 
               
               
                   
                 M16 
                 70 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.467 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2B 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Design of EECP for MS-DFF 82 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 RATIO 
               
               
                   
                 Component 
                 EECP 
                 Unit 
                 of EECP 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 R3 
                 150 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R4 
                 150 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R13 
                 150 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R14 
                 150 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 L3 
                 500 
                 Picohenry 
                 3.333 
               
               
                   
                 L4 
                 500 
                 Picohenry 
                 3.333 
               
               
                   
                 L13 
                 500 
                 Picohenry 
                 3.333 
               
               
                   
                 L14 
                 500 
                 Picohenry 
                 3.333 
               
               
                   
                 K34 
                 0.5 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.003 
               
               
                   
                 K134 
                 0.5 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.003 
               
               
                   
                 MC1 
                 260 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.733 
               
               
                   
                 MC11 
                 260 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.733 
               
               
                   
                 M1 
                 200 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.333 
               
               
                   
                 M2 
                 200 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.333 
               
               
                   
                 M11 
                 200 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.333 
               
               
                   
                 M12 
                 200 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.333 
               
               
                   
                 M3 
                 70 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.467 
               
               
                   
                 M4 
                 70 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.467 
               
               
                   
                 M5 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                 M6 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                 M13 
                 70 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.467 
               
               
                   
                 M14 
                 70 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.467 
               
               
                   
                 M15 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                 M16 
                 90 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.600 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2C 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Design of EECP for MS-DFF 83 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 RATIO 
               
               
                   
                 Component 
                 EECP 
                 Unit 
                 of EECP 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 R3 
                 160 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R4 
                 160 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R13 
                 160 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R14 
                 160 
                 Ohm 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 L3 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L4 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L13 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L14 
                 0 
                 Picohenry 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 K34 
                 0 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 K134 
                 0 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 MC1 
                 240 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.500 
               
               
                   
                 MC11 
                 240 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.500 
               
               
                   
                 M1 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.625 
               
               
                   
                 M2 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.625 
               
               
                   
                 M11 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.625 
               
               
                   
                 M12 
                 100 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.625 
               
               
                   
                 M3 
                 120 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.750 
               
               
                   
                 M4 
                 120 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.750 
               
               
                   
                 M5 
                 180 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.125 
               
               
                   
                 M6 
                 180 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.125 
               
               
                   
                 M13 
                 120 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.750 
               
               
                   
                 M14 
                 120 
                 dimensionless 
                 0.750 
               
               
                   
                 M15 
                 180 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.125 
               
               
                   
                 M16 
                 186 
                 dimensionless 
                 1.125 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Similarly, TABLE-2D summarizes a design overview of the BBPD  80  according to one embodiment of the present invention. It may be noticed that, among the three MS-DFF building blocks of MS-DFF  81 , MS-DFF  82 , and MS-DFF  83 , the three columns of “RATIO of EECP” are all different and they are further graphically illustrated in FIG.  10 . The corresponding output waveform of ΔPHASE is shown in FIG.  11 . Again, except for a slight signal ripple  91 , the output waveform exhibits nearly perfect performance for phase detection. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2D 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Overview of Design of Design of EECP for BBPD 80 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                 RATIO 
                 RATIO 
                 RATIO 
               
               
                   
                   
                 of EECP 
                 of EECP 
                 of EECP 
               
               
                   
                 Component 
                 MS-DFF81 
                 MS-DFF82 
                 MS-DFF83 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 R3 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R4 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R13 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 R14 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
                 1.000 
               
               
                   
                 L3 
                 4.667 
                 3.333 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L4 
                 4.667 
                 3.333 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L13 
                 4.667 
                 3.333 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 L14 
                 4.667 
                 3.333 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 K34 
                 0.003 
                 0.003 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 K134 
                 0.003 
                 0.003 
                 0.000 
               
               
                   
                 MC1 
                 1.733 
                 1.733 
                 1.500 
               
               
                   
                 MC11 
                 1.733 
                 1.733 
                 1.500 
               
               
                   
                 M1 
                 1.333 
                 1.333 
                 0.625 
               
               
                   
                 M2 
                 1.333 
                 1.333 
                 0.625 
               
               
                   
                 M11 
                 1.333 
                 1.333 
                 0.625 
               
               
                   
                 M12 
                 1.333 
                 1.333 
                 0.625 
               
               
                   
                 M3 
                 0.600 
                 0.467 
                 0.750 
               
               
                   
                 M4 
                 0.600 
                 0.467 
                 0.750 
               
               
                   
                 M5 
                 0.467 
                 0.600 
                 1.125 
               
               
                   
                 M6 
                 0.467 
                 0.600 
                 1.125 
               
               
                   
                 M13 
                 0.600 
                 0.467 
                 0.750 
               
               
                   
                 M14 
                 0.600 
                 0.467 
                 0.750 
               
               
                   
                 M15 
                 0.467 
                 0.600 
                 1.125 
               
               
                   
                 M16 
                 0.467 
                 0.600 
                 1.125 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Thus, with the present invention, the quantitative design of all the passive and active circuit components of each building block of BBPD  80  is individually adjusted to achieve a high level of output signal quality in the presence of such deteriorating effects like output loading and interaction between functionally connected building blocks. Furthermore, these effects tend to become especially pronounced at high VCO frequencies such as those for high speed optical communications presented here. 
     As described with two exemplary cases, by systematically adjusting the EECP of all the passive and active circuit components of the individual building blocks of an electronic circuit system, one can achieve a high quality of output signal. This is especially important for applications with high clock frequency such as in optical communications where such effects of output loading and interaction between functionally connected building blocks tend to become highly pronounced. The invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, for those skilled in this field, the preferred embodiments can be easily adapted and modified to suit additional applications without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. For example, the present invention can be applied to a more generalized electronic circuit system using Field Effect Transistors (FET), Bipolar transistors or other types of transistors. Given the description herein, those skilled in the art can appreciate that the methodology of circuit design in the present invention, dealing with the minimization of systems level interaction effects amongst the various building blocks, is clearly independent of the particular geometry of the wafer process for the fabrication of the related IC, be it 0.25 μm, 0.18 μm or 0.09 μm. In fact, the methodology of the present invention is naturally scalable with the geometry of the wafer process as it continues its miniaturization process following the well known Moore&#39;s Law achieving a correspondingly higher speed of operation. Some of the related applications include, but without limitation to, Optical communications at 2.5 Gbit/sec (OC 48 ), 10 Gbit/sec (OC 192 ) and 40 Gbit/sec (OC 768 ) data rate, Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Blue Tooth technology (2.4 GHz) and wireless LAN (5.2 GHz). With the present invention, the hardware infrastructure for a high-speed data processing becomes possible. 
     Thus, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements based upon the same operating principle. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretations so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.