Frequency divider and pulse signal former

Abstract: A frequency divider includes three or more master-slave type flip-flop's (10,20,30) which are connected to each other to construct a 1/N frequency divider, in which two or more outputs whose periods are the same but phases are different are taken out from a master stage and a slave stage of each flip-flop, respectively and then those signals are composed to obtain a 1/(N/2) dividing output signal. As a result, a dividing output signal whose period does not vary with time can be obtained and also when the N is an even number, the output signal whose duty ratio is 1/2 can be further obtained. A pulse signal former (42,51,52) includes a differential amplifier to which two signals whose periods and pulse widths are the same but phases are different from each other by a pulse signal, and an output obtained by comparing those two signals is output from the pulse signal former. As a result, an output signal whose duty ratio is 1/2 is obtained.

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a frequency divider and a pulse signal former and, more particularly, to a frequency divider having a new number of division and a pulse signal former capable of implementing a frequency divider having a new number of division with high performance. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Figure 13 is a view showing a conventional 1/(N/2) frequency divider, that is, a 1/2.5 divider when N is 5. In figure 13, reference numerals 10, 20 and 30 each designate a master-slave type flip-flop (referred to as an M-S F/F hereinafter) and reference numerals 41 and 42 each designate an OR circuit. Reference T designates a dividing signal input terminal and reference OUT designates a dividing signal output terminal. In addition, references D, Q, /Q and T shown in M-S F/F designate a data input terminal, an output signal terminal, an inverted signal output terminal and a clock signal input terminal of the M-S F/F, respectively. Reference numerals N11 to N42 each designate a potential of each signal line, in which the N11 and the N12 are an output signal and an inverted output signal of the M-S F/F 10, respectively, the N22 is an inverted output signal of the M-S F/F 20, the N31 and the N32 are an output signal and an inverted output signal of the M-S F/F 30, and the N41 and the N42 are output signals of the OR circuits 41 and 42, respectively. Next, operation thereof will be described hereinafter. Each M-S F/F constitutes a delay type flip-flop, in which a signal input to the data signal input terminal D is output in synchronization with a clock signal. In the M-S F/F's 10 and 20, when the signal N31 input to the OR circuit 42 is "High", 1/2 dividing operation is performed and an input signal of the dividing signal input terminal T is divided into 1/2, so that a 1/2 dividing output can be obtained from the N11. When the signal N31 is "Low", the M-S F/F's 10 and 20 perform 1/3 dividing operation and its output signal OUT is obtained from the N11. In addition, the M-S F/F 30 performs 1/2 dividing operation and its output is obtained at the N31. Next, operation of this frequency divider will be described hereinafter in reference to figure 14. Figure 14 shows signal waveforms of the signal lines of the frequency divider. In figure 14, each reference designates a waveform of a signal of a terminal or a potential shown in figure 13. In a period of "High" of the N31, a period of the N11 corresponds to two periods of the T. Since the signal of the N31 is inverted for one period of the N11, the N31 becomes "Low". In a period of "Low" of the N31, a period of the N11 corresponds to three periods of the T. Then, the N31 becomes "High" after one period of the N11. Thus, the above operation is repeated. Since the output of the frequency divider is the N11, the frequency divider repeats 1/2 dividing operation and 1/3 dividing operation and then the output signal OUT having two periods in five periods of the dividing input signal T can be obtained. Thus, 2/5, that is, 1/2.5 frequency divider can be obtained. Next, a 1/3 frequency divider when the N is 6 will be described hereinafter as a conventional example of the 1/(N/2) frequency divider. In figure 15, the same references as in figure 13 designate the same or ones having the same functions. The 1/3 frequency divider is different from the 1/2.5 divider shown in figure 13 in that one M-S F/F and one OR circuit are omitted. Next, operation thereof will be described hereinafter. The 1/3 frequency divider performs the same operation as that when the N31 of the frequency divider shown in figure 15 is always at "Low". In addition, operation of the frequency divider will be described in reference to figure 16. Figure 16 shows signal waveforms of signal lines of the frequency divider. In figure 16, each reference designates a waveform of a signal of a terminal or a potential shown in figure 15. A period of the output signal OUT (N11) corresponds to three periods of the T and its period of "High", that is, pulse width corresponds to two periods of the T. Thus, the frequency divider capable of obtaining 1/(6/2), that is, 1/3 dividing output can be provided. Figure 17 is a view showing a conventional pulse signal former for obtaining a pulse signal whose duty ratio, that is, ratio of a pulse width to a period of pulse, is 1/2. In figure 17, reference numeral 200 designates a band-pass filter and reference numeral 201 designates a pulse waveformer. Reference numeral IN1 designates an input signal, reference numeral N200 designates an output signal of a band-pass filter and reference OUT designates an output signal of the circuit. Next, operation of this pulse signal former will be described hereinafter. Since a sine wave whose period is a period of a pulse signal is only taken out from the input pulse signal IN1 by the band-pass filter 200, a difference in duty ratio between the pulse signals is disregarded. Then, since the sine wave is converted to a pulse signal by the pulse waveformer 201, the output signal OUT becomes a pulse signal whose duty ratio is 1/2. Since the conventional frequency divider is formed as described above, when the N is an odd number (for example, N = 5) in the 1/(N/2) frequency divider, only a signal whose period varies with time is obtained as the output signal OUT as shown in figure 14. In addition, the duty ratio of the output signal is not 1/2, which is the problem. In addition, when the N is not a multiple of 4 (for example, N=6), the duty ratio of the output signal is also not 1/2. Those facts cause distortion of a signal when operation such as modulation, demodulation or orthogonal modulation is performed. In addition, according to the conventional pulse signal former, since the band-pass filter 200 is used as shown in figure 17, a usable frequency is limited to a range of the operation frequency of the band-pass filter. The present invention is concerned with solving the above problems. Accordingly, the present invention provides a frequency divider in which a 1/(N/2) dividing output signal having a constant period of an output signal of the frequency divider can be obtained. A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a frequency divider in which an output signal whose period is constant and duty ratio is 1/2 can be obtained from two 1/(N/2) output signals whose periods are constant. In ELECTRONIC DESIGN, vol. 38, 8 Feb 1990, pages 103-104, Cleveland, OH, US, K.A. Ray, there is described a counter which gives a 50% duty cycle. This disclosure is not concerned with a master-slave F/F implementation of the kind with which the present invention is concerned. In accordance with the present invention there is provided a frequency divider as set out in claim 1. In order that the present invention may be more readily understood embodiments thereof will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a view showing a structure of a frequency divider in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a view showing signal waveforms for describing operation of the frequency divider shown in figure 1. Figure 3 is a view showing a structure of a frequency divider in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a view showing signal waveforms for describing operation of the frequency divider shown in figure 3. Figure 5 is a view showing a structure of a frequency divider in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 is a view showing signal waveforms for describing operation of the frequency divider shown in figure 5. Figure 7 is a view showing a structure of a frequency divider in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 is a view showing signal waveforms for describing operation of the frequency divider shown in figure 7; Figure 9 is a view showing a structure of a pulse signal former in accordance with a sixth embodiment of the present invention; Figure 10 is a view showing signal waveforms for describing operation of the pulse signal former shown in figure 9; Figure 11 is a view showing a structure of a frequency divider in accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention; Figure 12 is a view showing signal waveforms for describing operation of the frequency divider shown in figure 11; Figure 13 is a view showing a structure of a conventional frequency divider; Figure 14 is a view showing signal waveforms for describing operation of the frequency divider shown in figure 13; Figure 15 is a view showing a structure of another conventional frequency divider; Figure 16 is a view showing signal waveforms for describing operation of the frequency divider shown in figure 15; and Figure 17 is a view showing a conventional pulse signal former. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter in reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a view showing a method for forming 1/(5/2), that is, 1/2.5 frequency divider as a frequency divider in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. In figure 1, reference numerals 10, 20 and 30 each designate a master-slave type flip-flop (referred to as an M-S F/F hereinafter), reference numerals 11, 21 and 31 each designate a master stage of the M-S F/F, reference numerals 12, 22 and 32 each designate a slave stage of the M-S F/F. Reference numerals 51 and 52 each designate an AND circuit and reference numerals 41 and 42 each designate an OR circuit. References T and TB designate a dividing signal input terminal and an input terminal of an inverted signal of the dividing signal, respectively. Reference OUT designates a dividing signal output terminal. In addition, references DM, QM, /QM, TM, /TM designate a data input terminal, an output terminal, an inverted signal output terminal, a clock signal input terminal and an inverted signal input terminal of a clock signal of the master stage of the M-S F/F, respectively. In addition, references DS, QS, /QS, TS and /TS designate a data input terminal, an output signal terminal, an inverted signal output terminal, a clock signal input terminal, an inverted signal input terminal of a clock signal of the slave stage of the M-S F/F, respectively. Reference numerals N11 to N52 each designate a potential of each signal line, in which N11 and N12, N13 and N14, N21 and N22, N23 and N24, N31 and N32, and N33 and N34 designate output signals and inverted output signal of the flip-flops 11, 12, 21, 22, 31 and 32, respectively and N41 is an output signal of the OR circuit 41 and N51 and N52 are output signals of the AND circuits 51 and 52, respectively, Next, operation thereof will be described hereinafter. Referring to figure 1, the M-S F/F's 10, 20 and 30 form a frequency divider having dividing ratio of 1/5 whose output can be taken out from any signal lines of N11 to N34. The AND circuits 51 and 52 and the OR circuit 42 compose the above outputs and then a 1/2.5 dividing output is obtained. The operation of the frequency divider will be further described hereinafter in reference to figure 2. Figure 2 shows signal waveforms of signal lines of the frequency divider. In figure 2, each reference numeral designates a waveform of a signal of the signal line shown in figure 1. The N51 is an output of AND operation of the N12 and the N22 and its period corresponds to 5 periods of the dividing input signal T and while it is "High", a signal for one period of the T is obtained. In addition, the N52 is an output of AND operation of the N23 and N34. Its one period corresponds to 5 periods of the dividing input signal T and while it is "High", a signal of one period of the T is obtained like the N51. The N51 differs from the N52 by 2.5 periods of the dividing input signal T and these signals are composed so that the output signal OUT is provided. A period of the thus provided output signal OUT corresponds to 2.5 periods of the dividing input signal T and a period of "High" of the signal corresponds to one period of the T. More specifically, 1/2.5 frequency divider can be implemented. Next, another method for forming a 1/2.5 frequency divider in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter in reference to figure 3. In figure 3, the same references as in figure 1 designate the same or corresponding parts. The 1/2.5 frequency divider shown in figure 3 is different from that shown in figure 1 in that the outputs to the AND circuits 51 and 52 are from the N11, N13, N22 and N33. Next, operation thereof will be described hereinafter in reference to figure 4. Figure 4 shows signal waveforms of signal lines of the frequency divider. In figure 4, each reference designates a waveform of a signal of signal lines shown in figure 3. As can be seen from the figure, one period of the output signal OUT corresponds to 2.5 periods of the dividing signal T. In these frequency dividers in accordance with the first and second embodiments of the present invention, an output signal having a constant period can be obtained. Therefore, when processing such as modulation or demodulation is performed using the output signal, distortion of the signal is not generated and also orthogonal modulation of the dividing output can be effectively performed, with the result that those circuits can be effectively used for a transceiver, a car telephone, radio or the like. A structure other than those of the first and second embodiments of the present invention can be used if a 1/2.5 dividing output having a constant period can be obtained by taking out outputs having different phases from the master and slave stages, respectively and combining those signals using logic circuits. Heretofore, an example of the 1/2.5 frequency divider in which N is 5 has been described in the first and second embodiments of the present invention. Next, a method for forming a 1/3 frequency divider in which N is 6 will be described as a third embodiment of the present invention in reference to figure 5. In figure 5, the same references as in figure 2 designate the same or ones having the same functions. In addition, reference numeral 45 designates a NOR circuit. Reference numerals N11 to N51 designate potentials of the signal lines. The output N13 of the slave stage 12 of the M-S F/F 10 and the output N31 of the master stage 31 of the M-S F/F 30 are input to the NOR circuit 45 and the AND circuit 51 and the outputs of the NOR circuit 45 and the AND circuit 51 are input to the OR circuit 42 and then its output becomes the output OUT of the frequency divider. Operation of this frequency divider will be described hereinafter in reference to figure 6. Figure 6 shows signal waveforms of signal lines in the frequency divider. In figure 6, each reference designates a waveform of a signal of a signal line shown in figure 5. The N45 is an output of NOR operation of the N13 and the N31 and its one period corresponds to 6 periods of the dividing input signal T and then a signal for 1.5 period of the T is obtained while the N45 is at "High" level. The N51 is an output of AND operation of the N13 and the N31 and its one period corresponds to 6 periods of the dividing input signal T and a signal for 1.5 period of the T is obtained while the N41 is at "High" level. Although a period and a period of "High" of the N45 are the same as those of the N51, its phase is different from the other by a half period. In addition, since the output signal OUT of the frequency divider is an output of OR operation of the N45 and the N51, its period is three times as long as that of the dividing input signal T and a period of "High" thereof corresponds to 1.5 period of the T. More specifically, there is provided a frequency divider in which 1/3 dividing operation is performed and an output signal whose period is always constant and whole pulse width is 1/2 of the period is obtained. In addition, although the AND output and the NOR output of the N13 and the N31 are logically calculated at the OR circuit 42 in this embodiment of the present invention, the outputs of the N11 and the N23 or the outputs of the N21 and the N34 instead of the N13 and the N31 can be used. Alternatively, another structure can be used if there is provided a 1/3 dividing output having a constant period and a duty ratio of 1/2 by taking out the outputs having different phases from the master stage and the slave stage, respectively and then combining those signals using a logic circuit. Next, a method for forming a 1/3.5 frequency divider when N is 7 will be described as a fourth embodiment of the present invention in reference to figure 7. In figure 7, the same references as in figure 1 designate the same or ones having the same functions. In addition, reference numeral 60 designates an M-S F/F and reference numerals 61 and 62 designate the master stage and the slave stage of the M-S F/F 60, respectively. Reference numeral 53 designates an AND circuit and reference numerals 43 and 44 each designate an OR circuit. Reference numerals N11 to N64 each designate a potential of a signal line. The output N11 of the master stage 11 of the M-S F/F 10 and the output N23 of the slave stage 22 of the M-S F/F 20 are input to the OR circuit 44 and the output N32 of the master stage 31 of the M-S F/F 30 and the output N63 of the slave stage 62 of the M-S F/F 60 are input to the OR circuit 43. Then, the output N44 of the OR circuit 44 and the output N43 of the OR circuit 43 are input to the AND circuit 53 and then its output becomes the output OUT of the frequency divider. Operation of this frequency divider will be described hereinafter in reference to figure 8. Figure 8 shows signal waveforms of signal lines of the frequency divider. In figure 8, each reference designates a waveform of a signal of a signal line shown in figure 7. The N43 is an output of OR operation of the N32 and the N63 and its one period corresponds to 7 periods of the dividing input signal T and a signal for 1.5 period of the T is obtained while it is at "Low" level. The N44 is an output of OR operation of the N11 and the N23 and its one period corresponds to 7 periods of the dividing input signal T and a signal for 1.5 period of the T is obtained while it is at "Low" level. Although a period and a period of "High" of the N43 are the same as those of the N44, its phase differs from the other by a half period. In addition, since the output signal OUT of the frequency divider is an output of AND operation of the N43 and the N44, its period is 3.5 times as long as that of the dividing input signal T. More specifically, 1/3.5 dividing operation is performed. According to the frequency divider in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the output signal having a constant period can be obtained and processing such as modulation or demodulation of a signal can be performed by using this dividing output signal without generating any distortion of the signal. In addition, another structure can be used in this embodiment of the present invention if the 1/3.5 dividing output having a constant period can be obtained by taking out outputs having different phases from the master stage and the slave stage, respectively and combining those signals using the logic circuit. In addition, although a description was given of a case where N = 5, 6 and 7 in the 1/(N/2) frequency divider in the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention, the frequency divider can be implemented by the same method even if the N is another value. As described above, according to the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention, the output signal whose period does not vary with time can be obtained and also when the N is an even number, the output signal whose pulse width is 1/2 of the period can be further obtained. There will be shown a method for forming an output signal whose duty ratio is 1/2 from the output signals of the frequency divider of 1/(N/2) as a fifth embodiment of the present invention. As its embodiment, a method for forming a 1/(5/2), that is, 1/2.5 frequency divider will be described hereinafter. Figure 11 is a view showing a method for forming a circuit in which the duty ratio of the output signal of the frequency divider shown in figure 1 of the first embodiment of the present invention is made to be 1/2. In figure 11, the same references as in figure 1 designate the same or ones having the same functions. In addition, reference numerals 53 and 54 each designate an AND circuit, reference numeral 45 designates a NOR circuit and reference numeral 101 designates a differential amplifier. Reference numeral N42 designates an output signal of the OR circuit 42 and reference numerals N53 and N54 designate output signals of the AND circuits 53 and 54, respectively. Next, operation thereof will be described hereinafter in reference to figure 12 showing signal waveforms of the signal lines of the frequency divider. In figure 12, each reference designates a waveform of a signal of a signal line shown in figure 11. The N42 corresponds to the output of the frequency divider shown in figure 1 and its one period corresponds to 2.5 periods of the dividing input signal T and a period of "High" thereof corresponds to one period of the T. A period of the N45 corresponds to 2.5 periods of the dividing input signal T and a period of "High" thereof corresponds to one period of the T. When an input pulse signal is a high frequency of G H z band or more, signal rising time and signal falling time increase by an influence of a wiring in the circuit as shown in figure 12. When these two signals N42 and N45 are input to the differential amplifier 101, the differential amplifier 101 compares one signal with the other. As a result, a signal having a pulse width which is 1/2 of a period (duty ratio 1/2) is obtained as the output signal OUT as shown in figure 12. As described above, the frequency divider performs 1/2.5 dividing operation and at the same time outputs the signal whose pulse width is 1/2 of the period. According to the structure of this embodiment of the present invention, when the N is an odd number in accordance with the first, second and fourth embodiments of the present invention, the output signal whose duty ratio is 1/2 can be also obtained. In addition, although a description was given of a case where the 1/2.5 frequency divider is used and the duty ratio of its output signal is made to be 1/2 in the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the frequency divider is not limited to the 1/2.5 frequency divider and another one can be used if it is the 1/(N/2) frequency divider. However, when the N is an even number, for example as described in the third embodiment of the present invention, the output of the divider in this case already has the duty ratio of 1/2, so that pulse signal forming means in accordance with the fifth embodiment of the present invention is not necessary. In addition, according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, although an example in which the duty ratio of the dividing output of the 1/(N/2) frequency divider is made to be 1/2 was shown, a method for forming a signal having the duty ratio of 1/2 from any pulse signal whose duty ratio is not 1/2 will be described hereinafter. Figure 9 shows a pulse signal former in accordance with a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In figure 9, reference numeral 100 designates a phase delay circuit, reference numeral 101 designates a differential amplifier, reference numeral IN1 designates an input signal terminal, reference numeral OUT designates an output signal terminal, references D and /D designate a signal input terminal and an inverted signal input terminal of the differential amplifier 101, respectively, and reference numerals N100 and N101 each designate a differential amplifier input signal. Next, operation thereof will be described hereinafter. The input pulse signal IN1 whose duty ratio is not 1/2 is divided into two and one is input to the differential amplifier 101 as it is and the other is input to the phase delay circuit. A phase of the signal input to the phase delay circuit is delayed by a pulse width by the phase delay circuit and then the signal is input to the differential amplifier 101. Operation thereof will be described hereinafter in reference to figure 10. In figure 10, reference numeral IN1 designates an input signal and reference numerals N100 and N101 designate input signals of the differential amplifier. In addition, a dotted line designates the N101 and N100 designates a signal obtained by delaying the input signal IN1 by a pulse width and reference numeral OUT designate an output signal. Similar to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, when the input pulse signal IN1 is a high frequency of G H z band or more, signal rising time and falling time increase by an influence of the wiring in the circuit as shown by the N100 in figure 10. This is also generated in the signal N101. When these two signals are input to the differential amplifier 101, one signal is compared with the other in the differential amplifier 101, with the result that a signal whose pulse width is 1/2 of the period (duty ratio 1/2) can be obtained as the output signal OUT shown in figure 10. Therefore, according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention, a signal whose duty ratio is 1/2 can be obtained with a simple circuit structure and its usable frequency range can be increased unlike the conventional example in which the pulse signal former shown in figure 17 is used. In addition, according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention, the phase delay circuit is used when signals whose periods and pulse widths are the same but phases are different by a pulse width are formed. However, another method can be used if the same signal can be obtained. According to the frequency divider in accordance with the present invention, the 1/N frequency divider is formed using a master-slave type flip-flop (M-S F/F) and two or more output signals whose periods are the same but phases are different are taken out from the 1/N frequency divider. Then, these signals are logically composed to obtain the 1/(N/2) dividing signal. Therefore, an output whose period does not vary with time can be obtained as the output of the frequency divider and an output whose pulse width is 1/2 of the period can be further obtained when the N is an even number. As a result, modulation or demodulation can be performed with high precision by using the dividing output signal without generating distortion of a signal. In addition, according to the present invention, a differential amplifier is provided in the 1/(N/2) frequency divider having the above structure and then two signals whose periods and pulse widths are the same but phases are different by a pulse width are taken out from the 1/(N/2) frequency divider and then these signals are composed by the differential amplifier. As a result, the dividing signal output whose pulse width is 1/2 of its period can be obtained. In addition, according to the pulse signal former of the present invention, two signals whose periods and pulse widths are the same but phases are different by a pulse width are input to the differential amplifier and then the output obtained by comparing one signal with the other is provided as an output signal. As a result, a signal whose pulse width is 1/2 of its period can be taken out from the signal whose pulse width is not 1/2. Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

Claims: A frequency divider comprising at least three master-slave flip-flops (10,20,30) connectable to a signal (T) to be divided, each master-slave flip-flop consisting of a master stage (M) and a slave stage (S), each slave stage being connected to an individual one of said master stages so that the interconnected flip-flops provide a 1/N frequency divider, wherein outputs from the master stages and outputs from the slave stages are connected to a logic circuit (41,42,51,52) to provide a single output, the outputs from the master and slave stages being connected so that they contain outputs whose periods are of the same but have different phases, the logic circuit giving a 1/(N/2) output signal. A frequency divider according to claim 1, wherein each master/slave flip-flop is connectable both to the timing signal and a signal which is the inverse of the timing signal. A divider according to either of claims 1 or 2, wherein the flip-flops are connected to provide a 1/5 frequency divider, said logic circuit comprising: a first AND circuit (51) to which inverted outputs (N21,N22) from the master stages (M) of the first and second flip-flops (10,20) are input; a second AND circuit (52) to which an output (N23) from the slave stage of the second stage (20) of the flip-flop and an inverted output (N34) from the slave stage of the third flip-flop (30) are input; and an OR circuit (42) to which outputs (N51,N52) of said first and second AND circuits are input and from which a 1/2.5 dividing output is obtained. A frequency divider according to either of claims 1 or 2, wherein the flip-flops are connected to each other to provide a 1/5 frequency divider and said logic circuit comprises: a first AND circuit (52) to which outputs (N11,N33) from the slave stages of the first and third flip-flops are input; a second AND circuit (51) to which an output (N11) from the master stage of the first stage of the flip-flop and an inverted output (N22) from the master stage of the second flip-flop are input; and an OR circuit (42) to which outputs (N51,N52) of said first and second AND circuits are input and from which a 1/2.5 dividing output is obtained. A frequency divider according to either of claims 1 or 2, wherein the flip-flops are connected to each other to provide a 1/6 frequency divider, and said logic circuit comprises: a NOR circuit (45) to which an output (N13) from the slave stage of the first flip-flop and an output (N31) from the master stage of the third flip-flop are input; an AND circuit (51) to which an output (N13) from the slave stage of the first flip-flop and an output (N31) from the master stage of the third flip-flop are input; and an OR circuit (42) to which outputs (N45,N51) from said NOR circuit and said AND circuit are input and from which a 1/3 dividing output is obtained. A frequency divider according to either claim 1 or claim 2 comprising four master-slave type flip-flops (10,20,30,60) connected to each other to provide a 1/7 frequency divider, and said logic circuit comprises: a first OR circuit (44) to which an output (N11) from the master stage of the first flip-flop and an output (N23) from the slave stage of the second flip-flop are input; a second OR circuit (43) to which an inverted output (N23) from the master stage of the third flip-flop and an output (N63) from the slave stage of the fourth flip-flop are input; and an AND circuit (53) to which outputs (N43,N44) from said first and second OR circuits are input and from which a 1/3.5 dividing output is obtained. A frequency divider in accordance with either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said logic circuit is adapted to provide two 1/(N/2) output signals which are similar in pulse width but are out of phase by a single pulse width, and wherein the two output signals from the logic circuit are connected to a differential amplifier (101) so as to generate a 1/(N/2) output signal with a duty ratio of 1/2. A frequency divider according to either claim 1 or claim 2 and comprising three master-slave type flip-flops connected to each other to provide a 1/5 frequency divider, and said logic circuit comprises: a first AND circuit (51) to which inverted outputs (N12,N22) from the master stages of the first and second flip-flops are input; a second AND circuit (52) to which an output (N22) from the slave stage of the second flip-flop and an inverted output (N34) from the slave stage of the third flip-flop are input; a third AND circuit (53) to which an output (N11) from the master stage of the first flip-flop and an output (N23) from the slave stage of the second flip-flop are input; a fourth AND circuit (54) to which an inverted output (N14) from the slave stage of the first flip-flop and an inverted output (N22) from the master stage of the second flip-flop are input; an OR circuit (42) to which outputs (N51,N52) from said first and second AND circuits are input; a NOR circuit (45) to which outputs (N53,N54) from said third and fourth AND circuits are input; and a differential amplifier (101) to which outputs of said OR circuit and said NOR circuit are input and from which a 1/2.5 dividing output whose pulse width is 1/2 of its period is obtained.

Inventors: MAEMURA KOUSEI C O MITSUBISHI, MAEMURA, KOUSEI, C/O MITSUBISHI DENKI K.K.
Applicants: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP, MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1991
Main classification: H03K21
IPC codes: H03K23, H03K21