Patent Abstract:
One aspect relates to a clock signal synchronizing device, in particular to a delayed locked loop (DLL) with capability to correct static duty-cycle offset and to filter clock-jitter. One aspect relates to a clock signal synchronizing method with capability to correct static duty-cycle offset and to filter clock-jitter. In accordance one aspect, there is provided a clock signal synchronizing device including a delay circuit having a variable delay time and delaying an incoming clock signal or a signal generated therefrom to output a delayed clock signal. Also included is a negator for inverting the delayed clock signal to output an inverted delayed clock signal. Also included is a delay control circuit for controlling the delay circuit to adjust the phase relation between the incoming clock signal and the inverted delayed clock signal and a phase interpolator. The phase interpolator is activated when the incoming clock signal and the inverted delayed clock signal are substantially in phase and adds the incoming clock signal multiplied with a factor of substantially (1−p) to the inverted delayed clock signal multiplied with a factor of substantially p to output a compound signal to the delay circuit, p being a real number greater than or equal to 0 and smaller than or equal to 1.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND 
   The invention relates to a clock signal synchronizing device, in particular to a delayed locked loop (DLL). 
   SUMMARY 
   One embodiment relates to a clock signal synchronizing device, in particular to a delayed locked loop (DLL) with capability to correct static duty-cycle offset and to filter clock-jitter. One aspect relates to a clock signal synchronizing method with capability to correct static duty-cycle offset and to filter clock-jitter. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of embodiments and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments and together with the description serve to explain principles of embodiments. Other embodiments and many of the intended advantages of embodiments will be readily appreciated as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other. Like reference numerals designate corresponding similar parts. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a simplified exemplary schematic diagram of a DLL according to an embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary logic flow diagram illustrating operation of a DLL according to an embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a simplified schematic diagram of an exemplary implementation of the phase interpolator of the DLL in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4  depicts a graph illustrating duty-cycle correction results numerically calculated for a simulated DLL in accordance with the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   In the following Detailed Description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, directional terminology, such as “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “back,” “leading,” “trailing,” etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the Figure(s) being described. Because components of embodiments can be positioned in a number of different orientations, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims. 
   It is to be understood that the features of the various exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted otherwise. 
     FIG. 1  illustrates a simplified exemplary schematic diagram of a DLL according to an embodiment of the invention. 
   The DLL  20  comprises a delay control circuit  21 , a delay circuit  22 , hereinafter referred to as delay line, a phase interpolator  23 , a phase interpolator control circuit  24 , a negator  25 , an input  28 , and an output  29 . 
   The delay control circuit  21  has a first input connected to the input  28  of the DLL  20  via connection  201  and connection  201   b  and a second input connected to an output of the negator  25  via connection  203   d  and connection  203   e . A first output of the delay control circuit  21  is connected to a second input of the delay line  22  via connection  204  and a second output is connected to an input of the phase interpolator control circuit  24  via connection  205 . 
   The delay line  22  has a first input connected with an output of the phase interpolator  23  via connection  202  and the second input connected with the first output of the delay control circuit  21 . An output of the delay line  22  is connected with the input of the negator  25  via connection  203  and connection  203   b  and with the output  29  of the DLL  20  via connection  203  and connection  203   a.    
   The phase interpolator  23  has a first input connected to the input  28  of the DLL  20  via connection  201  and connection  201   a , the second input connected to the output of the negator  25  via connection  203   c  and connection  203   e , and a third input connected to an output of the phase interpolator control circuit  24  via connection  206 . The output of the phase interpolator  23  is connected to the input of the delay line  22 . 
   The phase interpolator control circuit  24  has its input connected to the second output of the delay control circuit  21  and its output connected to the third input of the phase interpolator  23 . 
   The negator  25  has its input connected to the output of the delay line  22  via connection  203  and connection  203   b . The output of the negator  25  is connected with the second input of the phase interpolator  23  via connection  203   e  and connection  203   c  and is also connected with the second input of the delay control circuit  21  via connection  203   e  and connection  203   d.    
   The delay line  22  having a variable delay is initialized with a predetermined value, which may be calculated, for example, by means of a suitable algorithm and which represents a delay expected for a corresponding circuit. During operation of the DLL  20 , the variable delay of the delay line  22  is controlled by the delay control circuit  21 . 
   The phase interpolator  23  receives two clock signals at its inputs and adds the two clock signals with variable quantifiers. The variable quantifiers are controlled by the phase interpolator control circuit  24  and represent factors with which the two clock signals are multiplied before they are added. The clock signal at the first input of the phase interpolator  23  is multiplied with a factor of (1−p) and the clock signal at the second input of the phase interpolator  23  is multiplied with a factor of p, p being a real number greater than or equal to 0 and smaller than or equal to 1. 
   However, for a correct operation of the DLL  20 , the DLL has first to be in a “locked state”, that is, the two clock signals received at the inputs of the delay control circuit  21  have to be phase aligned, before activating the phase interpolator  23 . When the phase interpolator  23  is not activated the factor p is set to 0 by the phase interpolator control circuit  24  which, in this case, results in forwarding the incoming clock signal without any modification as, in this case, the clock signal at the first input of the phase interpolator  23  is multiplied with 1, whereas the clock signal at the second input of the phase interpolator  23  is multiplied with 0. 
   The negator  25  inverts the clock signal received at its input, that is, rising edges of the non-inverted signal are replaced by falling edges in the inverted signal, and falling edges of the non-inverted signal are replaced by rising edges in the inverted signal. 
   The delay control circuit  21  compares the phases of the clock signals received at its two inputs and, if the two clock signals are not in phase, adjusts the variable delay of the delay line  22 , until the two clock signals at the inputs of the delay control circuit  21  are in phase. 
   As mentioned before in connection with the phase interpolator  23 , the DLL  20  has to be in a “locked state” before activating the phase interpolator  23 . Thus, two operation modes of the DLL  20  will be described separately in the following. First, when the DLL  20  is not in a “locked state” yet, and second, when the DLL  20  is in a “locked state”. 
   When the DLL  20  is not in a “locked state” the phase interpolator is not activated (p=0) and the delay line  22  receives the unmodified incoming clock signal at its first input and delays the incoming clock signal by the variable delay controlled by the delay control circuit  21 . The delayed clock signal from the output of the delay line  22  which is also relayed to the output  29  as outgoing clock signal is then inverted by the negator  25  and relayed to the second input of the delay control circuit  21 . The delay control circuit  21  compares the phase of the incoming clock signal and the phase of the inverted delayed clock signal and, if the two clock signals are not in phase, adjusts the variable delay of the delay line  22 , that is, for example, increases the variable delay by a predetermined step. In other embodiments, the delay control circuit  21  may decrease the variable delay by a predetermined step. 
   Then, a new cycle begins and the delay line  22  receives the incoming clock signal at its first input and delays the incoming clock signal by the adjusted variable delay. The delayed clock signal from the output of the delay line  22  is then inverted by the negator  25  and relayed to the second input of the delay control circuit  21 . The delay control circuit  21  compares the phase of the incoming clock signal and the phase of the inverted delayed clock signal and, if the two clock signals are not in phase, adjusts the variable delay of the delay line  22 , that is, for example, increases (or for example, decreases) the variable delay by a predetermined step. 
   Then again, a new cycle begins and the process is iterated, that is, the variable delay of the delay line  22  is adjusted, until the DLL is “locked” and the incoming clock signal and the inverted delayed clock signal are in phase. 
   As the delay control circuit  21  receives at its first input the incoming clock signal and at its second input the inverted delayed clock signal and, however, the (non-inverted) delayed clock signal is relayed to the output  29  as the outgoing clock signal, the delay control circuit adjusts the variable delay of the delay line  22  such that the inverted outgoing signal is phase adjusted to the incoming signal that is, a rising edge of the outgoing clock signal is aligned with a falling edge of the incoming clock signal and vice versa. 
   Therefore, when the DLL  20  is “locked” and, if the duty-cycle of the incoming clock signal is an ideal 50%, then the phase of the outgoing signal differs from the phase of the incoming signal by half a clock period of the incoming clock signal (plus an integer multiple of the clock period of the incoming clock signal). 
   It is noted that the delay control circuit  21  either increases the variable delay in each cycle until the two clock signals at its input are in phase or decreases the variable delay in each cycle until the two clock signals are in phase. 
   Thus, it is guaranteed that the DLL  20  locks after a certain maximum of cycles at the latest, the maximum being the period of the incoming clock signal divided by the predetermined step for adjusting the variable delay of the delay line  22 . 
   The delay line  22  may comprise a counter which counts the number of predetermined steps by which the variable delay of the delay line  22  is increased (decreased). Each time the counter receives a respective signal from the delay control circuit via connection  204 , a count of the counter is increased (decreased) by 1. In this case, the count (together with the predetermined value for the initialization of the delay line  22 ) specifies the value of the variable delay of the delay line  22 . 
   The DLL  20  may further comprise a delay circuit having a constant delay, hereinafter also referred to as constant delay element, which may be placed directly after the delay line  22 . The constant delay of the constant delay element may adjusted suitably to replace the abovementioned initialization of the delay line  22  with the predetermined value so that the variable delay of the delay line starts with 0. 
   As illustrated above, the DLL will be in a “locked state” after running through a certain limited number of cycles. 
   Up to this point, clock-jitter and static duty-cycle offset have not been taken into account. Incoming clock-jitter has been directly transferred the same way as in a conventional DLL. In general, however, this is not critical since, during a start of a system, an associated controller responsible for generating the (incoming) clock signal—and also for introducing clock-jitter—comprises a rather low activity whereas low activity of the controller means low clock-jitter of the generated clock-signal. Activity of the controller will not be high until a certain time and at this point, when the activity of the controller increases, the DLL  20  will already be in a “locked state”. Also, initial duty-cycle deviations which are not corrected until the DLL  20  is in a “locked state” are, in general, not to be considered critical. 
   Only then, when the incoming clock signal and the inverted outgoing clock signal are in phase, the phase interpolator control circuit  24  receives a respective signal from the delay control circuit  21  via connection  205  and activates the phase interpolator. 
   As mentioned before, in the phase interpolator  23 , the factor p is set to 0 by the phase interpolator control circuit  24  when the phase interpolator  23  is not activated. For controlling the phase interpolator  23 , the phase interpolator control circuit  24  may send a control signal comprising a respective value for the factor p: To deactivate the phase interpolator  23  and cause the phase interpolator  23  to remain deactivated, respectively, the phase interpolator control circuit may send a “0” to the phase interpolator. To activate the phase interpolator  23  and cause the phase interpolator  23  to remain activated, respectively, the phase interpolator control circuit  24  may send a signal indicating a real number greater than 0 and smaller than or equal to 1 to the phase interpolator. 
   The phase interpolator  23  statically phase-mixes the incoming clock signal and the inverted outgoing clock signal (signal from the output of the delay line  22  and inverted by the negator  25 ) to a contribution of p for the inverted outgoing clock signal and to a contribution of (1−p) for the incoming signal. 
   At its first input, the phase interpolator  23  receives the incoming clock signal and weights (that is, multiplies) it with a factor of (1−p). At its second input, the phase interpolator receives the inverted outgoing clock signal and weights (that is, multiplies) it with a factor of p. Then, the two weighted clock signals are added. The resulting compound signal is then relayed to the delay line  22  and delayed. The delayed compound signal which represents the outgoing signal is inverted by the negator  25  and then fed back to the second input of the phase interpolator  23  and a new cycle starts. 
   For an effective reduction of clock-jitter and static duty-cycle offset, multiple cycles are carried out in the way described above. 
   Clock-Jitter Reduction 
   In general, the clock-jitter is introduced by the clock-jitter of the incoming signal and is transferred to the outgoing signal. In a conventional DLL, the clock-jitter of the incoming clock signal is directly transferred to the outgoing signal. In a DLL according to an embodiment of the invention, however, clock-jitter of the incoming clock signal is filtered by the phase interpolator  23  by phase-mixing the incoming and the inverted outgoing clock signals for several cycles to average out uncorrelated clock-jitter of the incoming clock signal. 
   As the DLL  20  is in a “locked state” when the phase interpolator  23  is activated, the incoming and the inverted outgoing clock signals are identical except for a phase difference of a integer multiple m of the clock signal period 2π, that is, m*2π, and except for clock-jitter. However, the clock-jitter of the inverted outgoing signal is also “delayed” or rather phase shifted by m*2π (and also inverted) with respect to the jitter of the incoming signal. 
   Thus, the signal generated by the phase interpolator is an overlap signal of two “in-phase” signals and is therefore, of course, also in phase with the incoming signal. Under the, in general, justified assumption that the clock-jitter of the incoming clock signal is uncorrelated, in particular non periodical, the “original” clock-jitter of the incoming clock signal and the “delayed and inverted” clock-jitter of the inverted outgoing clock signal add in the same way as clock-jitters of different sources. Therefore, after several feedback loop cycles, multiple waves (clock signals) in the resonantly operated delay line  22  are overlapped such that the uncorrelated clock-jitters are averaged out. 
   Duty-Cycle Correction 
   For the duty-cycle correction performed by the DLL  20 , the shape of the outgoing clock signal is to be examined. The voltage level V out (t) of the outgoing clock signal which depends on the time t can be written as:
 
 V   out ( t )=(1 −p )· V   in ( t−T )− p·V   out ( t−T )
 
For the second cycle, V out  can be written as:
 
 V   out ( t )=(1 −p )· V   in ( t−T )− p [(1 −p )· V   in ( t −2 T )− p·V   out ( t −2 T )]
 
For the N th  cycle, V out (t) can be written as:
 
                     V   out     ⁡     (   t   )       =       (     1   -   p     )     ·       ∑     n   =   1     N     ⁢       p     n   -   1       ·       V   in     ⁡     (     t   -   nT     )                     (   1   )               
wherein:
 
   V in (t) is the voltage level of the incoming clock signal; 
   T is the delay of the delay line  22 . 
   It is noted that in the above equation, an inversion of a clock signal is represented by a multiplication by a factor of −1, which is justified since, for binary signals, multiplying by a factor of −1 is equivalent to an inversion. 
   For an ideal duty-cycle of 50%, the delay T is half a clock period t ck  of the incoming clock signal plus an integer multiple m of the clock period t ck  of the incoming clock signal): T=(m+½)*t ck    
   Whereas, for a real duty-cycle unequal to 50%, T has to be calculated numerically. However, the basic operation mode of the duty-cycle correction process can be intuitively understood. Assume, the incoming clock signal has a duty-cycle of 55%. Then, after one inversion, the duty-cycle will be 45%. After the second inversion, the duty-cycle is back at 55% and so on. Therefore, a valuation for the duty-cycle of the outgoing clock signal after several feedback loop cycles may be made as follows: (1−p)*55%+(1−p)*p*45%+(1−p)*p 2 *55%+ . . . As can be easily understood by examining the above valuation, the resulting duty-cycle of the outgoing signal will be closer to 50% than the duty cycle of the incoming signal. 
   Therefore, by averaging over multiple inverted clocks, incoming static duty-cycle offset can be effectively reduced. A graph illustrating duty-cycle correction results numerically calculated for a simulated DLL in accordance with the invention is depicted in  FIG. 4 . 
     FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary logic flow diagram illustrating operation of a DLL according to an embodiment of the invention. 
   In step  2001 , an incoming clock signal is received which is then, in step  2002 , delayed by a variable delay. After that, in step  2003 , the delayed clock signal is inverted to generate an inverted delayed clock signal. Thereon, in step  2004 , it is determined if the incoming clock signal and the inverted delayed clock signal are substantially in phase. 
   If not, the variable delay is modified to adjust the phase relation between the incoming clock signal and the inverted delayed clock signal, in step  2005 , and operation proceeds with step  2001 . 
   If so, the incoming signal multiplied with a factor of substantially (1−p) is added to the inverted delayed clock signal multiplied with a factor of substantially p to output a compound signal, in step  2006 . After that, as indicated in step  2007  of  FIG. 2 , the steps  2002 ,  2003  and  2006  are carried out iteratively over a plurality of cycles to correct static duty-cycle offset of the incoming clock signal and to average out uncorrelated clock-jitter comprised in the incoming clock signal. 
     FIG. 3  illustrates a simplified schematic diagram of an exemplary implementation of the phase interpolator  23  of the DLL  20  in  FIG. 1 . 
   In the phase interpolator  23  illustrated in  FIG. 3 , differential clock signals are used. A differential clock signal consists of two complementary clock signals. The “actual” clock signal can be determined by comparing the two complementary clock signals. If the first clock signal of the two complementary clock signals is higher than the second one the “actual” clock signal is, for example, high (“1”). If the second clock signal of the two complementary clock signals is higher than the first one the “actual” clock signal is, for example, low (“0”). 
   The phase interpolator  23  comprises a power source, an inverter  30 , two sets of transistors  32 ,  33 , and transistors  34 ,  35 ,  36 , and  37 . 
   The two sets of transistors  32  and  33  are respectively, for example, 15 transistors each of which can be independently driven by respective gate voltages. In order to control the gates of these transistors, the factor p is converted (not illustrated in  FIG. 3 ) to a thermometer code, which consist in this example of fifteen bits. The proportion of the number of “1&#39;s” to the total number of bits, in this example 15 bits, may represent the factor p. As the arrangement of “0&#39;s” and “1&#39;s” is not relevant, that is, carries no information, the “1&#39;s” occupy the first positions, and the “0&#39;s” the last positions. In the following, some examples will be given: 
   a factor of 0 is represented by “000000000000000”, 
   a factor of 1 is represented by “111111111111111” 
   a factor of ⅓ is represented by “111110000000000”, and 
   a factor of ⅘ is represented by “111111111111000” in thermometer code. 
   The first set of transistors  32  are controlled by a received control signal SLC in thermometer code consisting of 15 bits and representing the factor p. Each bit of the thermometer code controls the gate of a respective transistor of the set of transistors  32 . If the respective bit is a “1” the corresponding transistor will be on, that is, a current will flow through its drain and source. If the respective bit is a “0” the corresponding transistor will be off, that is, no current will flow through its drain and source. 
   The second set of transistors  33  are also controlled by the control signal SLC in thermometer code. However, the control signal SLC is inverted before being applied to the respective gates of the set of transistors  33 , otherwise the control mechanism is the same as the one applied to the first set of transistors  32 . The inversion of the control signal involves that the number of on-transistors of the second set of transistors  33  corresponds to the number of off-transistors of the first set of transistors  32  and vice versa. 
   In the following, the functionality of the phase interpolator  23  will only briefly be described on the basis of two extreme examples as the phase interpolator illustrated in  FIG. 3  is a conventional phase interpolator well-known in the art. 
   First, the value of SLC is assumed to be “000000000000000”. In this case, each transistor of the second set of transistors  33  is on and each transistor of the first set of transistors  32  is off. Therefore, voltage will be applied only to the transistors  36  and  37  which are connected to the transistors  33 . The transistors  36  and  37  are controlled by differential clock signals clk_ucp and clk_ucn representing the incoming clock signal in  FIG. 2 . In this case, the differential clock signals, clkmix_cp and clkmix_cn, output by the phase interpolator  23  correspond to the incoming clock signal in  FIG. 2  (represented as differential clock signals). 
   Next, the value of SLC is assumed to be “111111111111111”. In this case, each transistor of the second set of transistors  33  is off and each transistor of the first set of transistors  32  is on. Therefore, voltage will be applied only to the transistors  34  and  35  which are connected to the transistors  32 . The transistors  34  and  35  are controlled by differential clock signals clk_dcp and clk_dcn representing the outgoing clock signal in  FIG. 2 . In this case, the differential clock signals, clkmix_cp and clkmix_cn, output by the phase interpolator  23  correspond to the outgoing clock signal in  FIG. 2  (represented as differential clock signals). 
   For values of SLC lying in between the above two extreme examples, each of the transistors  34 ,  35 ,  36 , and  37  will make some contribution—according to the value of SLC—to the clock signal output by the phase interpolator  23 . For these cases, the phase interpolator  23  statically phase-mixes the incoming and outgoing clock signals to a contribution of p for the outgoing clock signal and to a contribution of (1−p) for the incoming clock signal. 
     FIG. 4  depicts a graph illustrating duty-cycle correction results numerically calculated for a simulated DLL in accordance with the invention. 
   The graph illustrates the corrected duty-cycle of the outgoing signal in dependence of the original duty-cycle of the incoming signal for a constant weighing factor p=0.7 of the phase interpolator. The duty-cycles of the incoming signal vary within a region from 42.5% to 50%, whereas the corrected duty-cycles of the outgoing signals vary only within a region from 51.4% to 50%. For example, the graph indicates an improvement of a duty-cycle of 45% of the incoming signal to a duty-cycle of 50.9% of the outgoing signal. 
   Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7