Patent Abstract:
Disclosed is a delay locked loop circuit (DLL) used for DDR SDRAM. The DLL provides a fast locking function. In particular, the DLL detects the level of a frequency and performs the fast locking function, thereby realizing a high integrated memory device having a reduced area of a delay part used in order to synchronize a phase of an external clock signal with a phase of an internal clock.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a delay locked loop circuit, and more particularly to a delay locked loop circuit capable of improving a signal processing time and reducing a device area.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     As generally known in the art, a delay locked loop circuit synchronizes a phase of a clock signal externally applied to a semiconductor device with a phase of a clock signal used in the semiconductor device.  
         [0005]     In particular, since the delayed locked loop circuit, which is used for high-speed synchronization memory devices such as DDR SDRAM, determines an operation frequency band of the memory devices and exerts serious influence on an operation time_characteristic, the high-speed synchronization memory devices include a high-performance delay locked loop circuit having a wide frequency band and a low jitter characteristic.  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of a typical delayed locked loop circuit.  
         [0007]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the delay locked loop circuit includes a clock buffer  100  for receiving a clock signal /CLK, a clock buffer  101  for receiving an external clock signal CLK, a delay part  110  for receiving an output signal fclk 2  of the clock buffer  100  and an output signal rclkt 2  of the clock buffer  101 , a delay part  120  for receiving output signals Fclk 2 _dly and Rclk 2 _dly of the delay part  110 , a clock divider  130  for dividing the output signal rclkt 2  of the clock buffer  101 , a replica delay part  150  for receiving an output signal fb_dly 2  of the delay part  120  and delaying the output signal fb_dly 2  by a predetermined time, and a phase comparator  140  for comparing a phase of an output signal of the replica delay part  150  with a phase of an output signal ref of the clock divider  130 .  
         [0008]     The delay part  110  includes a plurality of delay lines  11  to  13 , a shift register  13 , and a shift controller  15 . Also, the delay part  120  includes a plurality of delay lines  16  to  18 , a shift register  19 , and a shift controller  20 .  
         [0009]     Generally, the delay part  110  has a delay time longer than that of the delay part  120 . That is, the delay part  110  adjusts a coarse delay time, and the delay part  120  adjusts a fine delay time.  
         [0010]     The shift controller  15  receives an output signal of the phase comparator  140  and controls a shift register  14 . The shift register  14  controls delay times of the delay lines  11  to  13 .  
         [0011]     A shift comparator  160  compares a phase of an output signal (ref) of the clock divider  130  with a phase of an output signal of a replica delay part  150  and is controlled by the shift controller  15 .  
         [0012]     The shift comparator  160  applies the output signal thereof to the shift controller  20 . The shift controller  20  controls the shift register  19  so as to adjust a delay time of the delay lines  16  to  18 .  
         [0013]     A locking part  180  receives an output signal of the phase comparator  160  and an output signal Dll_lockz of the shift controller  20 . Also, when output of the locking part  180  is enabled, the locking part  180  controls the shift register  19  so as to fix the delay time of the delay lines  16  to  18 .  
         [0014]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a driver  170  receives an output signal of the delay line  16 , and a driver  171  receives an output signal of the delay line  17 . The drivers  170  and  171  output signals fclk_dll and rclk_dll.  
         [0015]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the CLK and /CLK denote external clock signals. A phase of the CLK is an inverted phase of the /CLK. The clock buffers  100  and  101  receive the external clock signals CLK and /CLK, and are buffer circuits for converting a voltage level of the clock buffers into a voltage level (e.g., CMOS level) used in a semiconductor device.  
         [0016]     The delay part  110  delays the output signals fclk 2  and rclkt 2  of the clock buffers  100  and  101  by a predetermined time. As described above, the delay part  110  includes a plurality of the delay lines  11  to  13 , and a delay time of the delay part  110  are controlled by the shift controller  15  and the shift register  14 .  
         [0017]     The clock divider  130  generates a predetermined reference clock by dividing a frequency of a clock signal rclkt 2  outputted from the clock buffer  101  at the ratio of 1/n (generally, n may be ‘4’, ‘8’, ‘16’, etc as an integer).  
         [0018]     The clock divider  130  applies an output signal ref thereof to the delay line  13  after delaying the output signal ref by a predetermined time. The output signal passing through the delay line  13  is applied to the delay line  18 . The delay line  18  applies the output signal fb_dly 2  thereof to the replica delay part  150 .  
         [0019]     The replica delay part  150  is a delay circuit having delay times tD 1  and tD 2  obtained by adding a delay time tD 1  of the clock buffer  100  to a delay time tD 2  of the output driver  170 .  
         [0020]     For reference, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the output signal fclk 2  of the clock buffer  100  is outputted in synchronization with a rising edge of the external clock signal /CLK, and the output signal rclkt 2  of the clock buffer  101  is outputted in synchronization with a rising edge of the external clock signal CLK. The output signal Fclk 2 _dly of the delay line  11  is a signal obtained by delaying the output signal fclk 2  of the clock buffer  100  by a predetermined time, and the output signal Rclk 2 dly of the delay line  12  is a signal obtained by delaying the output signal rclkt 2  of the clock buffer  101 .  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  illustrates the delay parts  110  and  120  by way of example in detail. That is, a delay part  200  shown in  FIG. 2  is identical to delay parts  110  and  120  shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0022]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the delay part  200  includes a delay line  21 . Signals RCLK, FCLK, and In_lock applied to the delay line  21  indicate the signals rclkt 2 , Rclk 2 _dly, fclk 2 , and Fclk 2 _dly applied to the delay lines shown in  FIG. 1 . A shift register  22  and a shift controller  23  shown in  FIG. 2  indicate the shift registers  14  and  19  and the shift controllers  15  and  19  shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0023]     As known to those skilled in the art, a delay time of a unit cell can be adjusted according to logical levels of an output signal outputted from a shift register.  
         [0024]     Hereinafter, a basic operation of the conventional delay locked loop circuit shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  will be described.  
         [0025]     The phase comparator  140  compares a phase of an output signal of the replica delay part  150  with a phase of an output signal ref of the clock divider  130  and sends a predetermined control signal to the shift controller  150 . The shift register  15  controls the shift register  14 , and the shift register  14  controls the delay lines  11  to  13 . The delay part  120  performs an operation similar to that of the delay part  110 . The above-mentioned procedure is repeated until there is no phase difference, which is a result of the phase comparator  140 .  
         [0026]     However, the conventional delay locked loop circuit shown in  FIG. 1  has the following problems.  
         [0027]     First, it is necessary to increase the number of unit delay circuits included in the delay line  102  in order to operate the delay locked loop circuit in a wide frequency band.  
         [0028]     Also, if the number of the unit delay circuits is increased, an area occupied by the delay parts  110  and  120  is large.  
         [0029]     In addition, the more the number of the unit delay circuits is, the more power consumption is.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0030]     Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a delay locked loop circuit having a fast locking function and a relatively reduced delay line area.  
         [0031]     Another object of the present invention is to provide a delay locked loop circuit having a fast locking function by including a unit for detecting levels of frequencies (lengths of periods) of external clock signals (CLK and CLKB).  
         [0032]     In order to accomplish this object according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a delay locked loop circuit comprises a first delay part for receiving an external clock signal and outputting it after delaying a predetermined time; a first clock divider for dividing a frequency of the external clock signal into 1/n (n is a natural number of at least two); a second clock divider for dividing an output signal from the first delay part into 1/n (n is a natural number of at least two); and a second delay part for receiving an output signal from the second clock divider and outputting it after delaying a predetermined time; wherein the predetermined delay time of the first delay part is controllable by using a result of a phase difference between a phase of the output signal of the first clock divider and a phase of the output signal of the second delay part; and the output signal of the first delay part is an output signal of the delay locked loop circuit.  
         [0033]     According to the present invention, the external clock signal is one of the signals CLK and /CLK which are input to a synchronous memory device. Also, the present invention further comprises a phase comparator for comparing the phase difference between a phase of the output signal of the first clock divider and a phase of the output signal of the second delay part; and a controller for controlling the predetermined delay time of the first delay part in response to an output signal of the phase comparator. Herein, when the phase of the output signal of the first clock divider is coincided with the phase of the output signal of the second delay part, the controller stops the operation of controlling the predetermined delay time of the first delay part.  
         [0034]     In order to accomplish this object according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a delay locked loop circuit comprising: a first clock buffer for outputting a first clock signal in synchronization with a rising edge of an external clock signal; a second clock buffer for outputting a second clock signal in synchronization with a falling edge of the external clock signal; a multiplexer for selecting and outputting one of the first clock signal and the second clock signal; a first delay part for receiving an output signal of the multiplexer and having a first delay line, a first shift register, and a first shift controller; a second delay part for receiving an output signal of the first delay part and having a second delay line, a second shift register, and a second shift controller; a first clock divider for dividing a frequency of an output signal of the multiplexer into 1/n (n is a natural number of at least two); a second clock divider for dividing a frequency of an output signal of the second delay part into 1/n (n is a natural number of at least two); a third delay part for receiving an output signal of the second clock divider; a first phase comparator and a second phase comparator for comparing a phase of an output signal of the first clock divider with a phase of an output signal of the third delay part; and a delay time fine adjustment part for receiving the output signal of the second delay part and finely adjusting a phase of the output signal of the second delay part. According to the present invention, the first delay line receives the output signal of the multiplexer, the second delay line receives the output signal of the first delay line, the delay time fine adjustment part receives the output signal of the second delay line, the first shift controller received the output signal of the first phase comparator controls the first shift register and adjusts a delay time of the first delay line, and the second shift controller received the output signal of the second phase comparator controls the second shift register and adjusts a delay time of the second delay line.  
         [0035]     According to the present invention, when the phase of the output signal of the first clock divider is synchronized with the phase of the output signal of the third delay part within allowance, the second shift controller controlled by the second phase comparator controls the second shift register so as to fix a delay time of the second delay line. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0036]     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0037]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a typical delay locked loop circuit;  
         [0038]      FIG. 2  illustrates delay parts shown in  FIG. 1  by way of example in detail;  
         [0039]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a delay locked loop circuit according to the present invention;  
         [0040]      FIG. 4  illustrates a multiplexer and a delay part shown in  FIG. 3  by way of example in detail; and  
         [0041]      FIG. 5  illustrates a delay time fine adjustment shown in  FIG. 3  by way of example. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0042]     Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components, and so repetition of the description on the same or similar components will be omitted.  
         [0043]      FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of a delay locked loop circuit according to the present invention.  
         [0044]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the delay locked loop circuit includes a clock buffer  300  for receiving an external clock signal /CLK, a clock buffer  301  for receiving an external clock signal CLK, a multiplexer  31  for receiving an output signal fclk 2  of the clock buffer  300  and an output signal rclkt 2  of the clock buffer  301 , a delay part  310  for receiving an output signal clk 2  of the multiplexer  31 , a delay part  320  for receiving an output signal clk 2 _dly of the delay part  310 , a clock divider  330  for receiving an output signal clk 2  of the multiplexer  31 , a clock divider  350  for receiving an output signal clk 2 _dly 2  of the delay part  320 , a replica delay part  360  for receiving an output signal of the clock divider  350 , a phase comparator  340  for comparing a phase of an output signal Feedback of the replica delay part  360  with a phase of an output signal ref of the clock divider  130 , a phase comparator  370  for comparing a phase of an output signal ref of the clock divider  330  with a phase of an output signal of a shift control part  34 , and a delay time fine adjustment part  380  for receiving an output signal clk 2 _dly 2  of the delay part  320  and finely adjusting a delay time.  
         [0045]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the delay part  310  includes a delay line  32 , a shift register  33 , and a shift controller  34 . Also, the delay part  320  includes a delay line  35 , a shift register  36 , and a shift controller  37 . The delay part  310  has a delay time longer than that of the delay part  320 . That is, the delay part  310  adjusts a coarse delay time, and the delay part  320  adjusts a fine delay time.  
         [0046]     The shift controller  34  receives an output signal of the phase comparator  340  and controls a shift register  33 . The shift register  33  controls a delay time of the delay line  32 .  
         [0047]     The shift comparator  370  compares a phase of an output signal ref of the clock divider  330  with a phase of an output signal Feedback of a replica delay part  360 .  
         [0048]     The shift comparator  370  applies the output signal thereof to a shift controller  37 . The shift controller  37  controls the shift register  36  so as to adjust a delay time of the delay line  35 .  
         [0049]     A locking part  390  receives an output signal of the phase comparator  370  and an output signal Dll_lockz of the shift controller  37 . Also, when output of the locking part  390  is enabled, the locking part  390  controls the shift register  36  so as to fix the delay time of the delay line  35 .  
         [0050]     Hereinafter, signals of a circuit shown in  FIG. 3  and an operation of each component of the circuit will be described.  
         [0051]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the CLK and the /CLK denote external clock signals. A phase of the CLK is an inverted phase of the /CLK. The clock buffers  300  and  301  receive the external clock signals CLK and /CLK, and are buffer circuits for converting a voltage level of the clock buffers into a voltage level (e.g., CMOS level) used in a semiconductor device. An output signal fclk 2  of the clock buffer  300  is outputted in synchronization with a rising edge of the external clock signal /CLK, and an output signal rclkt 2  of the clock buffer  301  is outputted in synchronization with a rising edge of the external clock signal CLK.  
         [0052]     The multiplexer  31  selectively one of output signals of the clock buffers  300  and  301 .  
         [0053]     The multiplexer  31  applies an output signal clk 2  to the delay part  310 , and the delay part  310  applies an output signal clk 2 _dly to the delay part  320 .  
         [0054]     The delay part  320  applies an output signal clk_dly 2  thereof to the delay time fine adjustment part  380 . Also, the delay part  320  applies the output signal clk_dly 2  to the clock divider  350 . The signal clk_dly 2  applied to the clock divider  350  is outputted to the clock divider  350  after the period thereof is increased by four times, eight times, etc. The clock divider  350  has the same division ratio as the clock divider  330 .  
         [0055]     The replica delay part  360  outputs the output signal of the clock divider  350  after delaying the output signal by a predetermined time.  
         [0056]     The replica delay part  360  applies the output signal Feedback thereof to the phase comparators  340  and  370 .  
         [0057]     The phase comparator  340  compares a phase of a reference voltage ref outputted from the clock divider  330  with a phase of the output signal Feedback of the replica delay part  360 . It is preferred that there is no phase difference.  
         [0058]     The phase comparator  370  compares the phase of a reference voltage ref outputted from the clock divider  330  with the phase of the output signal Feedback of the replica delay part  360 , and is controlled by the shift controller  34 .  
         [0059]     The phase comparator  370  applies an output signal thereof to the shift register  37  and the locking part  390 .  
         [0060]     The shift controller  37  controls the shift register  36  so as to finely adjust the delay line  35 .  
         [0061]     When an output signal Dll_lockz of the shift controller  37  is enabled to be a low level, the locking part  390  controls the shift register  36  so as to fix a delay time of the delay line  35 .  
         [0062]      FIG. 4  illustrates the multiplexer  31  and the delay part  310  shown in  FIG. 3  in detail by way of example. For reference, a multiplexer  410  and a delay part  400  shown in  FIG. 4  correspond to the multiplexer  31  and the delay part  310  shown in  FIG. 3 , respectively. Also, a circuit of the delay part  400  shown in  FIG. 4  is used for the delay part  320  shown in  FIG. 3 . A shift register  42  and a shift controller  43  shown in  FIG. 4  imply shift registers  33  and  35  and shift controllers  34  and  37  shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0063]     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the delay part  400  includes a delay line  41 , the shift register  42 , and the shift controller  43 .  
         [0064]     The multiplexer  410  selectively applies one of output signals rclk 2  and fclk 2  to the delay line  41  by using control signals rclk and fclk.  
         [0065]      FIG. 5  illustrates the delay time fine adjustment part  380  shown in  FIG. 3  by way of example.  
         [0066]     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the delay time fine adjustment part  380  receives an output signal clk_dly 2  of the delay line  35 , and then, the output signal clk_dly 2  is included in a circuit for an RC delay. As shown in  FIG. 5 , a control signal LOAD&lt;0:7&gt; applied to a transistor is selectively enabled, and a capacitor connected to each transistor is linked with a line for delivering the output signal clk_dly 2 , so that the RC delay is adjusted. Herein, the transistors may have the same sizes or difference sizes.  
         [0067]     Hereinafter, an operation of the delay locked loop circuit according to the present invention with reference to FIGS.  3  to  5  will be described.  
         [0068]     The delay locked loop circuit shown in  FIG. 3  has an operation similar to that of a typical delay locked loop circuit.  
         [0069]     As known to those skilled in the art, the delay locked loop circuit adjusts delay times of the delay lines  32  and  35  in such a manner that a phase of a signal passing through the clock divider  330  is synchronized with a phase of a signal passing through the replica delay part  360 .  
         [0070]     However, the delay locked loop circuit according to the present invention is different from the conventional delay locked loop circuit in view of a circuit structure, in that only one of the external clock signals CLK and /CLK is used in the delay locked loop circuit according to the present invention.  
         [0071]     That is, as shown in  FIG. 3 , according to the present invention, one signal from the signals fclk 2  and rclk 2  passing through the clock buffers  300  and  301  is selected by means of the multiplexer  31  and applied to the delay line  32 .  
         [0072]     Accordingly, differently from the conventional technique, the number of delay lines included in the delay part is reduced. Therefore, an area of the delay part can be reduced.  
         [0073]     Also, according to the present invention, the delay time fine adjustment part  380  is provided, so that a phase of an output signal of the delay line  320  is finely adjusted.  
         [0074]     According to the present invention, the delay part  310  more precisely adjusts a delay time as compared with the delay part  320 . That is, the delay part  310  adjusts a coarse delay time, and the delay part  320  more precisely adjusts a delay time.  
         [0075]     The delay time fine adjustment part  380  adjusts a delay time more precisely than the delay part  320 .  
         [0076]     As described above, according to the present invention, a delay locked loop circuit is realized by using only one external clock signal, so that an area of a delay part can be minimized. Therefore, the delay locked loop circuit is useful in designing a high integrated circuit.  
         [0077]     Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7