Patent ID: 8513987

Claim:
A method for generating a signal having a desired frequency and a desired phase, comprising: determining whether to operate in a high or low frequency mode of operation; in the event it is determined to operate in the high frequency mode of operation: using a multiphase voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) to generate a first plurality of signals, wherein each of the first plurality of signals has the desired frequency and each of the first plurality of signals has a different phase; using a multiplexer to select the first plurality of signals from the multiphase VCO to pass to a phase interpolator; and using the phase interpolator to generate the signal at the desired frequency and the desired phase using the first plurality of signals; and in the event it is determined to operate in the low frequency mode of operation: using the multiphase VCO to generate a second plurality of signals, wherein each of the second plurality of signals has a frequency which is a multiple of the desired frequency and each of the second plurality of signals has a different phase; using a multiphase frequency divider to generate a third plurality of signals by dividing the frequency of the second plurality of signals down to the desired frequency while maintaining a phase relationship associated with the second plurality of signals; using the multiplexer to select the third plurality of signals from the multiphase frequency divider to pass to the phase interpolator; and using the phase interpolator to generate the signal at the desired frequency and the desired phase using the third plurality of signals.