Patent ID: 7509516

Claim:
A method comprising: introducing a first global clock signal into a first end of a signal distribution system so that the first global clock signal propagates from the first end to the second end of the signal distribution system; introducing a second global clock signal into the second end of the signal distribution system so that the second global clock signal propagates from the second end to the first end of the signal distribution system; in each of a plurality local clocking regions located along the signal distribution system, detecting the first and second global clock signals and generating therefrom a local clock signal for that local clocking region, wherein the generated local clock signals for at least some of the plurality of local clocking regions are in a first group all of which are aligned in phase with each other and the generated local clock signals for the remainder of the plurality of local clocking regions are in a second group all of which are aligned in phase with each other, and wherein the phase of the first group is out of phase with the phase of the second group by a predetermined amount; and bringing all of the local clock signals for the plurality of local clocking regions into phase alignment so that the phase of the first group is in phase with the phase of the second group.