Patent ID: 6859082

Claim:
A delay element: comprising: a) a first inverter having a first electrode for receiving an input signal, a second electrode, a third electrode, and a fourth electrode for providing an output signal, the second electrode and the third electrode forming a first current path, the first inverter having a propagation delay; wherein the propagation delay is dependent on the current through the first current path; b) a second inverter having a first electrode coupled to the fourth electrode of the first inverter for receiving the output signal of the first inverter, a second electrode, a third electrode, and a fourth electrode for providing an output signal, the second electrode and the third electrode forming a second current path, the second inverter having a propagation delay; wherein the propagation delay is dependent on the current through the second current path; and c) a current switch coupled to the second electrode of the first inverter, the second electrode of the second inverter, the third electrode of the first inverter, and the third electrode of the second inverter, the current switch for receiving at least two control signals, and responsive thereto for controlling the amount of current through the first current path and the second current path; wherein the delay element provides a variable incremental delay that is programmed by the control signals; wherein the current switch includes a plurality of transistors; wherein each transistor has a gate with a width; wherein a binary weighting scheme is applied to the gate widths of the plurality of transistors to provide a delay with a programmable resolution.