Patent ID: 8000423

Claim:
A receiver, comprising: an interface for receiving an externally sourced reference signal corresponding to a current data rate of a variable rate input data stream; a fixed local frequency reference independent of the externally sourced reference signal; a feed forward tracking loop comprising a counter that outputs a second local frequency reference in accordance with variations in the externally sourced reference signal, and a comparator that compares the externally sourced reference signal and the second local frequency reference and having an output coupled to an input of the counter by a digital loop filter, wherein the digital loop filter generates data used to determine an accumulated phase between the externally sourced reference time signal and the fixed local frequency reference; and a sample rate converter, coupled to the feed forward tracking loop, the sample rate converter comprising: a digital filter configured to receive the variable rate input data stream and to convert the variable rate input data stream to produce an output data stream having a fixed data rate determined in accordance with the fixed local frequency reference; and control logic coupled to the digital filter and configured to dynamically select a set of coefficients for taps in the digital filter during each clock cycle corresponding to the fixed data rate, wherein the set of coefficients selected for each clock cycle is selected in accordance with the accumulated phase.