Patent ID: 7839179

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a phase detection circuit configured to receive a first and a second input signal, wherein the phase detection circuit is configured to detect a phase difference between the first and the second input signal and to indicate the detection of the phase difference with output signals, the phase detection circuit comprising a cross-coupled latch, wherein the output signals of the phase detection circuit are directly coupled to inputs of the phase detection circuit; and a balancer independent of the phase detection circuit, the balancer having at least one input coupled to at least one of the first or the second input signal, wherein the balancer is configured to electrically couple the outputs of the cross-coupled latch of the phase detection circuit to each other in direct response to the at least one of the first or the second input signal that has not passed through the cross-coupled latch to substantially equalize the voltage levels of the output signals of the cross-coupled latch of the phase detection circuit.