Patent ID: 7423494

Claim:
An oscillator circuit, comprising: a spread-spectrum current generation circuit that is arranged to provide a spread-spectrum current to an oscillator node based, at least in part, on a waveform current, wherein the spread-spectrum current generation circuit includes a current waveform generation circuit that is arranged to provide the waveform current such that the waveform current varies over time as a first waveform that is suitable for spread-spectrum modulation; a capacitor circuit that is arranged to receive an oscillator current, wherein the capacitor circuit is further arranged to provide a ramp voltage from the oscillator current; and wherein another current is received at the oscillator node such that the oscillator current is a sum of said another current and the spread-spectrum current if the spread-spectrum current generation circuit is enabled; a comparator circuit that is arranged to compare the ramp voltage with a reference signal, and to provide an oscillator voltage based on the comparison; and a switch circuit that is arranged to discharge the capacitor circuit if the oscillator voltage corresponds to an asserted level.