Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to semiconductor memory devices, and, more particularly, to a delay locked loop with reduced noise response.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Generally, a delay locked loop is a circuit which can be used to match an internal clock of a synchronous memory with an external clock without error. In other words, by controlling a time delay of the internal clock relative to the external clock, the internal clock is synchronized with the external clock.  
           [0003]    [0003]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional delay locked loop. Referring to FIG. 1, the illustrated conventional delay locked loop comprises a first clock buffer  100  for receiving an external clock bar CLKb for producing a falling clock signal FCLKT 2  which is activated at a falling edge of a clock. It also includes a second clock buffer  110  for receiving an external clock CLK for producing a rising clock signal RCLKT 2  activated at a rising edge of the clock. The delay locked loop of FIG. 1 also includes a clock divider  120  for producing a pulse at every eight clocks of the rising clock signal RCLKT 2  and a phase comparator  130  for comparing a reference signal REF from the clock divider  120  with a feedback signal FEEDBACK from a delay modeling circuit  190 . In addition, it includes a shift controller  140  for receiving the output of the phase comparator  130  to produce a right shift signal SR and a left shift signal SL for shifting a shift register  150 . The shift register  150  controls the delay amount by shifting an output signal with the right shift signal SR and the left shift signal SL. The delay locked loop also includes a first delay line  160  responsive to the output signal of the shift register  150  for adjusting the delay amount of the output signal of the clock divider  120 , a second delay line  170  responsive to the output signal of the shift register  150  for adjusting the delay amount of the rising clock signal RCLKT 2 , and a third delay line  180  responsive to the output signal of the shift register  150  for adjusting the delay amount of the falling clock signal FCLKT 2 . The delay modeling circuit  190  compensates the time difference between the external clock and the internal clock by using a feedback delay signal FEEDBACK_DLY 1  received from the first delay line  160 . The device of FIG. 1 also includes a delay locked loop signal driver  200  for driving internal circuitry with the second and third delay lines  170  and  180 .  
           [0004]    In operation, the clock divider  120  receives the rising clock signal RCLKT 2  and produces the reference signal REF and a delay line input signal DELAY_IN that is synchronized with the rising clock signal at every other eight clocks. The reference signal REF is used as a reference for comparison with the feedback signal, which models the time delay to compensate and is feedback from the delay modeling circuit  190 . The delay line input signal DELAY_IN is applied to the first delay line  160  and undergoes the delay adjusted by the shift register  150  to enable the feedback signal FEEDBACK through the delay modeling circuit  190 . The feedback signal FEEDBACK is compared with the rising edge of the reference signal REF at the phase comparator  130 . The shift controller  140  outputs the right shift signal SR or the left shift signal SL depending on the comparison result.  
           [0005]    [0005]FIG. 2 provides a detailed circuit diagram of the conventional phase comparator  130  and the conventional shift controller  140 . Referring to FIG. 2, the illustrated conventional phase comparator  130  includes: (a) a first comparator  210  for comparing the reference signal REF with the feedback signal FEEDBACK to produce first and second phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 1 , (b) a unit delay circuit  220  for delaying the feedback signal FEEDBACK by a unit delay, (c) a second comparator  230  for comparing the reference signal REF with the output signal of the unit delay circuit  220  to produce second and fourth phase comparison signals PC 1  and PC 3 , and (d) a pulse generator  240  for receiving the reference signal REF and the feedback signal FEEDBACK to generate a comparison pulse signal CMP_PULSE.  
           [0006]    Referring to FIG. 2, the illustrated conventional shift controller  140  includes: (a) a first NAND gate  250  which receives the first phase comparison signal PC 0  and the third phase comparison signal PC 2 , (b) a first inverter  255  receiving the output of the first NAND gate  250 , (c) a second NAND gate  260  receiving the second phase comparison signal PC 1  and the fourth phase comparison signal PC 3 , (d) a second inverter  265  receiving the output of the second NAND gate  260 , (e) a third NAND gate  270  receiving the output of the first inverter  255  and the comparison pulse signal CMP_PULSE, (f) a third inverter  275  receiving the output of the third NAND gate  270  to output the right shift signal SR, (g) a fourth NAND gate  280  receiving the output of the second inverter  265  and the comparison pulse signal CMP_PULSE, (h) a fourth inverter  285  receiving the output of the fourth NAND gate  280  to output the left shift signal SL, (i) a NOR gate  290  receiving the right shift signal SR and the left shift signal SL, and (j) a fifth inverter  295  receiving the output of the NOR gate  290  to output the delay locked loop locking signal DLL_LOCKZ.  
           [0007]    The phase comparator  130  and the pulse generator  240  generate pulses when the reference signal REF and the feedback signal FEEDBACK are simultaneously high. When this comparison pulse signal CMP_PULSE is activated, the shift controller  140  receives the first to fourth phase comparison signals PC 0 , PC 1 , PC 2  and PC 3  from the phase comparator  130  to output the right shift signal SR and/or the left shift signal SL.  
           [0008]    The right shift signal SR and/or the left shift signal SL operate the shift register  150  so as to control the delay amount. Repeating as described above, the delay locked loop clock is generated at locking at which the reference signal REF and the feedback signal FEEDBACK have a minimum jitter.  
           [0009]    Receiving the delay locked loop clock generated as described above, data is transferred to outside of a chip through an output buffer, wherein the difference between the output data DQ and the external clock is referred to as an AC parameter tAC (DQ edge to clock edge skew).  
           [0010]    The phase comparator  130  compares the reference signal REF and the feedback signal FEEDBACK at every eight clocks even after the delay locked loop clock is generated so as to shift the shift register when there is a difference between the reference signal REF and the feedback signal FEEDBACK.  
           [0011]    Accordingly, the phase comparator  130  compares the difference between the reference signal REF and the feedback signal FEEDBACK and generates a corresponding output even if the difference is generated by noise, which could cause undesirable shift operation of the shift register  150 .  
           [0012]    When data is outputted by using the delay locked loop clock with the delay amount readjusted due to noise and the number of stages of the unit delay of the loop is changed, the AC parameter tAC suffers a loss corresponding to the number of the changed stages of the unit delay. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    Objects and features of the instant invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional delay locked loop;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 provides a detailed circuit diagram of a conventional phase comparator and a conventional shift controller;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a delay locked loop constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4A is a detailed circuit diagram of a shift controller constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4B is a more detailed illustration of the low pass filters of FIG. 4A;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 is a detailed circuit diagram of a low pass filter controller constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6A provides a detailed circuit diagram of a first low pass filter constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIGS. 6B and 6C are truth tables of the inputs and outputs associated with the components illustrated in FIG. 6A;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6D is a timing diagram associated with the truth table illustrated in FIG. 6C; and  
         [0023]    [0023]FIGS. 7A and 7B show timing diagrams of the conventional delay locked loop and the delay locked loop constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0024]    Hereinafter, preferred devices constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0025]    The delay locked loop constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention generally includes a phase comparator, a shift register, and a noise determining circuit. The noise determining circuit generally includes an LPF controlling circuit and low pass filters.  
         [0026]    Referring to FIG. 3, the illustrated delay locked loop comprises a delay locked loop including a first clock buffer  300  receiving an external clock bar CLKb for producing a falling clock signal FCLKT 2  activated at a falling edge of the clock. It also includes a second clock buffer  310  receiving an external clock CLK for producing a rising clock signal RCLKT 2  which is activated at a rising edge of the clock. The loop also includes a clock divider  320  for producing a pulse at every other eight clocks of the rising clock signal RCLKT 2 , and a phase comparator  330  for comparing a reference signal REF from the clock divider  320  with a feedback signal FEEDBACK from a delay modeling circuit  390 . The loop further includes a shift controller  340  receiving the output of the phase comparator  330  and the output signals of first and second low pass filters  420  and  430  to produce a right shift signal SR and/or a left shift signal SL to shift a shift register  350 . The shift register  350  controls a delay amount by shifting an output signal in response to the right shift signal SR and/or the left shift signal SL from the shift controller  340 . The loop also includes a first delay line  360  which is responsive to the output signal of the shift register  350  for adjusting the delay amount of the output signal of the clock divider  320 , a second delay line  370  responsive to the output signal of the shift register  350  for adjusting the delay amount of the rising clock signal RCLKT 2 , and a third delay line  380  responsive to the output signal of the shift register  350  for adjusting the delay amount of the falling clock signal FCLKT 2 . The delay modeling circuit  390  compensates a time difference between the external clock CLK and an internal clock by using a delay adjusted feedback delay signal FEEDBACK_DLY 1  received from the first delay line  360 . The loop also includes a delay locked loop signal driving circuit  400  for driving internal circuitry with the outputs of the second and third delay lines  370  and  380 , and a low pass filter controlling circuit  410  for receiving a delay locked loop locking signal DLL_LOCKZ, a self-refresh signal SREF, a power-up signal PWRUP, a delay locked loop reset signal DLL_RESET, and a delay locked loop disable signal DIS_DLL from the shift controller  240  to activate the low pass filters. The first low pass filter  420  receives a low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN from the low pass filter controlling circuit  410  and first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  (which are outputs of the phase comparator  330 ) to count the number of result values outputted from the phase comparator  330  (see FIG. 4B). The second low pass filter  430  receives the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN from the low pass filter controlling circuit  410  as well as second and fourth phase comparison signals PC 1  and PC 3  (which are outputs of the phase comparator  330 ) to count the number of the result values outputted from the phase comparator  330  (see FIG. 4B).  
         [0027]    One of the input signals of the low pass filter controlling circuit  410  is a delay locked loop locking signal DLL_LOCKZ. The delay locked loop locking signal DLL_LOCKZ becomes logic high before a delay locked loop clock is locked and transits to logic low at clock locking.  
         [0028]    Therefore, before clock locking, the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN is logic low and does not operate the first and second low pass filters  420  and  430 . And after clock locking, the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN transits to logic high to operate the first and second low pass filters  420  and  430 .  
         [0029]    Referring to FIG. 4A, the shift controller  340  includes a first input circuit  440  receiving the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2 , the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN, and the output (SHIFT_R) of the first low pass filter  420 . A second input circuit  450  receives the second and fourth phase comparison signals PC 1  and PC 3 , the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN, and the output (SHIFT_L) of the second low pass filter  430 . An output circuit  460  receives the outputs of the first and second input circuits  440  and  450  and the comparison pulse signal CMP_PULSE to output the right shift signal SR, the left shift signal SL and the delay locked loop locking signal DLL_LOCKZ.  
         [0030]    More particularly, the first input circuit  440  includes a NAND gate  441  receiving the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2 , a first NOR gate  442  receiving the output of the NAND gate  441  and the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN, a first inverter  443  receiving the output of the NOR gate  442 , a second inverter  444  receiving the output of the first inverter  443 , a second NOR gate  445  receiving the output of the second inverter  444  and the output of the first low pass filter  420 , and a third inverter  446  receiving the output of the second NOR gate  445 .  
         [0031]    The second input circuit  450  includes a NAND gate  451  receiving the second and fourth phase comparison signals PC 1  and PC 3 , a first NOR gate  452  receiving the output of the NAND gate  451  and the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN, a first inverter  453  receiving the output of the first NOR gate  452 , a second inverter  454  receiving the output of the first inverter  453 , a second NOR gate  455  receiving the output of the second inverter  454  and the output of the second low pass filter  430 , and a third inverter  456  receiving the output of the second NOR gate  455 .  
         [0032]    The output circuit  460  includes a first NAND gate  461  receiving the output of the first input circuit  440  and the comparison pulse signal CMP_PULSE, a first inverter  462  receiving the output of the first NAND gate  461  to output the right shift signal SR, a second NAND gate  463  receiving the output of the second input circuit  450  and the comparison pulse signal CMP_PULSE, a second inverter  464  receiving the output of the second NAND gate  463  to output the left shift signal SL, a NOR gate  465  receiving the outputs of the first and second inverters  462  and  464 , and a third inverter  466  receiving the output of the NOR gate  465  to output the delay locked loop locking signal DLL_LOCKZ.  
         [0033]    In operation, when the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN is logic low before locking, the shift controller  340  receives the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  from the first NOR gate  442  of the first input circuit  440  and the second and fourth phase comparison signals PC 1  and PC 3  from the first NOR gate  452  of the second input circuit  450  to output the left and right shift signals SL and SR to shift the shift register  350 .  
         [0034]    On the contrary, when the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN is logic high, the shift controller  340  blocks the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  via the first NOR gate  442  of the first input circuit  440  and the second and fourth phase comparison signals PC 1  and PC 3  via the first NOR gate  452  of the second input circuit  450  but receives a first shift signal SHIFT_R via the second NOR gate  445  of the first input circuit  440  and a second shift signal SHIFT_L via the second NOR gate  455  of the second input circuit  450 .  
         [0035]    The first and second shift signals SHIFT_R and SHIFT_L activate the right and left shift signals SR and SL, respectively, to control the shift register  350 .  
         [0036]    Referring to FIG. 5, the illustrated low pass filter controlling circuit  410  includes an initializing circuit  500  and an activating circuit  510 . The initializing circuit  500  receives as inputs the self-refresh signal SREF, the power-up signal PWRUP, the delay locked loop disable signal DIS_DLL and the delay locked loop reset signal DLL_RESET to notify that the delay locked loop operates. The activating circuit  510  receives as inputs the delay locked loop locking signal DLL_LOCKZ and the output of the initializing circuit  500  to output the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN.  
         [0037]    More particularly, the initializing circuit  500  includes: (a) a first inverter  501  receiving the power-up signal PWRUP, (b) a NOR gate  502  receiving the self-refresh signal SREF and the output of the first inverter  501 , (c) a second inverter  503  receiving the delay locked loop disable signal DIS_DLL, (d) a delaying circuit  504  receiving the delay locked loop reset signal DLL_RESET, (e) a NAND gate  505  receiving the output of the NOR gate  502 , the output of the second inverter  503  and the output of the delaying circuit  504 , and (f) an inverting circuit  506  for inverting the output of the NAND gate  505 .  
         [0038]    The activating circuit  510  includes a first inverter  511  receiving the delay locked loop locking signal DLL_LOCKZ, a NAND gate  512  receiving the output of the initializing circuit  500  and the output of the first inverter  511 , and a second inverter  513  receiving the output of the NAND gate  512  to output the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN.  
         [0039]    In operation, when the operation of the delay locked loop is indicated (i.e., when the self-refresh signal SREF is logic low (i.e., escaped from self-refresh mode), the power-up signal PWRUP is logic high, and the delay locked loop disable signal DIS_DLL is logic low), the inputs of the NAND gate  505  of the initializing circuit  500  all become logic high so that the output of the NAND gate  505  becomes logic low. Accordingly, the output of the NAND gate  505  is inverted to logic high by the inverting circuit  506 . When the delay locked loop locking signal DLL_LOCKZ transits to logic low thereby indicating that locking of the delay locked loop has occurred, the inputs of the NAND gate  512  all become logic high so that the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN is activated to logic high via the inverter  513 .  
         [0040]    Referring to FIG. 6A, the illustrated first low pass filter  420  includes an input circuit  600  receiving the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  and the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN. It also includes a controlling circuit  610  receiving a control pulse signal HIT from the phase comparator  330  and the output of the input circuit  600  to control shift of a counter  620 . The counter  620  receives the output of the input circuit  600  to count the number of repetitions of logic values of the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  under control of the output of the controlling circuit  610 . The low pass filter  420  also includes a latch output circuit  630  for latching the output of the counter  620  to output the first shift signal SHIFT_R.  
         [0041]    More particularly, the input circuit  600  includes a NAND gate  601  receiving the first and third phase comparison signal PC 0  and PC 2  and the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN, and an inverter  602  receiving the output of the NAND gate  601 .  
         [0042]    The controlling circuit  610  includes: (a) an inverting circuit  611  for inverting the control pulse signal HIT, (b) a NAND gate  612  receiving the inverted control pulse signal HIT and the output of the input circuit  600 , and (c) an inverter  613  receiving the output of the NAND gate  612 .  
         [0043]    The counter  620  includes an inverter  627  inverts the output of the controlling circuit  610 . The first stage  621  is controlled by the output of the controlling circuit  610  and receives a feedback output of the sixth stage  626  and the output of the input circuit  600 . The second stage  622  is controlled by the output of the controlling circuit  610  and receives the output of the first stage  621 . The third stage  623  is controlled by the output of the controlling circuit  610  and receives the output of the second stage  622 . The fourth stage  624  is controlled by the output of the controlling circuit  610  and receives the output of the third stage  623 . The fifth stage  625  is controlled by the output of the controlling circuit  610  and receives the output of the fourth stage  624 . The sixth stage  626  is controlled by the output of the controlling circuit  610  and receives the output of the fifth stage  625 .  
         [0044]    More particularly, the first stage  621  includes a transfer gate  10  constructed by a NMOS transistor having a gate coupled to the output of the controlling circuit  610  and a PMOS transistor having a gate coupled to the output of the inverter  627  to transfer the feedback output of the sixth stage  626 . The first stage  621  also includes a NAND gate  11  receiving the output of the input circuit  600  and the output of the transfer gate  10 , a first inverter  12  receiving the output of the NAND gate  11  having an output coupled to the output of the transfer gate  10  to latch, and a second inverter  13  receiving the output of the NAND gate  11 .  
         [0045]    The second stage  622  includes a transfer gate  20  constructed by a PMOS transistor having a gate coupled to the output of the controlling circuit  610  and a NMOS transistor having a gate coupled to the output of the inverter  627  to transfer the output of the first stage  621 . The second stage  622  also includes a first inverter  21  receiving the output of the transfer gate  20 , a second inverter  22  receiving the output of the first inverter  21  and having an output coupled to the output of the transfer gate  20  to latch, and a third inverter  23  receiving the output of the first inverter  21 .  
         [0046]    The fifth stage  625  includes a first inverter  628  receiving the output of the input circuit  600 , and a transfer gate  30  constructed by a NMOS transistor having a gate coupled to the output of the controlling circuit  610  and a PMOS transistor having a gate coupled to the output of the inverter  627  to transfer the output of the fourth stage  624 . The fifth stage  625  also includes a NAND gate  31  receiving the output of the first inverter  628  and the output of the transfer gate  31 , a second inverter  32  receiving the output of the NAND gate  31  and having an output coupled to the output of the transfer gate  30  to latch, and a third inverter  33  receiving the output of the NAND gate  31 .  
         [0047]    The first stage  621  and the third stage  623  are identical to each other in their structure. The second, fourth and sixth stages  622 ,  624  and  626  are identical to each other in their structure.  
         [0048]    The latch output circuit  630  includes a transfer gate  40  constructed by a PMOS transistor having a gate coupled to the output of the inverter  627  and a NMOS transistor having a gate coupled to the output of the controlling circuit  610  to transfer the output of the fourth stage  624 . The latch output circuit  630  also includes a NAND gate  41  receiving the output of the input circuit  600  and the output of the transfer gate  40 , a first inverter  42  receiving the output of the NAND gate  41  and having an output coupled to the output of the transfer gate  40  to latch, and a second inverter  43  receiving the output of the NAND gate  41  to output a first shift signal SHIFT_R.  
         [0049]    The structure of the second low pass filter  430  is identical to that of the first low pass filter  420  shown in FIG. 6A except that it receives the second and fourth phase comparison signals PC 1  and PC 3  instead of the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  and it outputs the SHIFT_L signal instead of the SHIFT_R signal.  
         [0050]    In operation of the first and second low pass filters  420  and  430 , when the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN is logic low, the output of the NAND gate  601  of the input circuit  600  is logic high so that the input circuit  600  does not receive the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  at the inputs of the NAND gate  601 . In particular, the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  do not matter (i.e., “a don&#39;t care”) to the NAND gate  601  because the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN is logic low. On the contrary, when the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN is logic high, the output of the input circuit  600  depends upon the states of the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2 . When the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN is logic low, the first and second low pass filters  420  and  430  do not operate.  
         [0051]    The control pulse signal HIT is a pulse generated at every other predetermined number of clocks. It is a comparison pulse signal CMP_PULSE that determines the timing when the first to fourth phase comparison signals PC 0  to PC 3  are generated at the phase comparator  330 .  
         [0052]    If the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  from the phase comparator  330  are not both in the logic high level three times sequentially (i.e., during three sequential HIT pulses), the first low pass filter  420  resets the counter  620  and then maintains the first shift signal SHIFT_R at a logic low. When the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  from the phase comparator  330  are both at the logic high level three times sequentially, the first low pass filter  420  makes the first shift signal SHIFT_R logic high, and then resets the counter  620  to recount.  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 6B illustrates a truth table for certain elements in FIG. 6A showing a sequence two HIT pulses. In the example of FIG. 6B, one of the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  enters a logic low state at the second HIT pulse. If the high state of the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  are not repeated three times sequentially, the output node of the input circuit  600  has a logic low value so that the latch circuits of the first, third and fifth stages  10 ,  30  are initialized again. In particular, the first through sixth stages  621 ,  622 ,  623 ,  624 ,  625 ,  626  of the counter  620  return to their initial states in the second sequence of FIG. 6B and the state of the first shift signal SHIFT_R remains low. In effect, the low pass filter has determined that the first request to generate a SHIFT_R signal (shown in FIG. 6B as the first sequence where both PC 0  and PC 2  are high) was generated by noise. Accordingly, the counter  620  is reset to again start counting.  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 6C illustrates a truth table for certain elements of FIG. 6A for a series of three HIT pulses wherein PC 0  and PC 2  indicate that the shift right request is not attributed to noise. In the example of FIGS. 6C and 6D, when the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  are both logic high, the transfer gates of the second, fourth and sixth stages  622 ,  624  and  626  of the counter  620  of the first low pass filter  420  are turned on to conduct. If the all high state is repeated three times sequentially, the first shift signal SHIFT_R outputs a logic high. In particular, the first and third phase comparison signals PC 0  and PC 2  are logic high throughout the first, second, and third sequences. In contrast to FIG. 6B, the first through sixth stages  621 ,  622 ,  623 ,  624 ,  625 ,  626  of the counter  620  do not return to their initial states at the second sequence. As a result, the first shift signal SHIFT_R is a logic high because the first low pass filter  420  determined that the output of the phase comparator  330  was not caused by noise.  
         [0055]    Referring to FIG. 7B, the timing diagram shows that the low pass filter activating signal LPF_EN transits to logic high after the delay locked loop locking signal DLL_LOCKZ falls to logic low when the delay locked loop locking signal is locked.  
         [0056]    Before the delay locked loop is locked, the shift controller  340  relays the output of the phase comparator  330  to the shift register  350 . On the other hand, after the delay locked loop is locked, the first and second low pass filters  420  and  430  receive the output of the phase comparator  330  so that the first and second shift signals SHIFT_R and SHIFT_L output logic high and the shift controller  340  receives these logic high shift signals only when the phase comparator  330  outputs information for shift of the shift register  350  three times sequentially.  
         [0057]    That is, the first and second low pass filters  420  and  430  determine that the output of the phase comparator  330  is originated from noise when the phase comparator  330  outputs the same result less than three times sequentially. When such a noise determination is made, the low pass filters  420 ,  430  operate to ensure there is no shift of the shift register  350 .  
         [0058]    As described above, the delay locked loop of improves the AC parameter tAC (DQ edge to CLK edge skew) by constructing the delay locked loop such that it is less sensitive to noise by using the delay locked loop low pass filters.  
         [0059]    Although certain methods and apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the invention have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all embodiments of the teachings of the invention fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.

Technology Category: 5