Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for phase detection in digital signals

US6151356A · kind A · utility

33Cited by
8References
15Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 17, 1998
Grant dateNov 21, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 17, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L7/046
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention provides an improved method and apparatus for detecting the phase difference between a digital data signal and a clock signal. By ensuring that no pulse in the output phase signal is narrow enough to introduce a non-linearity, the present invention avoids a source of non-linearity exhibited in existing phase detectors. In addition, by ensuring that critical timing paths through the circuit contain similar circuit blocks, with similar propagation delays, relative time relationships are preserved from clock and data inputs to XOR inputs. The circuit is therefore largely insensitive to changes in the characteristics of the components so long as they all move together, as they would in an integrated circuit implementation.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.