Patent · US Expired

LC tank clock driver with automatic tuning

US7126403B2 · kind B2 · utility

11Cited by
4References
33Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 1, 2004
Grant dateOct 24, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 10, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03B2201/0266
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A new clock driver is described for the use in the phase detector of a clock and data recovery circuit (CDR). By building a resonant LC tank, whose center frequency is similar to the clock frequency, a low power clock driver is realized. A method based upon minimizing power consumption is described for determining the value of the programmable capacitance. A programmable capacitance adjusts the center frequency of the tank so it matches the frequency of the clock and a finite state machine at startup determines the value of this programmable capacitance. A criterion for tuning the center frequency of the tank is to choose the capacitance which leads to the lowest power consumption. A low Q tank affords a reasonable compromise between power efficiency and performance in the CDR circuit.

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