US20070069790A1 - Skew tolerant phase shift driver with controlled reset pulse width - Google Patents
Skew tolerant phase shift driver with controlled reset pulse width Download PDFInfo
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- US20070069790A1 US20070069790A1 US11/239,264 US23926405A US2007069790A1 US 20070069790 A1 US20070069790 A1 US 20070069790A1 US 23926405 A US23926405 A US 23926405A US 2007069790 A1 US2007069790 A1 US 2007069790A1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
- H03K—PULSE TECHNIQUE
- H03K5/00—Manipulating of pulses not covered by one of the other main groups of this subclass
- H03K5/13—Arrangements having a single output and transforming input signals into pulses delivered at desired time intervals
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
- H03K—PULSE TECHNIQUE
- H03K5/00—Manipulating of pulses not covered by one of the other main groups of this subclass
- H03K2005/00013—Delay, i.e. output pulse is delayed after input pulse and pulse length of output pulse is dependent on pulse length of input pulse
- H03K2005/0015—Layout of the delay element
- H03K2005/00234—Layout of the delay element using circuits having two logic levels
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
- H03K—PULSE TECHNIQUE
- H03K5/00—Manipulating of pulses not covered by one of the other main groups of this subclass
- H03K2005/00286—Phase shifter, i.e. the delay between the output and input pulse is dependent on the frequency, and such that a phase difference is obtained independent of the frequency
Definitions
- This invention relates to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to phase shift drivers.
- phase shift drivers used for phase shifting signals.
- a phase shift driver may receive an input signal at a first phase and generate an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal.
- the expected input signal at a first phase may arrive before a rising edge of the corresponding clock signal due to the relatively large signal skew.
- the phase shift driver may generate unwanted output signals.
- the pulse width of the input signal may be much narrower than expected due to the signal skew.
- the phase shift driver may fail to generate the expected output signals.
- the phase shift driver may be reset to receive a subsequent input signal. In some cases, the reset period may be too long, which may cause the phase shift driver to miss the subsequent input signal and thus fail to generate an output.
- phase shift circuit for phase shifting an input signal at a first phase to generate an output signal at a second phase.
- the phase shift circuit may include a reset control circuit to prevent the missing of subsequent input signals during a reset period.
- input logic circuitry of the phase shift driver may receive an input signal at a first phase.
- Output logic circuitry of the phase shift driver may generate an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal.
- the reset control circuit may receive a feedback signal from the output logic circuitry and an intermediate signal from the input logic circuitry and generate a reset signal based on the received feedback and intermediate signals.
- the reset control circuit may control a pulse width of the reset signal to reset the input logic circuitry within a period of time before the input logic circuitry receives a subsequent input signal. More specifically, the reset control circuit may enable the reset signal in response to receiving an enabled feedback signal and disable the reset signal in response to receiving a disabled intermediate signal. By controlling the pulse width of the reset signal, the reset control circuit may prevent the phase shift driver from receiving subsequent input signals during the reset period.
- the reset control circuit may control a pulse width of the reset signal to reset a latching circuit of the input logic circuitry within a period of time before an input terminal of the phase shift driver receives a subsequent input signal.
- the reset control circuit may enable the reset signal in response to receiving an enabled feedback signal.
- the reset signal may be enabled to reset the latching circuit, which may disable the intermediate signal provided to the output logic circuitry and the reset control circuit. In response to receiving the disabled intermediate signal, the reset control circuit may disable the reset signal.
- FIG. 1 is a diagram of one embodiment of a phase shift driver
- FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the phase shift driver, according to one embodiment.
- FIG. 3 is another timing diagram illustrating three complete cycles during normal operation of the phase shift driver, according to one embodiment.
- phase shift driver 100 includes a reset control circuit 110 , domino logic circuitry 120 , and input logic circuitry 150 .
- Phase shift driver 100 receives an input signal at a first phase and generates an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal.
- the input signal described above may be a control signal at a first phase that is associated with a data signal also at a first phase.
- the data signal may be manipulated in such a way that a delay is introduced into the data signal. After the delay, the data signal is now at a second phase relative to the control signal. If the data signal is delayed, the control signal at the first phase may be provided to phase shift driver 100 to generate the control signal at the second phase. Therefore, even if the data signal is delayed during processing, the phase shift driver 100 may phase shift the control signal such that its phase corresponds to that of the data signal. It is noted that in other embodiments the phase shift driver 100 may be provided to phase shift other types of signals, e.g., data signals.
- phase shift driver 100 receives an input signal at a first phase.
- the output circuitry of phase shift driver 100 e.g., domino logic circuitry 120 , generates an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal.
- the output signal may be a phase-shifted version of the input signal.
- phase shift driver 100 may include other types of output circuitry for generating an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal.
- Reset control circuit 110 receives a feedback signal from domino logic circuitry 120 via feedback loop 180 and an intermediate (int) signal from input logic circuitry 150 and generates a reset signal based on the feedback and intermediate signals. Reset control circuit 110 controls the pulse width of the reset signal to reset input logic circuitry 150 within a period of time before input logic circuitry 150 receives a subsequent input signal. Reset control circuit 110 may prevent phase shift driver 100 from missing a subsequent input signal by limiting the period of time phase shift driver 100 stays in a reset mode, as will be further described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 .
- the reset control circuit 110 may be formed as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 .
- reset control circuit 110 includes NAND gates 112 , 114 , and 116 .
- the output terminal of NAND gate 112 is connected to the first input terminal of NAND gate 114 and the first input terminal of NAND gate 116 to provide a pass signal.
- Feedback loop 180 is connected to the first input terminal of NAND gate 112 and the second input terminal of NAND gate 114 to provide the feedback signal.
- the second input terminal of NAND gate 112 is coupled to the output terminal of NAND gate 116 .
- the input logic circuitry 150 is coupled to the second input terminal of NAND gate 116 .
- the output terminal of NAND gate 114 is connected to the input logic circuitry 150 to provide a reset signal.
- domino logic circuitry 120 includes p-type FET 121 , n-type FET 122 , and n-type FET 123 coupled in series between a high voltage potential V CC and a low voltage potential V DD .
- the drain terminal of p-type FET 121 is connected to V CC
- the source terminal of p-type FET 121 is connected to the drain terminal of n-type FET 122 .
- the source terminal of n-type FET 122 is connected to the drain terminal of n-type FET 123
- the source terminal of n-type FET 123 is connected to V DD .
- Domino logic circuitry 120 further includes p-type FET 124 , inverter 125 , inverter 126 , and inverter 127 .
- Node 175 is connected between the source terminal of p-type FET 121 and the drain terminal of p-type FET 121 .
- the node 175 is connected to the source terminal of p-type FET 124 , the input terminal of the inverter 127 , the input terminal of inverter 126 , and the output terminal of the inverter 125 .
- An evaluation (eval) signal is provided to the input terminal of the inverter 127 and the input terminal of inverter 126 via node 175 .
- the drain terminal of p-type FET 124 is coupled to a high voltage potential V 1 .
- the output terminal of the inverter 126 is coupled to the input terminal of inverter 125 .
- the output terminal of inverter 127 is coupled to the output terminal of the domino logic circuitry 120 , which corresponds to the output terminal of the phase shift driver 100 , to provide an output signal.
- input logic circuitry 150 includes inverter 144 , NAND gate 142 , and a latching circuit 130 .
- the input terminal of inverter 144 is connected to the clock terminal of phase shift circuit 100 to receive a clock signal.
- the first input terminal of NAND gate 142 is also connected to the clock terminal of phase shift circuit 100 , and the second input terminal of NAND gate 142 is connected to the input terminal of phase shift circuit 100 to receiving an input signal.
- the output terminal of inverter 144 is connected to the gate terminal of FET 121 and the gate terminal of FET 123 of domino logic circuitry 120 to provide an inverted clock (clkn) signal.
- the output terminal of NAND gate 142 is connected to latching circuit 130 .
- latching circuit 130 may be formed as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 .
- latching circuit 130 includes NAND gate 132 and NAND gate 134 .
- the first input terminal of NAND gate 132 is connected to the output terminal of NAND gate 134 .
- the output terminal of NAND gate 134 is connected to the second input terminal of NAND gate 132 .
- the output terminal of NAND gate 132 is connected to the first input terminal of NAND gate 134 , the second input terminal of NAND gate 116 of the reset control circuit 110 , and the gate terminal of FET 122 of domino logic circuitry 120 to provide the intermediate (int) signal.
- Phase shift driver 100 may include latching circuit 130 to guarantee overlap in the ‘clkn’ and ‘int’ signals, which may allow domino logic circuitry 120 of phase shift driver 100 to enter an evaluation phase, as will be described further below with reference to FIG. 2 .
- FIG. 1 the components described with reference to FIG. 1 are meant to be exemplary only, and are not intended to limit the invention to any specific set of components or configurations.
- one or more of the components described may be omitted, combined, modified, or additional components included, as desired.
- the design of domino logic circuitry 120 and latching circuit 130 may vary.
- FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of phase shift driver 100 , according to one embodiment.
- phase shift driver 100 may receive a clock signal and an input signal at a first phase as inputs.
- the clock signal may serve as a reference signal to phase shift the input signal.
- the phase shift driver 100 may generate an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal.
- NAND gate 142 when the clock signal is high and the input signal is high, NAND gate 142 provides a low signal to one of the input terminals of NAND gate 132 of latching circuit 130 .
- NAND gate 132 provides a high intermediate (int) signal to FET 122 of domino logic circuitry 120 , to one of the input terminals of NAND gate 134 , and to one of the input terminals of NAND gate 116 of the reset control circuit 110 .
- inverter 144 when the clock signal is high, provides a low signal to FETs 121 and 123 of domino logic circuitry 120 .
- FET 121 is on, FET 122 is on, and FET 123 is off; therefore, node 175 is pre-charged to the high voltage potential V CC through FET 121 .
- FET 124 may be off because the power-on-reset (por) signal is typically high.
- the ‘por’ signal may be initially low and then it may be high the rest of the time. The ‘por’ signal may be low initially to set the initial conditions in the phase shift driver 100 .
- the evaluation (eval) signal When node 175 is pre-charged, the evaluation (eval) signal is high and therefore the output signal of the phase shift driver 100 is low, as illustrated in the timing diagram of FIG. 2 .
- a low feedback signal is also provided to the feedback loop 180 and subsequently to the reset control circuit 110 via the inverter 126 .
- the feedback signal may correspond to the output signal of phase shift driver 100 .
- the output signal at the output of inverter 127 may be provided to feedback loop 180 to serve as the feedback signal, in addition to being provided to the output terminal of phase shift driver 100 .
- the low feedback signal is then provided to NAND gates 112 and 114 .
- NAND gate 114 In response to the low feedback signal, NAND gate 114 outputs a high reset signal and NAND gate 112 outputs a high pass signal.
- the high reset signal is provided to NAND gate 134 of latching circuit 130 .
- NAND gate 134 receives a high ‘int’ signal, a high reset signal, and a high ‘por’ signal. Therefore, NAN D gate 134 provides a low hold signal to NAND gate 132 , which results in a high ‘int’ signal. This scenario continues until the clock signal goes low.
- NAND gates 112 and 114 of reset control circuit 110 receive a high feedback signal.
- NAND gate 116 receives a high ‘int’ signal and a high pass signal; therefore, NAND gate 116 provides a low signal to the other input terminal of NAND gate 112 . As a result, NAND gate 112 generates a high pass signal.
- NAND gate 114 Since NAND gate 114 receives a high pass signal and a high feedback signal, NAND gate 114 provides a low reset signal to latching circuit 130 .
- the low reset signal resets latching circuit 130 by causing NAND gate 134 to generate a low hold signal, which in turn causes NAND gate 132 to generate a low ‘int’ signal.
- the low reset signal resets latching circuit 130 by changing the state of the ‘int’ signal from high to low.
- latching circuit 130 After latching circuit 130 is reset, FET 122 is turned off, which stops the discharging of node 175 . However, inverters 125 and 126 maintain the ‘eval’ signal low until FET 121 is turned on by the next transition of the clock signal. Since the output signal is still high (which also means the feedback signal is still high) and the ‘int’ signal is now low, the reset signal generated by the reset control circuit 110 transitions to a high state. More specifically, the low ‘int’ signal causes NAND gate 116 to provide a high signal to NAND gate 112 . The NAND gate 112 generates a low pass signal, which causes NAND gate 114 to generate a high reset signal.
- reset control circuit 110 Since the ‘int’ signal is tied to NAND gate 116 , reset control circuit 110 responds to the low ‘int’ signal by changing the state of the reset signal back to a high state, which results in a relatively short reset period. In this way, the pulse width of the reset signal is controlled so that phase shift driver 100 does not miss a subsequent input signal.
- both the feedback signal and the ‘int’ signal may determine the state of the reset signal.
- the reset signal may change to a low state (i.e., enabled) in response to the reset control circuit 110 receiving a high feedback signal and a high ‘int’ signal.
- the reset signal may change to a high state (i.e., disabled) in response to the reset control circuit 110 receiving a low ‘int’ signal.
- the reset signal may change to a high whether the feedback signal is high or low. Therefore, besides turning FET 122 on and off, the ‘int’ signal helps control the pulse width of the reset signal.
- the ‘int’ signal may stay high for a period of time until the ‘eval’ signal goes low.
- Domino logic circuitry 120 of phase shift driver 100 may enter an evaluation stage during this period of time when the ‘clkn’ and ‘int’ signals are high.
- Latching circuit 130 guarantees this overlap between the ‘clkn’ and ‘int’ signals, which may allow domino logic circuitry 120 to enter the evaluation stage.
- the evaluation stage is the period of time when the pull-down transistors, FETs 122 and 123 , are on and discharging node 175 (i.e., ‘eval’ signal) to the low voltage potential V DD .
- the reset and hold signals when the reset and hold signals are high and the input signal goes high, it causes the ‘int’ signal to go high and the hold signal to go low. From this point, the ‘int’ signal will stay high regardless of the state of the input signal and will not go low until the ‘eval’ signal goes low. More specifically, when the ‘int’ signal is high (i.e., FET 122 is on) and the clock signal goes low, the ‘clkn’ signal will be high, which turns on FET 123 .
- the domino logic circuitry 120 enters the evaluation stage and the FETs 122 and 123 discharge node 175 , which results in the ‘eval’ signal going low.
- the ‘eval’ signal is then fed back via feedback loop 180 to reset control circuit 110 .
- the reset control circuit 110 generates a low reset signal, which causes the hold signal to go high, and in turn results in the ‘int’ signal going low.
- the ‘int’ signal will stay high until the ‘eval’ signal goes low (which causes the reset signal to go low), thereby guaranteeing overlap between the ‘clkn’ and ‘int’ signals.
- inverters 125 and 126 may form a keeper circuit to maintain node 175 at either a high or low level.
- the keeper circuit may supply the charge necessary to compensate for the loss of charge due to various leakage paths, as well as loss of charge due to capacitive coupling of node 175 to other signal paths.
- domino logic circuitry 120 may instead include a half-keeper circuit to maintain node 175 at only one level, e.g., only a high level.
- FIG. 3 is another timing diagram illustrating three complete cycles during normal operation of phase shift driver 100 , according to one embodiment.
- phase shift driver 100 receives an input signal at a first phase and generates an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal. Even though the input signal may have considerable skew, the ‘int’ signal may not be affected by the falling edge of the input signal. More specifically, with reference to the embodiment of FIG. 1 , when the input signal goes low (e.g., due to signal skew), NAND gate 132 receives the low input signal. However, since the hold signal of the latching circuit 130 remains in a low state, NAND gate 132 continues to generate a high ‘int’ signal.
- phase shift driver 100 may include NAND gate 142 to help prevent skew in the rising edge of the input signal, which may cause unwanted output signals.
- reset control circuit 110 may control the pulse width of the reset signal so that the reset period (i.e., when the reset signal is in a low state) is relatively short. This may prevent phase shift driver 100 from receiving input signals during the reset period. In other words, by controlling the pulse width of the reset signal, phase shift driver 100 may detect the rising edges of all the input signals and may prevent any missed output signals.
- the phase shift driver 100 may be an integrated circuit (IC), e.g., a digital IC.
- Phase shift driver 100 may be implemented in any device needing to phase-shift an input signal at a first phase to generate an output signal at a second phase, e.g., a microprocessor, a memory, a receiver, a transmitter, a DMA controller, etc.
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Abstract
Description
- 1. Field of the Invention
- This invention relates to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to phase shift drivers.
- 2. Description of the Related Art
- In the semiconductor industry, the demand for higher performing devices has resulted in devices that operate at increasingly higher clock frequencies. As the operational frequencies of devices increase, cycle times are getting smaller. Even though the frequencies and cycle times are changing, the signal skew associated with the operation of these devices may remain the same. If the signal skew is staying relatively constant and the cycle times are being reduced, the skew portion in an operational cycle time may be increasing.
- Semiconductor devices may include phase shift drivers used for phase shifting signals. A phase shift driver may receive an input signal at a first phase and generate an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal. During normal operation of a typical phase shift driver, the expected input signal at a first phase may arrive before a rising edge of the corresponding clock signal due to the relatively large signal skew. As a result, the phase shift driver may generate unwanted output signals. Additionally, the pulse width of the input signal may be much narrower than expected due to the signal skew. In this case, the phase shift driver may fail to generate the expected output signals. Furthermore, after receiving a first input signal, the phase shift driver may be reset to receive a subsequent input signal. In some cases, the reset period may be too long, which may cause the phase shift driver to miss the subsequent input signal and thus fail to generate an output.
- Various embodiments are disclosed of a phase shift circuit for phase shifting an input signal at a first phase to generate an output signal at a second phase. The phase shift circuit may include a reset control circuit to prevent the missing of subsequent input signals during a reset period.
- In one embodiment, input logic circuitry of the phase shift driver may receive an input signal at a first phase. Output logic circuitry of the phase shift driver may generate an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal. The reset control circuit may receive a feedback signal from the output logic circuitry and an intermediate signal from the input logic circuitry and generate a reset signal based on the received feedback and intermediate signals. The reset control circuit may control a pulse width of the reset signal to reset the input logic circuitry within a period of time before the input logic circuitry receives a subsequent input signal. More specifically, the reset control circuit may enable the reset signal in response to receiving an enabled feedback signal and disable the reset signal in response to receiving a disabled intermediate signal. By controlling the pulse width of the reset signal, the reset control circuit may prevent the phase shift driver from receiving subsequent input signals during the reset period.
- In one embodiment, the reset control circuit may control a pulse width of the reset signal to reset a latching circuit of the input logic circuitry within a period of time before an input terminal of the phase shift driver receives a subsequent input signal. The reset control circuit may enable the reset signal in response to receiving an enabled feedback signal. The reset signal may be enabled to reset the latching circuit, which may disable the intermediate signal provided to the output logic circuitry and the reset control circuit. In response to receiving the disabled intermediate signal, the reset control circuit may disable the reset signal.
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FIG. 1 is a diagram of one embodiment of a phase shift driver; -
FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the phase shift driver, according to one embodiment; and -
FIG. 3 is another timing diagram illustrating three complete cycles during normal operation of the phase shift driver, according to one embodiment. - While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Note, the headings are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit or interpret the description or claims. Furthermore, note that the word “may” is used throughout this application in a permissive sense (i.e., having the potential to, being able to), not a mandatory sense (i.e., must). The term “include”, and derivations thereof, mean “including, but not limited to”. The term “coupled” means “directly or indirectly connected”.
- Turning now to
FIG. 1 , a diagram of one embodiment of aphase shift driver 100 is shown. As illustrated in the embodiment ofFIG. 1 ,phase shift driver 100 includes areset control circuit 110,domino logic circuitry 120, andinput logic circuitry 150.Phase shift driver 100 receives an input signal at a first phase and generates an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal. - In one example, the input signal described above may be a control signal at a first phase that is associated with a data signal also at a first phase. At a certain point in time, the data signal may be manipulated in such a way that a delay is introduced into the data signal. After the delay, the data signal is now at a second phase relative to the control signal. If the data signal is delayed, the control signal at the first phase may be provided to
phase shift driver 100 to generate the control signal at the second phase. Therefore, even if the data signal is delayed during processing, thephase shift driver 100 may phase shift the control signal such that its phase corresponds to that of the data signal. It is noted that in other embodiments thephase shift driver 100 may be provided to phase shift other types of signals, e.g., data signals. - In one embodiment,
input logic circuitry 150 ofphase shift driver 100 receives an input signal at a first phase. The output circuitry ofphase shift driver 100, e.g.,domino logic circuitry 120, generates an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal. The output signal may be a phase-shifted version of the input signal. It is noted, however, that in other embodimentsphase shift driver 100 may include other types of output circuitry for generating an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal. -
Reset control circuit 110 receives a feedback signal fromdomino logic circuitry 120 viafeedback loop 180 and an intermediate (int) signal frominput logic circuitry 150 and generates a reset signal based on the feedback and intermediate signals.Reset control circuit 110 controls the pulse width of the reset signal to resetinput logic circuitry 150 within a period of time beforeinput logic circuitry 150 receives a subsequent input signal.Reset control circuit 110 may preventphase shift driver 100 from missing a subsequent input signal by limiting the period of timephase shift driver 100 stays in a reset mode, as will be further described below with reference toFIGS. 2 and 3 . - In one specific implementation, the
reset control circuit 110,domino logic circuitry 120, andinput logic circuitry 150 may be formed as shown in the embodiment ofFIG. 1 . In the depicted embodiment ofFIG. 1 ,reset control circuit 110 includesNAND gates NAND gate 112 is connected to the first input terminal ofNAND gate 114 and the first input terminal ofNAND gate 116 to provide a pass signal.Feedback loop 180 is connected to the first input terminal ofNAND gate 112 and the second input terminal ofNAND gate 114 to provide the feedback signal. The second input terminal ofNAND gate 112 is coupled to the output terminal ofNAND gate 116. Theinput logic circuitry 150 is coupled to the second input terminal ofNAND gate 116. The output terminal ofNAND gate 114 is connected to theinput logic circuitry 150 to provide a reset signal. - As illustrated in the embodiment of
FIG. 1 ,domino logic circuitry 120 includes p-type FET 121, n-type FET 122, and n-type FET 123 coupled in series between a high voltage potential VCC and a low voltage potential VDD. The drain terminal of p-type FET 121 is connected to VCC, and the source terminal of p-type FET 121 is connected to the drain terminal of n-type FET 122. The source terminal of n-type FET 122 is connected to the drain terminal of n-type FET 123, and the source terminal of n-type FET 123 is connected to VDD.Domino logic circuitry 120 further includes p-type FET 124,inverter 125,inverter 126, andinverter 127.Node 175 is connected between the source terminal of p-type FET 121 and the drain terminal of p-type FET 121. Thenode 175 is connected to the source terminal of p-type FET 124, the input terminal of theinverter 127, the input terminal ofinverter 126, and the output terminal of theinverter 125. An evaluation (eval) signal is provided to the input terminal of theinverter 127 and the input terminal ofinverter 126 vianode 175. The drain terminal of p-type FET 124 is coupled to a high voltage potential V1. The output terminal of theinverter 126 is coupled to the input terminal ofinverter 125. The output terminal ofinverter 127 is coupled to the output terminal of thedomino logic circuitry 120, which corresponds to the output terminal of thephase shift driver 100, to provide an output signal. - In the illustrated embodiment of
FIG. 1 ,input logic circuitry 150 includesinverter 144,NAND gate 142, and alatching circuit 130. The input terminal ofinverter 144 is connected to the clock terminal ofphase shift circuit 100 to receive a clock signal. The first input terminal ofNAND gate 142 is also connected to the clock terminal ofphase shift circuit 100, and the second input terminal ofNAND gate 142 is connected to the input terminal ofphase shift circuit 100 to receiving an input signal. The output terminal ofinverter 144 is connected to the gate terminal ofFET 121 and the gate terminal ofFET 123 ofdomino logic circuitry 120 to provide an inverted clock (clkn) signal. The output terminal ofNAND gate 142 is connected to latchingcircuit 130. - In one specific implementation, latching
circuit 130 may be formed as shown in the embodiment ofFIG. 1 . In the depicted embodiment ofFIG. 1 , latchingcircuit 130 includesNAND gate 132 andNAND gate 134. The first input terminal ofNAND gate 132 is connected to the output terminal ofNAND gate 134. The output terminal ofNAND gate 134 is connected to the second input terminal ofNAND gate 132. The output terminal ofNAND gate 132 is connected to the first input terminal ofNAND gate 134, the second input terminal ofNAND gate 116 of thereset control circuit 110, and the gate terminal ofFET 122 ofdomino logic circuitry 120 to provide the intermediate (int) signal. The second input terminal ofNAND gate 134 is connected to the output terminal ofNAND gate 114 of thereset control circuit 110.Phase shift driver 100 may include latchingcircuit 130 to guarantee overlap in the ‘clkn’ and ‘int’ signals, which may allowdomino logic circuitry 120 ofphase shift driver 100 to enter an evaluation phase, as will be described further below with reference toFIG. 2 . - It should be noted that the components described with reference to
FIG. 1 are meant to be exemplary only, and are not intended to limit the invention to any specific set of components or configurations. For example, in various embodiments, one or more of the components described may be omitted, combined, modified, or additional components included, as desired. For instance, in some embodiments, the design ofdomino logic circuitry 120 and latchingcircuit 130 may vary. -
FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation ofphase shift driver 100, according to one embodiment. Referring collectively toFIG. 2 andFIG. 1 , during operation,phase shift driver 100 may receive a clock signal and an input signal at a first phase as inputs. The clock signal may serve as a reference signal to phase shift the input signal. As described above, thephase shift driver 100 may generate an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal. - As illustrated in the embodiment of
FIG. 2 , when the clock signal is high and the input signal is high,NAND gate 142 provides a low signal to one of the input terminals ofNAND gate 132 of latchingcircuit 130. As a result,NAND gate 132 provides a high intermediate (int) signal toFET 122 ofdomino logic circuitry 120, to one of the input terminals ofNAND gate 134, and to one of the input terminals ofNAND gate 116 of thereset control circuit 110. Also, when the clock signal is high,inverter 144 provides a low signal to FETs 121 and 123 ofdomino logic circuitry 120. In this case,FET 121 is on,FET 122 is on, andFET 123 is off; therefore,node 175 is pre-charged to the high voltage potential VCC throughFET 121.FET 124 may be off because the power-on-reset (por) signal is typically high. When circuit operation begins, the ‘por’ signal may be initially low and then it may be high the rest of the time. The ‘por’ signal may be low initially to set the initial conditions in thephase shift driver 100. - When
node 175 is pre-charged, the evaluation (eval) signal is high and therefore the output signal of thephase shift driver 100 is low, as illustrated in the timing diagram ofFIG. 2 . A low feedback signal is also provided to thefeedback loop 180 and subsequently to thereset control circuit 110 via theinverter 126. In one embodiment, the feedback signal may correspond to the output signal ofphase shift driver 100. In some embodiments, the output signal at the output ofinverter 127 may be provided tofeedback loop 180 to serve as the feedback signal, in addition to being provided to the output terminal ofphase shift driver 100. The low feedback signal is then provided toNAND gates NAND gate 114 outputs a high reset signal andNAND gate 112 outputs a high pass signal. The high reset signal is provided toNAND gate 134 of latchingcircuit 130. In this case,NAND gate 134 receives a high ‘int’ signal, a high reset signal, and a high ‘por’ signal. Therefore,NAN D gate 134 provides a low hold signal toNAND gate 132, which results in a high ‘int’ signal. This scenario continues until the clock signal goes low. - When the clock signal goes low,
FET 121 is turned off,FET 122 stays on, andFET 123 is turned on. SinceFET node 175 is discharged to the low voltage potential VDD. Therefore, as depicted in the timing diagram ofFIG. 2 , the ‘eval’ signal is low and the output signal of thephase shift driver 100 is high. In this case,NAND gates reset control circuit 110 receive a high feedback signal.NAND gate 116 receives a high ‘int’ signal and a high pass signal; therefore,NAND gate 116 provides a low signal to the other input terminal ofNAND gate 112. As a result,NAND gate 112 generates a high pass signal. SinceNAND gate 114 receives a high pass signal and a high feedback signal,NAND gate 114 provides a low reset signal to latchingcircuit 130. The low reset signalresets latching circuit 130 by causingNAND gate 134 to generate a low hold signal, which in turn causesNAND gate 132 to generate a low ‘int’ signal. In sum, the low reset signalresets latching circuit 130 by changing the state of the ‘int’ signal from high to low. - After latching
circuit 130 is reset,FET 122 is turned off, which stops the discharging ofnode 175. However,inverters FET 121 is turned on by the next transition of the clock signal. Since the output signal is still high (which also means the feedback signal is still high) and the ‘int’ signal is now low, the reset signal generated by thereset control circuit 110 transitions to a high state. More specifically, the low ‘int’ signal causesNAND gate 116 to provide a high signal toNAND gate 112. TheNAND gate 112 generates a low pass signal, which causesNAND gate 114 to generate a high reset signal. Since the ‘int’ signal is tied toNAND gate 116, resetcontrol circuit 110 responds to the low ‘int’ signal by changing the state of the reset signal back to a high state, which results in a relatively short reset period. In this way, the pulse width of the reset signal is controlled so thatphase shift driver 100 does not miss a subsequent input signal. - It is noted that both the feedback signal and the ‘int’ signal may determine the state of the reset signal. The reset signal may change to a low state (i.e., enabled) in response to the
reset control circuit 110 receiving a high feedback signal and a high ‘int’ signal. The reset signal may change to a high state (i.e., disabled) in response to thereset control circuit 110 receiving a low ‘int’ signal. Whenreset control circuit 110 receives a low ‘int’ signal, the reset signal may change to a high whether the feedback signal is high or low. Therefore, besides turningFET 122 on and off, the ‘int’ signal helps control the pulse width of the reset signal. - Note that when the input signal and the clock signal go low, the ‘int’ signal may stay high for a period of time until the ‘eval’ signal goes low.
Domino logic circuitry 120 ofphase shift driver 100 may enter an evaluation stage during this period of time when the ‘clkn’ and ‘int’ signals are high. Latchingcircuit 130 guarantees this overlap between the ‘clkn’ and ‘int’ signals, which may allowdomino logic circuitry 120 to enter the evaluation stage. The evaluation stage is the period of time when the pull-down transistors,FETs - As illustrated in the timing diagram of
FIG. 2 , when the reset and hold signals are high and the input signal goes high, it causes the ‘int’ signal to go high and the hold signal to go low. From this point, the ‘int’ signal will stay high regardless of the state of the input signal and will not go low until the ‘eval’ signal goes low. More specifically, when the ‘int’ signal is high (i.e.,FET 122 is on) and the clock signal goes low, the ‘clkn’ signal will be high, which turns onFET 123. Thedomino logic circuitry 120 enters the evaluation stage and theFETs discharge node 175, which results in the ‘eval’ signal going low. The ‘eval’ signal is then fed back viafeedback loop 180 to resetcontrol circuit 110. Thereset control circuit 110 generates a low reset signal, which causes the hold signal to go high, and in turn results in the ‘int’ signal going low. Thus, after the input signal is received at thephase shift driver 100, the ‘int’ signal will stay high until the ‘eval’ signal goes low (which causes the reset signal to go low), thereby guaranteeing overlap between the ‘clkn’ and ‘int’ signals. - In one embodiment,
inverters node 175 at either a high or low level. The keeper circuit may supply the charge necessary to compensate for the loss of charge due to various leakage paths, as well as loss of charge due to capacitive coupling ofnode 175 to other signal paths. In another embodiment,domino logic circuitry 120 may instead include a half-keeper circuit to maintainnode 175 at only one level, e.g., only a high level. -
FIG. 3 is another timing diagram illustrating three complete cycles during normal operation ofphase shift driver 100, according to one embodiment. During operation, note thatphase shift driver 100 receives an input signal at a first phase and generates an output signal at a second phase relative to the input signal. Even though the input signal may have considerable skew, the ‘int’ signal may not be affected by the falling edge of the input signal. More specifically, with reference to the embodiment ofFIG. 1 , when the input signal goes low (e.g., due to signal skew),NAND gate 132 receives the low input signal. However, since the hold signal of the latchingcircuit 130 remains in a low state,NAND gate 132 continues to generate a high ‘int’ signal. The input signal skew may not affect the state of the ‘int’ signal, and therefore may not affect the output signal. In addition,phase shift driver 100 may includeNAND gate 142 to help prevent skew in the rising edge of the input signal, which may cause unwanted output signals. - As illustrated in the embodiment of
FIG. 3 , resetcontrol circuit 110 may control the pulse width of the reset signal so that the reset period (i.e., when the reset signal is in a low state) is relatively short. This may preventphase shift driver 100 from receiving input signals during the reset period. In other words, by controlling the pulse width of the reset signal,phase shift driver 100 may detect the rising edges of all the input signals and may prevent any missed output signals. - The
phase shift driver 100 may be an integrated circuit (IC), e.g., a digital IC.Phase shift driver 100 may be implemented in any device needing to phase-shift an input signal at a first phase to generate an output signal at a second phase, e.g., a microprocessor, a memory, a receiver, a transmitter, a DMA controller, etc. - Although the embodiments above have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.
Claims (20)
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