Apparatus and methods for disrupting or preventing periodicity in DTC circuits are provided. In an example, a communication circuit can include a digital-to-time converter (DTC) and a processing path coupled to the DTC. The DTC can be configured to receive reference information, modulation information and first dither information, and to provide a modulated signal using the reference information, the modulation information and the first dither information. The processing path can be configured to receive second dither information and to cancel the first dither information using the second dither information, wherein the DTC is configured to disrupt processing periodicity of the communication circuit using the first dither information.

A system and method are described for calibrating a clock used in data transmission. In one example, dynamic phase adjustment circuitry can be used for any of a variety of different protocols to shift the clock phase with respect to a data signal. In the most typical example, the clock phase is shifted 90 degrees relative to a transmission data signal. The dynamic phase adjustment circuitry can use two cascaded programmable delay lines coupled in series. Each programmable delay line represents a half phase delay of 90 degrees. A controller can monitor an output of the programmable delay lines and incrementally add or subtract programmable delay line elements until a 180 degree phase is detected relative to a data transmission. An output clock can then be used by applying the result of the calibration delay element to the clock under discussion.

A network device adapted for sending a synchronization packet to a slave device. The synchronization packet includes a timestamp field and a correction field. The network device includes a counting circuit, a communication chip, and a processor. The counting circuit is configured to provide a calendar time TOD. The communication chip includes a first port, a second port, and a timestamp circuit which has a bit number N. The processor is coupled to the first port of the communication chip. The processor is configured to: obtain a remainder R according to the calendar time TOD and the bit number N; and write the calendar time TOD and the remainder R into the synchronization packet.

A memory controller having a data receiver to sample data at a sample timing using a strobe signal, wherein the data and the strobe signal are sent by a memory device in connection with a read operation initiated by the memory controller, and a strobe receiver to receive the strobe signal, wherein a phase of the strobe signal has a drift relative to a reference by an amount. The memory controller further having a monitoring circuit to monitor the strobe signal and determine the amount of the drift, and an adjustment circuit to update the sample timing of the data receiver based on the amount of drift determined by the monitoring signal.

The present application provides a method, a device, a transmitter, and a receiver for detecting syncwords. After inserting syncwords in a data frame to be transmitted, a transmitter transmits the data frame to be transmitted inserted with a preset number of syncwords to a receiver. Because the bit-length of information in the data frame to be transmitted inserted with the preset number of syncwords is a specified multiple of the length of the syncwords, and the symbol components of the preset number of the inserted syncwords are different, or the symbol components are the same but the orders of the symbols are different, the receiver correlates each syncword of the preset number of syncwords with the data frame to be transmitted inserted with the preset number of syncwords after receiving the data frame to be transmitted.

A method and system provides for execution of calibration cycles from time to time during normal operation of the communication channel. A calibration cycle includes de-coupling the normal data source from the transmitter and supplying a calibration pattern in its place. The calibration pattern is received from the communication link using the receiver on the second component. A calibrated value of a parameter of the communication channel is determined in response to the received calibration pattern. The steps involved in calibration cycles can be reordered to account for utilization patterns of the communication channel. For bidirectional links, calibration cycles are executed which include the step of storing received calibration patterns on the second component, and retransmitting such calibration patterns back to the first component for use in adjusting parameters of the channel at first component.

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. An internal state of a frequency divider of a local oscillator (LO) may be stored using a storage device in order to facilitate phase flipping of one or more signals output by the LO. The frequency divider may also include a pulse swallower that swallows a pulse of a signal input into the frequency divider. Using one or more power supply cutting switches in combination with a storage device and pulse swallower, high speed and reliable phase flipping of LO signals may be performed.

In accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, there is provided systems and methods for link training between a host device and a device. The host device includes a clock source, front-end circuitry, a duty cycle monitor (DCM), link training logic, and a duty cycle adjustor (DCA). The front-end circuitry is to transmit a training sequence and a forward clock signal to the device and is to receive a strobe signal from the device over a physical transmission media. The DCM is to monitor duty cycle of the strobe signal and duty cycle of the clock signal. The link training logic is to determine a adjustment to the clock signal and is to generate a control signal. The DCA is to receive the clock signal and the control signal and is to adjust the clock signal to generate an adjusted forward clock signal in view of the control signal.

A communication device includes an AFE configured to track and hold a first driving signal to produce a plurality of sample signals, a shift and hold module configured to store the plurality of sample signals, and an ADC configured to respectively convert the plurality of sample signals to a plurality of digitized sample signals, the ADC including a plurality of ADC slices. A DSP is configured to calibrate the AFE based on the plurality of ADC slices corresponding to the plurality of digitized sample signals and generate an output data stream comprising the plurality of digitized samples. A skew management module is configured to detect a skew of the plurality of digitized sample signals in the output data stream generated by the DSP module, generate a programmable skew offset based on the detected skew, and correct the skew in the output data stream based on the programmable skew offset.

Interface devices and systems that include interface devices are disclosed. In some implementations, a device includes a transceiver configured to transmit and receive data, a lane margining controller in communication with the transceiver and configured to control the transceiver to transmit, through a margin command, to an external device, a request for requesting a state of an elastic buffer of the external device, and control the transceiver to receive the state of the elastic buffer of from the external device, and a port setting controller adjust a clock frequency range of a spread spectrum clocking scheme based on the state of the elastic buffer.