An electronic latch circuit, a 4-phase signal generator, a multi-stage frequency divider and a poly-phase signal generator are disclosed. The electronic latch circuit comprises an output circuit comprising a first output and a second output. The electronic latch circuit further comprises an input circuit comprising a first input, a second input and a clock signal input. The electronic latch circuit is configured to change state based on the input signals' level at the inputs of the input circuit and a present state of the output circuit. The 4-phase signal generator is built with two electronic latch circuits. The multi-stage frequency dividers and poly-phase signal generators comprise a plurality of the electronic latch circuits and 4-phase signal generators.

Provided is a memory device including a delay circuit having gate insulation films with thicknesses different from each other. The memory device includes a delay circuit configured to input an input signal and output an output signal, and circuit blocks configured to control an operation of reading or writing memory cell data in response to the input signal or the output signal. One of transistors constituting a circuit block has a gate insulation film having such a thickness that an effect of negative biased temperature instability (NBTI) or positive biased temperature instability (PBTI) on the transistors is minimized. The delay circuit may be affected little by a shift in a threshold voltage that may be caused by NTBI or PBTI, and thus, achieve target delay time.

A skew adjustment circuit includes: flip flop circuits for taking in an input signal in response to first clock signals; a clock phase adjustment circuit for adjusting phases of second clock signals, based on the second clock signals generated based on a reference clock signal and an output signal from the flip flop circuits; a phase interval detection circuit for detecting a phase interval between the first clock signals, based on a reference value; and a phase interval adjustment circuit for performing adjustment such that phase intervals become equal to each other between the second clock signals adjusted by the clock phase adjustment circuit, based on a skew adjustment signal from the phase interval detection circuit. The reference value is obtained by calibration, and the second clock signals adjusted by the phase interval adjustment circuit are provided as the first clock signals to the flip flop circuits.

A skew adjustment circuit includes: flip flop circuits for taking in an input signal in response to first clock signals; a clock phase adjustment circuit for adjusting phases of second clock signals, based on the second clock signals generated based on a reference clock signal and an output signal from the flip flop circuits; a phase interval detection circuit for detecting a phase interval between the first clock signals, based on a reference value; and a phase interval adjustment circuit for performing adjustment such that phase intervals become equal to each other between the second clock signals adjusted by the clock phase adjustment circuit, based on a skew adjustment signal from the phase interval detection circuit. The reference value obtained by calibration, and the second clock signals adjusted by the phase interval adjustment circuit are provided as the first clock signals to the flip flop circuits.

An encoding circuit includes a clock generating unit having a delay circuit in which n (n is a power of 2) delay units are connected together a latch unit configured to latch the plurality of delayed signals; and an encoding unit configured to encode state of each of the plurality of delayed signals, wherein the encoding unit encodes the state of each of the plurality of delayed signals by performing: a first operation of determining a position at which logic states of two or more delayed signals in a signal group change from High to Low, a second operation of determining a position at which logic states of two or more delayed signals in the signal group change from Low to High, and a third operation of determining that logic states of two or more signals including at least one delayed signal in the signal group are predetermined states.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a clock tree structure disposed on a semiconductor substrate. The clock tree structure includes a first clock line having a first line width and being arranged at a first height as measured from an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate. The clock tree structure also includes a second clock line having a second line width, which differs from the first line width. The second clock line is arranged at a second height as measured from the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate and the second height is equal to the first height. The first line width can be directly proportional to a first current level for the first clock line and the second line width can be directly proportional to a second current level for the second clock line.

Provided is a memory device including a delay circuit having gate insulation films with thicknesses different from each other. The memory device includes a delay circuit configured to input an input signal and output an output signal, and circuit blocks configured to control an operation of reading or writing memory cell data in response to the input signal or the output signal. One of transistors constituting a circuit block has a gate insulation film having such a thickness that an effect of negative biased temperature instability (NBTI) or positive biased temperature instability (PBTI) on the transistors is minimized. The delay circuit may be affected little by a shift in a threshold voltage that may be caused by NTBI or PBTI, and thus, achieve target delay time.

A circuit for generating at least two rectangular signals with adjustable phase shift, comprises a frequency divider circuit that receives a clock signal as input and provides a signal as output, at least two comparators that receive, respectively, a first threshold voltage and at least a second threshold voltage at one input, and a ramp signal, synchronized with the clock signal, at a second input, the at least two threshold voltages allowing the value of the phase shift between the at least two rectangular signals to be adjusted, and at least two D-type flip-flops that receive, respectively, the output signal from the first comparator and the output signal from the second comparator at their clock inputs, and the output signal from the frequency divider circuit at their D-input.

The invention provides a dynamic latch, comprising an input terminal for inputting a first data; an output terminal for outputting a second data; a clock signal terminal for supplying a clock signal; a data transmission unit for transmitting the first data under control of the clock signal; and a data output unit for converting the first data into the second data. The data transmission unit and the data output unit are sequentially connected in series between the input terminal and the output terminal, and a node is provided between the data transmission unit and the data output unit. The dynamic latch further comprises a data retention unit electrically connected to the node. The retention time of data can be effectively extended, thereby improving data security and accuracy.

A first flipflop outputs a first signal synchronized with a first clock signal. In the first transistor, the first clock signal is input to a first terminal and the second signal is output from a second terminal. In the fourth transistor, a first signal is input to a first terminal and a second terminal is electrically connected to a gate of the first transistor. In the sixth transistor, the third signal is input to a first terminal, a second terminal is electrically connected to the gate of the fourth transistor, and the gate of the sixth transistor is electrically connected to the first terminal.