A method can be used for managing the operation of a phase-locked loop. The loop includes an oscillator voltage controlled by a control signal and a phase comparator receiving a reference signal and a feedback signal which arises from the output signal of the oscillator. The method includes a detection of a possible absence of transitions on the feedback signal for a first duration and, in response to such an absence, a forcing of the lowering of the voltage of the control signal at least until a reappearance of transitions on the feedback signal.

A phase-locked loop (PLL) including a multiplexer with multiple inputs, each input coupled to receive a different reference clock. A time-to-digital converter (TDC) generates a TDC output value based on a phase difference between a reference clock from the multiplexer and a feedback clock. An averager circuit coupled to an output of the TDC. An adder circuit is coupled to outputs of the TDC and the averager circuit. A loop filter is coupled to an output of the adder circuit.

A compensation circuit for an oven-controlled crystal oscillator serving as a reference for a phase-locked loop in holdover mode is disclosed. A non-linear function module generates a modified aging signal that is a non-linear function of an aging signal. A first Kalman filter generates an estimate of the frequency drift of the crystal oscillator based on the temperature signal. A second Kalman filter generates an estimate of the frequency drift based on the modified aging signal. A combining and comparing module combines the estimates generated by the first and second Kalman filters and compares the estimates with detected frequency drift to produce an error signal to update the Kalman filters. In holdover mode the Kalman filters generate an error signal to correct the oscillator frequency based on updates obtained during operation of the phase-locked loop in normal mode.

The disclosure discloses a coarse adjustment cell array applied to a digitally controlled oscillator and a related apparatus. The coarse adjustment cell array applied to the digitally controlled oscillator includes X coarse adjustment cells, and each coarse adjustment cell in the coarse adjustment cell array includes a logic cell and W fine adjustment cells; and input to a logic cell of a coarse adjustment cell i in the coarse adjustment cell array includes Y coarse adjustment control bits and W fine adjustment control bits, output from the logic cell of the coarse adjustment cell i is used to control whether W fine adjustment cells in the coarse adjustment cell i work, Y is an integer greater than 1, and X and W are integers greater than 1.

A gap detector detects when a phase difference between a feedback signal and a clock signal is larger than a gap threshold. If the phase difference is larger than the gap threshold, then the phase difference is modified by subtracting a gap value from the phase difference. If the phase difference is less than the threshold, the phase difference is not modified. A loop filter receives and filters the modified or unmodified phase difference and controls an oscillator. An accumulator circuit accumulates the modified phase difference and supplies a phase adjust signal. A low pass filter receives the phase adjust signal and supplies a filtered phase adjust signal that is used to slowly adjust the output of the oscillator.

A frequency divider may include the following elements: a first inverter, a second inverter, and a third inverter, which are connected in a ring structure, wherein the second inverter is connected to an output terminal of the frequency divider; a fourth inverter connected to a first input terminal of the frequency divider and to a power supply terminal of the first inverter; a fifth inverter connected to a second input terminal of the frequency divider and to a power supply terminal of the third inverter; a first transistor connected to the second input terminal of the frequency divider and to a ground terminal of the first inverter; and a second transistor connected to the first input terminal of the frequency divider and to a ground terminal of the third inverter. The second inverter, the fourth inverter, and the fifth inverter may receive a power supply voltage.

The invention relates to a digital delay line of a memory system is characterized by: a coarse delay line receiving a high-speed input clock; and a fine delay line transmitting an interface output clock to transceivers; wherein the coarse delay line is configured to perform clock division from a frequency of the high-speed input clock to a frequency of the interface output clock and to delay divided output clock; wherein the coarse delay line comprising a dual-edge triggered flip-flop to produce a shifted divided clock and a clock mux to bypass the high-speed input clock when delay shifting is not needed; wherein the fine delay line is configured to provide a finer delay step size. Further, a method of adjusting the timing of clocks within a memory system using a digital delay line of a memory system is also disclosed.

A test and measurement instrument includes a first data channel including a first data converter operating at a first rate, and a second data channel including a second data converter operating at a second rate that is different than the first rate. Rate controls may include a clock generation circuit. The clock generation circuit includes an intermediate frequency generator structured to generate an intermediate frequency clock from a first clock reference signal, a first frequency clock generator structured to generate a first frequency clock directly from the intermediate frequency clock, and a second frequency clock generator structured to generate a second frequency clock directly from the intermediate frequency clock. The first frequency clock may be used to control the rate of the first data channel, and the second frequency clock may be used to control the rate of the second data channel. Methods are also described.