A delay locked loop circuit includes a first delay locked loop and a second delay locked loop having different characteristics. The first delay locked loop performs a delay-locking operation on a reference clock signal to generate a delay locked clock signal. The second delay locked loop performs a delay-locking operation on the delay locked clock signal to generate an internal clock signal.

An exemplary system includes a PLL circuit and a precision timing circuit connected to the PLL circuit. The PLL circuit has a PLL feedback period defined by a reference clock and includes a voltage controlled oscillator configured to lock to the reference clock and having a plurality of stages configured to output a plurality of fine phase signals each having a different phase, and a feedback divider configured to be clocked by a single fine phase signal included in the plurality of fine phase signals and have a plurality of feedback divider states during the PLL feedback period. The precision timing circuit is configured to generate a timing pulse and set, based on a first combination of one of the fine phase signals and one of the feedback divider states, a temporal position of the timing pulse within the PLL feedback period.

Described herein is a phase frequency detector (PFD) with a wide operational range. The PFD includes a first flip-flop to receive a reference clock and generate a first output signal based on differences between the reference clock and a feedback clock, a second flip-flop to receive the feedback clock and generate a second output signal based on differences between the reference the feedback clocks, a reset processing path connected to the first flip-flop and second flip-flop, the reset processing path having a reset delay to control a pulse width of a reset signal associated with the first flip-flop and second flip-flop, and an output processing path connected to the first flip-flop and second flip-flop, the output processing path having an output delay to control a pulse width of the first output signal and the second output signal, where the reset processing path and the output processing path are delay independent.

Described herein is a phase frequency detector (PFD) with a wide operational range. The PFD includes a first flip-flop to receive a reference clock and generate a first output signal based on differences between the reference clock and a feedback clock, a second flip-flop to receive the feedback clock and generate a second output signal based on differences between the reference the feedback clocks, a reset processing path connected to the first flip-flop and second flip-flop, the reset processing path having a reset delay to control a pulse width of a reset signal associated with the first flip-flop and second flip-flop, and an output processing path connected to the first flip-flop and second flip-flop, the output processing path having an output delay to control a pulse width of the first output signal and the second output signal, where the reset processing path and the output processing path are delay independent.

Embodiments of an integrated circuit (IC) comprising circuitry to determine settings for an injection-locked oscillator (ILO) are described. In some embodiments, an injection signal is generated based on a first clock edge of a reference clock signal, and is injected into an ILO. Next, one or more output signals of the ILO are sampled based on a second clock edge of the reference clock signal, and settings for the ILO are determined based on the samples. In some embodiments, a sequence of two or more time-to-digital (TDC) codes is generated based on a reference clock signal and a free-running ILO. In some embodiments, the TDC circuitry that is already present in a delay-locked loop is reused for determining the sequence of two or more TDC codes. The ILO settings can then be determined based on the sequence of two or more

A charge pump driver circuit comprises an output stage and a current generator component. The output stage is arranged to receive at an input node thereof a control current signal and comprises a resistance network coupled between the input node thereof and a reference voltage node and arranged to provide a resistive path through which the control current signal flows. The output stage is arranged to generate at an output node thereof a charge pump control voltage signal based on the voltage level at the input node thereof. The current generator component is arranged to receive an indication of a voltage level of a charge pump output signal, and to generate a feedback current dependent on the voltage level of the output signal, wherein the feedback current is injected into the resistive path of the resistance network through which the control current signal flows.

A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and circuit for clock phase generation are disclosed. The circuit includes an injection locked oscillator, a loop controller, and a phase interpolator. The injection locked oscillator includes an input for receiving an injected clock signal and an output for forwarding a set of fixed clock phases. The loop controller includes an input for receiving a phase separation error of the fixed clock phases and an output for forwarding a supply voltage derived from the phase separation error. The supply voltage matches the free running frequency of the injection locked oscillator to a frequency of the injected clock signal. The phase interpolator includes an input for receiving the set of fixed clock phases directly from the injection locked oscillator, an input for receiving the supply voltage from the loop controller, and an output for forwarding an arbitrary clock phase.

A system and method for a frequency detector circuit includes: a transition detector configured to receive a data input and provide a first edge output based on transitions in the data input; a first circuit configured to generate a second edge output; a second circuit configured to generate a third edge output; and a combinational logic configured to output an UP output when at least two of the first edge output, the second edge output, and the third edge output are high and configured to output a DOWN output when the first edge output, the second edge output, and the third edge output are all low.

A system and method for correcting for phase errors, in a phase locked loop, resulting from spread spectrum clocking involving a reference clock signal having a frequency modulation. A correction generation circuit generates an offset signal, that when injected after the charge pump of the phase locked loop, causes the voltage controlled oscillator to produce a signal with substantially the same frequency modulation, thereby reducing the phase error. The correction generation circuit may include a timing estimation circuit for estimating the times at which transitions (between positive-sloping and negative-sloping portions of the triangle wave) occur, and an amplitude estimation circuit for estimating the amplitude of the offset signal that results in a reduction in the phase error.

A phase-locked loop (PLL) includes a phase-frequency detector (PFD) having a first PFD input, a second PFD input, and a PFD output. The PFD is configured to generate a first signal on the PFD output. The first signal comprises pulses having pulse widths indicative of a phase difference between signals on the first and second PFD inputs. A low pass filter (LPF) has an LPF input and an LPF output. The LPF input is coupled to the PFD output. A flip-flop has a clock input and a flip-flop output. The clock input is coupled to the LPF output. A lock-slip control circuit is coupled to the flip-flop output and to the first PFD input. The lock-slip control circuit is configured to determine phase-lock and phase-slip based at least in part on a signal on the flip-flop output.