Receiver tracking mechanism for an I/O circuit
First Claim
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1. A receiver circuit, comprising:
- a front amplifier to receive data from an I/O link driven by a remote clock signal;
an interpolator to generate a local clock signal to track the remote clock signal encoded in the data; and
a tracking mechanism to extract phase information about the remote clock signal from the data and to dynamically adjust the phase of the local clock signal that tracks the remote clock signal in accordance with extracted phase information for subsequent data processing functions, wherein the tracking mechanism is configured to predict a direction of a phase drift, and force the interpolator to move against the phase drift so as to reduce lock time.
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Abstract
A receiver circuit is provided with a front amplifier to receive data from an I/O link driven by a remote clock signal; an interpolator to generate a local clock signal to track the remote clock signal encoded in the data; and a tracking mechanism to extract phase information about the remote clock signal from the data and to dynamically adjust the phase of the local clock signal that tracks the remote clock signal in accordance with extracted phase information for subsequent data processing functions, wherein the tracking mechanism is configured to predict the direction of a phase drift, and force the interpolator to move against the phase drift so as to reduce lock time.
33 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A receiver circuit, comprising:
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a front amplifier to receive data from an I/O link driven by a remote clock signal;
an interpolator to generate a local clock signal to track the remote clock signal encoded in the data; and
a tracking mechanism to extract phase information about the remote clock signal from the data and to dynamically adjust the phase of the local clock signal that tracks the remote clock signal in accordance with extracted phase information for subsequent data processing functions, wherein the tracking mechanism is configured to predict a direction of a phase drift, and force the interpolator to move against the phase drift so as to reduce lock time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A phase tracking interpolator, comprising:
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a plurality of differential transistor pairs, each pair of differential transistors having sources and drains commonly coupled, and gate electrodes coupled to receive a phase pair of a reference clock signal, via input terminals; and
a plurality of tail current sources coupled to the commonly coupled sources of each pair of differential transistors, to interpolate between the phase pair of the reference clock signal; and
one or more active loads commonly coupled to the drains of the differential transistor pairs, via an output terminal;
wherein the tail current sources coupled to the commonly coupled sources of each pair of differential transistors utilize 2;
1 current weighting at outer tail current sources relative to inner tail current sources to apportion and distribute the current among phases of the reference clock signal that are being interpolated while maintaining the total current drawn to improve linearity of the interpolator. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A phase tracking interpolator comprising;
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at least one pair of differential transistors having sources and drains commonly coupled, and gate electrodes coupled to receive a phase pair of a reference clock signal; and
tail current sources coupled to the commonly coupled sources of the differential transistor pair, to interpolate between the phase pair of the reference clock signal; and
at least one active load coupled to the commonly coupled drains of the differential transistor pair;
wherein the tail current sources coupled to the commonly coupled sources of each pair of differential transistors utilize a predetermined current weighting ratio at outer tail current sources relative to inner tail current sources to apportion and distribute the current among phases of the reference clock signal that are being interpolated while maintaining the total current drawn to improve linearity of the interpolator. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A receiver circuit comprising:
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a front amplifier to receive data from an I/O link driven by a remote clock signal;
an interpolator to generate a local clock signal to track the remote clock signal encoded in the data;
an alignment unit to align data and edge samples and provide extra settling time to sensitive edge samples for meta-stability; and
a tracking mechanism to extract phase information about the remote clock signal from aligned data and edge samples, and to dynamically adjust the phase of the local clock signal that tracks the remote clock signal in accordance with extracted phase information for subsequent data processing functions. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification