Method and apparatus for phase detection in digital signals
First Claim
1. A digital signal phase detector comprising:
- a data signal input for receiving a data signal;
a clock signal input for receiving a clock signal;
a first circuit coupled to the data signal input and the clock signal input and arranged to provide a phase difference signal representative of both the clock period of the clock signal and the difference in phase between the clock signal and the data signal;
a second circuit coupled to the first circuit and arranged to provide a reference signal representative of the clock period of the clock signal and duration of whose pulses is dependent only on the clock period of the clock signal;
a third circuit coupled to receive the phase difference signal and responsive to extend by a predetermined amount the duration of signal pulses of the phase difference signal; and
wherein a comparison of the phase difference signal with the reference signal provides an indication of the phase difference between the clock signal and the data signal and an indication of the magnitude of said phase difference;
and wherein the indication of the magnitude of the phase difference between the clock signal and the data signal varies linearly with said phase difference.
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Abstract
The invention provides an improved method and apparatus for detecting the phase difference between a digital data signal and a clock signal. By ensuring that no pulse in the output phase signal is narrow enough to introduce a non-linearity, the present invention avoids a source of non-linearity exhibited in existing phase detectors.
In addition, by ensuring that critical timing paths through the circuit contain similar circuit blocks, with similar propagation delays, relative time relationships are preserved from clock and data inputs to XOR inputs. The circuit is therefore largely insensitive to changes in the characteristics of the components so long as they all move together, as they would in an integrated circuit implementation.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A digital signal phase detector comprising:
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a data signal input for receiving a data signal; a clock signal input for receiving a clock signal; a first circuit coupled to the data signal input and the clock signal input and arranged to provide a phase difference signal representative of both the clock period of the clock signal and the difference in phase between the clock signal and the data signal; a second circuit coupled to the first circuit and arranged to provide a reference signal representative of the clock period of the clock signal and duration of whose pulses is dependent only on the clock period of the clock signal; a third circuit coupled to receive the phase difference signal and responsive to extend by a predetermined amount the duration of signal pulses of the phase difference signal; and wherein a comparison of the phase difference signal with the reference signal provides an indication of the phase difference between the clock signal and the data signal and an indication of the magnitude of said phase difference; and wherein the indication of the magnitude of the phase difference between the clock signal and the data signal varies linearly with said phase difference. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of digital signal phase detection comprising the steps of:
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providing a data signal; providing a clock signal; providing a phase difference signal responsive to and representative of both the clock period of the clock signal and the difference in phase between the clock signal and data signal; providing a reference signal responsive to and representative of the clock period of the clock signal and duration of whose pulses is dependent only on the clock period of the clock signal; extending by a predetermined amount the duration of the signal pulses of the phase difference signal; and comparing the phase difference signal with the reference signal whereby to provide an indication of the phase difference between the clock signal and the data signal and an indication of the magnitude of said phase difference, which indication varies linearly with said phase difference.
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15. The method of digital signal phase detection comprising the steps of:
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provision of a reduced data digital output signal which changes state upon receipt of either only rising or only falling state transitions in a digital input signal; resynchronisation to provide a resynchronised reduced data signal upon receipt of a clock input signal and the reduced data output signal; phase-shifting to provide a first phase-shifted resynchronised reduced data signal upon receipt of the resynchronised reduced data signal and one or more clock signals; phase-shifting to provide a second phase-shifted resynchronised reduced data signal upon receipt of the first phase-shifted resynchronised reduced data signal and one or more clock signals; provision of a phase difference signal being the exclusive OR of the reduced data signal and the first phase-shifted resynchronised reduced data signal; provision of a reference signal being the exclusive OR of the resynchronised reduced data signal and the second phase-shifted resynchronised reduced data signal; and whereby the difference between the phase difference signal and the reference signal varies linearly with the difference in phase between the data signal and the clock signal used in resynchronisation.
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Specification