Clock receiver circuit for on-die salphasic clocking
First Claim
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1. A microelectronic die comprising:
- a differential clock distribution medium having first and second differential signal lines, said first differential signal line to carry a first differential signal component and said second differential signal line to carry a second differential signal component;
a first clock receiver circuit to generate a true clock signal, said first clock receiver circuit having a positive differential clock input and a negative differential clock input, said positive differential clock input coupled to said first differential signal line and said negative differential clock input coupled to said second differential signal line; and
a second clock receiver circuit to generate a complement clock signal, said second clock receiver circuit having a positive differential clock input and a negative differential clock input, said positive differential clock input coupled to said second differential signal line and said negative differential clock input coupled to said first differential signal line.
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Abstract
A clock receiver circuit converts low amplitude, differential clock signal components received from a differential clock distribution medium into a full swing digital clock. The clock receiver circuit can be used as part of, for example, an on-die salphasic clock distribution system within a microelectronic device.
8 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A microelectronic die comprising:
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a differential clock distribution medium having first and second differential signal lines, said first differential signal line to carry a first differential signal component and said second differential signal line to carry a second differential signal component;
a first clock receiver circuit to generate a true clock signal, said first clock receiver circuit having a positive differential clock input and a negative differential clock input, said positive differential clock input coupled to said first differential signal line and said negative differential clock input coupled to said second differential signal line; and
a second clock receiver circuit to generate a complement clock signal, said second clock receiver circuit having a positive differential clock input and a negative differential clock input, said positive differential clock input coupled to said second differential signal line and said negative differential clock input coupled to said first differential signal line. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
said first and second clock receiver circuits have substantially the same circuit architecture.
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3. The microelectronic die of claim 1 wherein:
said first clock receiver circuit includes a folded cascode differential amplifier.
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4. The microelectronic die of claim 2 wherein:
said second clock receiver circuit includes a folded cascode differential amplifier.
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5. The microelectronic die of claim 1 wherein:
said first and second differential signal components are sinusoidal and said true and complement clock signals are square waves.
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6. The microelectronic die of claim 2 wherein:
said differential clock distribution medium is part of a salphasic clock distribution network.
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7. The microelectronic die of claim 1 wherein:
said microelectronic die is part of a microprocessor unit.
Specification