High-speed latching technique and application to frequency dividers
First Claim
1. A current switching circuit comprising;
- a load coupled to a first and a second node;
a current regulator coupled to said second and a third node;
an output of an inverter coupled to said second node; and
a clock signal coupled to an input of said inverter.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The inventive technique can dynamically adjust the current being applied within the components of a prescaler or divider. This dynamic scaling of the current can improve the speed of the divider by a factor of two or reduce the average current in half when compared to the conventional prescaler. Inverters are used to directly adjust the dynamic value of the currents. The removal of the conventional NMOS device within the conventional circuit eliminates one gate delay in the CML prescaler. Second, the inventive prescaler circuits operate under a current injection/extraction technique. A group of small matched inverters can be used to drive each current switching circuit independently within the entire prescaler as compared to a large buffer driving the entire conventional prescaler. Finally, dynamic current scaling offers the designer additional flexibility in the design trade off between the maximum current applied to the load and achieving the maximum performance.
36 Citations
31 Claims
-
1. A current switching circuit comprising;
-
a load coupled to a first and a second node; a current regulator coupled to said second and a third node; an output of an inverter coupled to said second node; and a clock signal coupled to an input of said inverter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A current switching latching apparatus comprising;
-
at least two current switching circuits;
whereina current switching circuit comprises; a load coupled to a first and a second node; a current regulator coupled to said second and a third node; an output of an inverter coupled to said second node; a clock signal coupled to an input of said inverter; and a load of a first current switching circuit comprises; a differential amplifier; at least one input signal; at least one output signal; and a load of a second current switching circuit comprises; a cross-coupled latch; and at least one output signal;
wherebysaid output signal of said differential amplifier is coupled to said output signal of said cross-coupled latch. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A frequency divider apparatus comprising;
-
an input terminal and an output terminal; a current switching circuit comprising; a load coupled to a first and a second node; a current regulator coupled to said second and a third node; an output of an inverter coupled to said second node; a clock signal coupled to an input of said inverter; said load having an input port and an output port; and a current switching latching apparatus comprising; at least two current switching circuits;
whereinsaid load of said first current switching circuit comprises a differential amplifier; said load of said second current switching circuit comprises a cross-coupled latch; said output port of said differential amplifier is coupled to said input port of said cross-coupled latch; said input port of said differential amplifier is coupled to said input terminal; said output port of said cross-coupled latch is coupled to said output terminal; and a plurality of current switching latching apparatuses coupled in series forming a closed loop; wherein said output terminal of said last current switching latching apparatus is coupled to said input terminal of said first current switching latching apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A method of adjusting a total current in a load dynamically, the method comprising the steps of;
-
regulating a first current through a load using a current regulator; coupling the output of an inverter at a junction between said load and said current regulator; applying a clock signal to an input of said inverter to introduce an additional current through said load; and summing said first current and said additional current to form said total current;
therebyadjusting said total current in said load dynamically. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
-
-
31. A current switching circuit comprising;
-
a means for regulating a current in a load using a current regulator; a means for introducing an additional current through said load; a clock signal adjusts said additional current means;
therebyadjusting an overall current in said load dynamically.
-
Specification