Timing signal generating circuit with a master circuit and slave circuits
First Claim
1. A timing signal generating circuit comprising:
- a master circuit for generating an internal signal having the same cycle or the same phase as that of an input reference signal on the basis of a control signal generated by feedback control, said master circuit comprising a comparator circuit for comparing the cycle or phase of said internal signal with that of said reference signal, a control signal generating circuit for varying said control signal in accordance with an output of said comparator circuit, and a first variable delay line for outputting said internal signal by controlling a delay amount for said reference signal in accordance with said control signal, said control signal generating circuit including a charge pump circuit for controlling an output voltage level in accordance with an up signal and a down signal from said comparator circuit;
at least two slave circuits each for generating a timing signal having prescribed timing relative to said reference signal by receiving said internal signal and said control signal from said master circuit, each of said at least two slave circuits comprising a second variable delay line for outputting said timing signal by delaying said internal signal, and a phase interpolator for accepting input signals of different phases and for outputting a finer timing signal of an intermediate phase, without comprising a comparator circuit for comparing the cycle or phase of said internal signal with that of said reference signal, and a control signal generating circuit for varying said control signal in accordance with an output of said comparator circuit; and
at least two receiver circuits, each receiving the finer timing signal output from corresponding one of said slave circuits, latching a receiving signal and detecting a level of the receiving signal based on the finer timing signal, and feedback controlling a delay value of the input signals to said phase interpolator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A semiconductor integrated circuit device has a command decoder for issuing a control command in accordance with a supplied control signal, a DRAM core, and a timing adjusting circuit for supplying the control command, set active for a predetermined period, as a DRAM control signal to the DRAM core. The timing adjusting circuit generates n different clocks that are respectively shifted in phase with respect to a supplied reference clock, and generates the DRAM control signal by setting the control command active in a prescribed operation cycle for only a period starting at a first predetermined clock pulse of a first clock of the n clocks and ending at a second predetermined clock pulse of a second clock of the n clocks. In this way, timing design with relatively high accuracy of adjustment can be done in a short period.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A timing signal generating circuit comprising:
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a master circuit for generating an internal signal having the same cycle or the same phase as that of an input reference signal on the basis of a control signal generated by feedback control, said master circuit comprising a comparator circuit for comparing the cycle or phase of said internal signal with that of said reference signal, a control signal generating circuit for varying said control signal in accordance with an output of said comparator circuit, and a first variable delay line for outputting said internal signal by controlling a delay amount for said reference signal in accordance with said control signal, said control signal generating circuit including a charge pump circuit for controlling an output voltage level in accordance with an up signal and a down signal from said comparator circuit; at least two slave circuits each for generating a timing signal having prescribed timing relative to said reference signal by receiving said internal signal and said control signal from said master circuit, each of said at least two slave circuits comprising a second variable delay line for outputting said timing signal by delaying said internal signal, and a phase interpolator for accepting input signals of different phases and for outputting a finer timing signal of an intermediate phase, without comprising a comparator circuit for comparing the cycle or phase of said internal signal with that of said reference signal, and a control signal generating circuit for varying said control signal in accordance with an output of said comparator circuit; and at least two receiver circuits, each receiving the finer timing signal output from corresponding one of said slave circuits, latching a receiving signal and detecting a level of the receiving signal based on the finer timing signal, and feedback controlling a delay value of the input signals to said phase interpolator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A semiconductor integrated circuit device employing a timing signal generating circuit comprising a master circuit, at least two slave circuits, and at least two receiver circuits, said master circuit and said slave circuit being formed on the same semiconductor chip used for said semiconductor integrated circuit device, wherein:
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said master circuit generates an internal signal having the same cycle or the same phase as that of an input reference signal on the basis of a control signal generated by feedback control; and each of said slave circuits generates a timing signal having prescribed timing relative to said reference signal by receiving said internal signal and said control signal from said master circuit, wherein said master circuit comprises; a comparator circuit for comparing the cycle of phase of said internal signal with that of said reference signal; a control signal generating circuit for varying said control signal in accordance with an output of said comparator circuit, said control signal generating circuit including a charge pump circuit for controlling an output voltage level in accordance with an up signal and a down signal from said comparator circuit; and a first variable delay line for outputting said internal signal by controlling a delay amount for said reference signal in accordance with said control signal, wherein each of said slave circuits comprises; a second variable delay line for outputting said timing signal by delaying said internal signal; and a phase interpolator for accepting input signals of different phases and for outputting a finer timing signal of an intermediate phase, without comprising a comparator circuit for comparing the cycle or phase of said internal signal with that of said reference signal, and a control signal generating circuit for varying said control signal in accordance with an output of said comparator circuit, and wherein each of said receiver circuits receives the finer timing signal output from corresponding one of said slave circuits, latches a receiving signal and detects a level of the receiving signal based on the finer timing signal, and feedback controls a delay value of the input signals to said phase interpolator. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A semiconductor integrated circuit system employing a timing signal generating circuit comprising a master circuit, at least two slave circuits, and at least two receiver circuits, said semiconductor integrated circuit system having a plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit devices, each of said semiconductor integrated circuit devices having said master circuit and/or said slave circuit and being formed on corresponding one semiconductor chip, wherein:
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said master circuit generates an internal signal having the same cycle or the same phase as that of an input reference signal on the basis of a control signal generated by feedback control, and said master circuit is a DLL circuit which comprises a coarse delay control block for performing coarse delay control and a fine delay control block for performing fine delay control, said master circuit comprising a comparator circuit for comparing the cycle or phase of said internal signal with that of said reference signal, a control signal generating circuit for varying said control signal in accordance with an output of said comparator circuit, and a variable delay line for outputting said internal signal by controlling a delay amount for said reference signal in accordance with said control signal, said control signal generating circuit including a charge pump circuit for controlling an output voltage level in accordance with an up signal and down signal from said comparator circuit; each of said at least two slave circuits includes a phase interpolator for accepting input signals of different phases and for outputting a finer timing signal of an intermediate phase, and generates a timing signal having prescribed timing relative to said reference signal by receiving said internal signal and said control signal from said master circuit, without containing a circuit corresponding to said coarse delay control block for performing course delay control; and each of said at least two receiver circuits receives the finer timing signal output from corresponding one of said slave circuits, latches a receiving signal and detects a level of the receiving signal based on the finer timing signal, and feedback controls a delay value of the input signals to said phase interpolator. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification