Flux linked LC tank circuits forming distributed clock networks

• US 7,511,588 B2
• Filed: 07/19/2005
• Issued: 03/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures Holding 81 LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: LC Tank LLC
• Inventors: Gabara, Thaddeus John
• Primary Examiner(s): Pascal, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Goodley, James E
• Application Number:
  US11/185,001
• Publication Number:
  US 20070018740A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,351 Days
• Field of Search: 331/46, 331/55, 331/117.FE, 331/181, 331/167, 331/117.R
• US Class Current: 331/117.0FE
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/10 Distribution of clock signals , e.g. skew
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/16145 the bodies being stacked
• CPC Class Codes: H03B 2200/0076 Power combination of several oscillators oscillating at the same frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H03B 5/1212 the amplifier comprising a pair of transistors, wherein an output terminal of each being connected to an input terminal of the other, e.g. a cross coupled pair
• CPC Class Codes: H03B 5/1228 the amplifier comprising one or more field effect transistors
• CPC Class Codes: H03B 5/1243 the means comprising voltage variable capacitance diodes

Abstract

CMOS LC tank circuits and flux linkage between inductors can be used to distribute and propagate clock signals over the surface of a VLSI chip or processor. The tank circuit offers an adiabatic behavior that recycles the energy between the reactive elements and minimizes losses in a conventional sense. Flux linkage can be used to orchestrate a number of seemingly individual and distributed CMOS LC tank circuits to behave as one unit. In one example, the distribution of a 45° separated multi-phase balanced oscillations over the surface of die 1.6 cm×1.6 cm at 10 GHz is expected to dissipate under 10 W and offers a potential to significantly reduce the road map predictions of 100 W. Simulations of several CMOS tank circuits indicate that the power dissipation can be reduced an order of magnitude when compared to conventional techniques. A passive flux linkage, mechanical, and finite state machine technique of frequency adjustment of an oscillator are described.

Claims

1. An oscillator network comprising:

at least one oscillator network output;

a first tank circuit;

at least one additional tank circuit;

wherein

each tank circuit comprises

a first and second output,

a plurality of coils each having a first and second lead,

at least one coil encompassing a first surface different from a second surface encompassed by the remaining coils,

the first and second leads of the plurality of coils directly connected respectively to the first and second outputs,

at least two transistors of one conductivity type cross coupled to each other, and

at least one capacitor; and

at least one coil in the first tank circuit having a flux linkage to at least one coil in the additional tank circuit, wherein

at least one of the coils in the first tank circuit overlaps and shares a common encompassed surface on a first substrate with at least one of the coils in one of the additional tank circuits.

2. The network of claim 1, wherein

at least one of the plurality of coils in each tank circuit is located on the first substrate and the remaining coils are located on a different substrate.

3. The network of claim 1 further comprising;

at least one adjustable capacitor.

4. The network of claim 2, wherein

the coil from the first substrate is juxtaposed to one of the remaining coils located on the different substrate.

5. A method of synchronizing a clock network formed on a substrate comprising the steps of:

placing a plurality of tank circuits on the substrate;

whereby

at least one tank circuit comprises

a first and second output,

a plurality of coils each having a first and second lead,

the first and second leads of the plurality of coils directly connected respectively to the first and second outputs, and

at least one coil encompassing a first surface different from a second surface encompassed by the remaining coils;

linking the flux of at least one coil in a first tank circuit selected from the plurality of tank circuits to the flux of at least one coil in a second tank circuit selected from the plurality of tank circuits to exchange information;

overlapping and sharing a common encompassed surface between at least one of the coils in the first tank circuit and at least one of the coils in the second tank circuit; and

utilizing the exchanged information to automatically self-align a clock signal generated by the plurality of tank circuits;

thereby

synchronizing the clock network.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein

the exchanged information is continuously updated to maintain synchronization.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein

the tank circuits further comprises;

a means for regeneration.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein

the clock network is synchronized on the substrate.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein

the clock network generates at least two different phases of the clock signal.

10. The method according to claim 5, wherein

the plurality of tank circuits are substantially the same.

11. The method according to claim 5, wherein

a startup circuit provides an initial energy to the network

12. A clock generating system comprising:

a first tank circuit;

at least one additional tank circuit;

wherein

each tank circuit comprises

a first and second output,

a plurality of coils each having a first and second lead,

the first and second leads of the plurality of coils directly connected respectively to the first and second outputs,

at least one coil encompassing a first surface different from a second surface encompassed by the remaining coils,

at least one capacitor, and

a regenerative circuit; and

an interconnection network that couples the two or more tank circuits together, wherein

at least one coil from the first tank circuit overlaps and shares a common surface of a substrate with at least one coil from the additional tank circuit.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein

the interconnection network comprises:

a flux-linked network that couples a flux associated with a coil in the first tank circuit to the flux associated with a coil in the additional tank circuit.

14. The system of claim 12 where the tank circuit further comprises:

at least one capacitor.

15. An apparatus for generating a synchronized clock signal on a surface of a substrate comprising:

a plurality of tank circuits;

wherein

each tank circuit comprises

a regenerative circuit,

at least one input,

a first and second output,

a plurality of coils each having a first and second lead,

the first and second leads of the plurality of coils directly connected respectively to the first and second outputs,

at least one coil encompassing a first surface different from a second surface encompassed by the remaining coils,

at least one capacitor, and

a means of connecting the regenerative circuit, coils and capacitor together to form the tank circuit;

at least one of the coils from a first tank circuit overlaps and shares a common surface with at least one coil from a second tank circuit, and

a means of coupling together the plurality of tank circuits placed on the surface of the substrate to generate the synchronized clock signal.

16. An oscillator network comprising:

a plurality of coils;

a plurality of tank circuits;

wherein

each of the plurality of tank circuits comprises a first and second lead of a first coil respectively coupled to a first and second lead of at least one additional coil,

at least one coil encompassing a first surface different from a second surface encompassed by the remaining coils, and

the first and the at least one additional coils are directly connected respectively to a first and second output terminal;

at least one coil from each of the plurality of tank circuits has a flux linkage coupling formed to at least one coil in at least one of the remaining tank circuits;

at least one coil from each of the plurality of tank circuits overlaps and shares a common surface with at least one coil in at least one of the remaining tank circuits; and

at least one continuous path formed through all the tank circuits;

wherein

the path comprises a flux linkage coupling between the coils of two different tank circuits.

17. A multi-phase magnetically linked oscillator network comprising:

a plurality of multi-phase oscillator circuits;

each multi-phase oscillator circuit comprises

a plurality of balanced outputs, and

a plurality of tank circuits coupled in series to form a closed loop structure;

at least one of the tank circuits comprises

a first and second output, and

a plurality of coils each having a first and second lead directly connected respectively to the first and second outputs;

a flux linkage formed between a coil selected from a first multi-phase oscillator circuit and a coil selected from a second multi-phase oscillator circuit;

at least one of the coils in the tank circuit from the first multi-phase oscillator circuit has an encompassed surface on a first substrate different from at least one of the remaining coils in the tank circuit in the first multi-phase oscillator circuit; and

at least one of the coils in a tank circuit from the first multi-phase oscillator circuit overlaps and shares a common encompassed surface on the first substrate with at least one of the coils in a tank circuit in one of the remaining multi-phase oscillator circuits.

18. The network of claim 17, wherein

the coils on the periphery of the surface of a substrate are modified from the initial value of inductance by a multiplication factor of (1+k) to satisfy the boundary condition of the apparatus.

19. The network of claim 17, further comprising:

at least one adjustable capacitor.

20. The network of claim 17, wherein

at least one of the multi-phase outputs from the first multi-phase oscillator circuit is synchronized to one of the multi-phase outputs from the second multi-phase oscillator circuit.

21. A multi-phase magnetic field coupled oscillator network comprising:

a plurality of multi-phase oscillator circuits;

a first multi-phase oscillator circuit comprising

a first plurality of tank circuits coupled in series to form a first closed loop structure,

a first and a second output coupled to one of the first plurality of tank circuits, and

a first plurality of coils each having a first and a second lead directly connected respectively to the first and second outputs;

a second multi-phase oscillator circuit comprising

a second plurality of tank circuits coupled in series to form a second closed loop structure,

a third and a fourth output coupled to one of the second plurality of tank circuits, and a

second plurality of coils each having a first and a second lead directly connected respectively to the third and fourth outputs; and

at least one coil from the first plurality of coils having a magnetic field coupling to at least one coil from the second plurality of coils;

at least one coil from a tank circuit in the first multi-phase oscillator circuit has an encompassed surface on the substrate different from at least one of the remaining coils from the tank circuit in the first multi-phase oscillator circuit; and

at least one coil from the tank circuit from the first multi-phase oscillator circuit overlaps and shares a common encompassed surface on a substrate with at least one of the coils from a tank circuit in the second multi-phase oscillator circuit.

22. The network of claim 21, wherein

the magnetic field coupling synchronizes the network.

23. An oscillator network comprising:

a plurality of tank circuits;

a first tank circuit selected from the plurality of tank circuits comprising

a first plurality of coils each having a first and second lead directly connected respectively to a first and second output of the first tank circuit, and

at least one coil from the first plurality of coils encompassing a first surface different from a second surface encompassed by the remaining coils from the first plurality of coils;

a second tank circuit selected from the plurality of tank circuits comprising

a second plurality of coils each having a first and second lead directly connected respectively to a first and second output of the second tank circuit; and

an interconnect network that couples a coil from the first plurality of coils to at least one coil from the second plurality of coils; and

at least one of the coils from the first tank circuit overlaps and shares a common encompassed surface on a substrate with at least one of the coils in the second tank circuit.

24. The oscillator network of claim 23, wherein

the interconnect network comprises at least one flux linkage between two coils.

25. The oscillator network of claim 23, wherein

the interconnect network synchronizes the oscillator network.

26. The oscillator network of claim 23, wherein

the plurality of tank circuits are distributed over the surface of the substrate and are magnetically coupled together to generate a synchronized clock signal.

27. An oscillator network comprising:

a plurality of coils where each of the coils has a first and second lead;

a plurality of tank circuits where each of the tank circuits has a first and second output;

the first and second outputs of a first tank circuit selected from the plurality of tank circuits are directly connected respectively to the first and second leads of at least one or more coils selected from the plurality of coils;

the first and second outputs of each additional tank circuit selected from the plurality of tank circuits are directly connected respectively to the first and second leads of at least two or more coils selected from the remaining plurality of coils, and

at least one coil from the first tank circuit encompassing a first surface different from a second surface encompassed by the remaining coils from the first tank circuit;

at least one coil from first tank circuit overlaps and shares a common encompassed surface on a substrate with at least one coil from one of the remaining tank circuits; and

at least one coil from each of the plurality of tank circuits has a flux linkage coupling formed to at least one coil in at least one of the remaining tank circuits.

28. The oscillator network of claim 27, wherein

at least one continuous path can be traced through all the tank circuits and the flux linkage coupling formed between the coils of the oscillator network.

29. The oscillator network of claim 27, wherein

the flux linkage coupling synchronizes the oscillator network.