Compensation for crystal offset in PLL-based crystal oscillators

• US 8,242,849 B1
• Filed: 03/30/2011
• Issued: 08/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skyworks Solutions Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Incorporated
• Inventors: Seethamraju, Srisai R., Anker, William J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US13/076,081
• Time in Patent Office: 503 Days
• Field of Search: 331/44, 331/17
• US Class Current: 331/44
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 1/00 Stabilisation of generator output against variations of physical values, e.g. power supply
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/1976 using a phase accumulator for controlling the counter or frequency divider

Abstract

A crystal offset value is stored in non-volatile memory in an oscillator device. The crystal offset value corresponds to a ratio between a rated frequency of an output of a crystal oscillator and a measured frequency of the output of the crystal oscillator. A rated divide value that corresponds to a selected frequency for an output of the oscillator device assumes the crystal oscillator operates at its rated or ideal frequency. Thus, the rated divide value corresponds to the rated frequency. The rated divide value is adjusted by the crystal offset value to generate an adjusted divide value and the adjusted divide value is used to generate an output signal of the oscillator device with the selected frequency.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

storing in on-chip storage in an oscillator device a crystal offset value that is based on a ratio between a rated frequency of an output of a crystal oscillator and a measured frequency of the output of the crystal oscillator;

storing a rated divide value corresponding to a selected frequency for an output of the oscillator device, the rated divide value corresponding to the rated frequency;

adjusting the rated divide value by the crystal offset value and generating an adjusted divide value; and

using the adjusted divide value to generate an output signal of the oscillator device with the selected frequency.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

measuring the frequency of the output of the crystal oscillator;

determining the ratio between the rated frequency and the measured frequency as the crystal offset value; and

loading the crystal offset value into the on-chip storage.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein adjusting the rated divide value comprises:

scaling in a multiplier the rated divide value by the crystal offset.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

dividing a feedback divider coupled to a voltage controlled oscillator according to the adjusted feedback divider value.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the on-chip storage is non-volatile memory.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising generating the output signal of the oscillator device with the selected frequency utilizing a phase-locked loop.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a crystal oscillator;

a crystal offset storage storing a crystal offset based on a ratio between a rated crystal oscillator output frequency and a measured crystal oscillator output frequency; and

a loop circuit coupled to the crystal oscillator, a selected output frequency of the loop circuit being determined, in part, according to the crystal offset.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the loop circuit is a phase-locked loop.

9. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the crystal offset storage is non-volatile memory.

10. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the crystal offset is used to generate a divider value for a feedback divider for the phase-locked loop.

11. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the feedback divider is a fractional-N divider.

12. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 further comprising:

a multiplier to multiply a rated divide value by the crystal offset, the rated divide value corresponding to a divide value if the crystal frequency were at the rated value.

13. The apparatus as recited in claim 12 wherein the rated divide value is part of a frequency plan for the loop circuit to output the selected frequency.

14. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the apparatus includes a bypass mode on power-up and prior to programming of the apparatus, the bypass mode supplying the crystal oscillator signal to an output of the apparatus.

15. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 further comprising a voltage control terminal on the apparatus to adjust the output frequency of the loop circuit.

16. The apparatus as recited in claim 7,

wherein the apparatus includes a package housing a crystal of the crystal oscillator and an integrated circuit die.

17. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the frequency plan is programmed through a serial interface while the apparatus is disposed on a printed circuit board.

18. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the frequency plan is stored in the device.

19. A method of making an oscillator comprising:

measuring a frequency of a crystal oscillator at an output terminal of an integrated circuit;

determining a crystal offset based on a ratio between a rated frequency and the measured frequency of the crystal oscillator; and

storing the crystal offset in non-volatile memory on an integrated circuit including at least a portion of the oscillator to thereby allow the oscillator to output a selected frequency using a frequency plan for the rated frequency of the crystal oscillator.

20. An apparatus comprising:

a printed circuit board including a plurality of oscillator devices, each of the oscillator devices including,

a crystal oscillator;

a crystal offset storage storing as a crystal offset a frequency ratio between a rated crystal oscillator output frequency of the crystal oscillator and a measured crystal oscillator output frequency of the crystal oscillator;

a loop circuit coupled to the crystal oscillator, an output frequency of the loop circuit being determined, in part, according to the crystal offset; and

a multiplier to multiply a rated divide value by the crystal offset, the rated divide value corresponding to a divide value if the crystal frequency were at the rated value;

wherein each of the oscillator devices is configured to utilize an identical frequency plan and each of the oscillator devices has a different crystal offset.