Clock-free activation circuit
First Claim
1. A circuit, comprising:
- a capacitor;
a substantially constant current source for charging the capacitor;
a subcircuit for generating a signal causing the capacitor to discharge upon detecting a first type of transition in the incoming data stream, the capacitor charging upon being at least partially discharged; and
a comparator for comparing a voltage on a node directly coupled to the capacitor against a reference voltage, the comparator outputting a first signal if the voltage on the node is higher than the reference voltage and outputting a second signal if the voltage on the node is lower than the reference voltage, the first signal being associated with a first logic value, the second signal being associated with a second logic value.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A circuit for recovering data from an incoming data stream according to one embodiment includes a capacitor and a substantially constant current source for charging the capacitor. A subcircuit generates a signal causing the capacitor to discharge upon detecting a first type of transition in the incoming data stream, the capacitor re-charging upon being at least partially discharged. A comparator compares a voltage on a node coupled to the capacitor to a reference voltage, the comparator outputting a first signal if the voltage on the node is higher than the reference voltage and outputting a second signal if the voltage on the node is lower than the reference voltage, the first signal being associated with a first logic value, the second signal being associated with a second logic value.
108 Citations
27 Claims
-
1. A circuit, comprising:
- a capacitor;
a substantially constant current source for charging the capacitor; a subcircuit for generating a signal causing the capacitor to discharge upon detecting a first type of transition in the incoming data stream, the capacitor charging upon being at least partially discharged; and a comparator for comparing a voltage on a node directly coupled to the capacitor against a reference voltage, the comparator outputting a first signal if the voltage on the node is higher than the reference voltage and outputting a second signal if the voltage on the node is lower than the reference voltage, the first signal being associated with a first logic value, the second signal being associated with a second logic value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 24, 27)
- a capacitor;
-
10. A circuit for recovering data from an incoming data stream, comprising:
-
a time-to-voltage converter for generating first and second signals based on transitions in an incoming data stream, the first signal being associated with a first logic value, the second signal being associated with a second logic value; and logic for identifying transitions in the incoming data stream, the transitions being used to identify individual logic values from the first and second signals; the converter further including a comparator for comparing a voltage on a node directly coupled to the capacitor against a reference voltage, the comparator outputting the first signal if the voltage on the node is higher than the reference voltage and outputting the second signal if the voltage on the node is lower than the reference voltage, the first signal being associated with the first logic value, the second signal being associated with the second logic value. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
-
-
13. A method for recovering data from an incoming data stream, comprising:
- charging a capacitor;
sequentially performing the following sequence; discharging the capacitor upon detecting a first type of transition in the incoming data stream;
charging the capacitor after the capacitor is at least partially discharged;
comparing a voltage on a node directly coupled to the capacitor against a reference voltage;outputting a first signal if the voltage on the node is higher than the reference voltage, the first signal being associated with a first logic value; and
outputting a second signal if the voltage on the node is lower than the reference voltage, the second signal being associated with a second logic value. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26)
- charging a capacitor;
-
22. A method for recovering data in an incoming data stream, comprising:
-
using a time-to-voltage converter to generate first and second signals based on transitions in an incoming data stream; comparing a voltage of the incoming data stream on a node directly coupled to a capacitor against a reference voltage, outputting the first signal if the voltage of the time-to-voltage converter is higher than a reference voltage, the first signal being associated with a first logic value; outputting a second signal if the voltage of the time-to-voltage converter is lower than the reference voltage, the second signal being associated with a second logic value; and using transitions in the incoming data stream to identify individual logic values from the first and second signals. - View Dependent Claims (23)
-
Specification