Apparatus and methods for quadrature clock signal generation

• US 8,760,209 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2012
• Issued: 06/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
• Inventors: Schell, Robert, Kenney, John, Chen, Wei-Hung
• Primary Examiner(s): POOS, JOHN W
• Application Number:
  US13/629,170
• Publication Number:
  US 20140086364A1
• Time in Patent Office: 635 Days
• Field of Search: 327/237, 327/238, 327/239
• US Class Current: 327/237
• CPC Class Codes: H03B 27/00 Generation of oscillations providing a plurality of outputs of the same frequency but differing in phase, other than merely two anti-phase outputs
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 11/22 providing two or more phase shifted output signals, e.g. n-phase output
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 2007/0192 Complex filters
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 7/06 including resistors H03H7/075, H03H7/09, H03H7/12, H03H7/13 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 7/20 Two-port phase shifters providing an adjustable phase shift
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 7/21 providing two or more phase shifted output signals, e.g. n-phase output
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/0025 interpolation of clock signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/033 using the transitions of the received signal to control the phase of the synchronising-signal-generating means, e.g. using a phase-locked loop

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for quadrature clock signal generation are provided. In certain implementations, a quadrature clock signal generator includes a sine-shaping filter and a polyphase filter. The sine-shaping filter can receive an input clock signal such as a square or rectangular wave and can filter the input clock signal to generate a sinusoidal clock signal. Additionally, the polyphase filter can use the sinusoidal clock signal to generate in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) clock signals, which can have a phase difference of about ninety degrees. In certain configurations, the in-phase and quadrature-phase clock signals generated by the polyphase filter can be buffered by a buffer circuit to generate in-phase and quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signals suitable for use in a clock and data recover (CDR) system.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a sine-shaping filter configured to receive a clock input signal and to filter the clock input signal to generate a sinusoidal clock signal; and

a polyphase filter configured to receive the sinusoidal clock signal and to generate an in-phase clock signal and a quadrature-phase clock signal based on the sinusoidal clock signal,

wherein the in-phase clock signal and the quadrature-phase clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship,

wherein the polyphase filter comprises a first stage including a first plurality of resistors and a first plurality of capacitors, wherein the first stage is associated with a first pole of a transfer function of the polyphase filter.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a buffer circuit configured to buffer the in-phase clock signal to generate an in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and to buffer the quadrature-phase clock signal to generate a quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal, wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a phase interpolator configured to generate an interpolated clock signal based on a weighted sum of the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the clock input signal is one of a square wave clock input signal or a rectangular wave clock input signal, wherein the clock input signal has a first period, and wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal each have a period about equal to the first period, and wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have a phase difference about equal to one-quarter of the first period.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the sine-shaping filter comprises an inverter and a resistor, the inverter including an input configured to receive the clock input signal and an output configured to generate the sinusoidal clock signal, wherein the resistor is electrically connected between the input and the output of the inverter.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of resistors comprises a first plurality of variable resistors, wherein the polyphase filter further comprises a pole control block configured to control a location in frequency of the first pole at least in part by controlling resistances associated with the first plurality of variable resistors.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of capacitors comprises a first plurality of variable capacitors, wherein the polyphase filter further comprises a pole control block configured to control a location in frequency of the first pole at least in part by controlling capacitances associated with the first plurality of variable capacitors.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the in-phase clock signal and the quadrature-phase clock signal are configured to have about equal amplitudes when a frequency of the clock input signal is about equal to a frequency of the first pole.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the clock input signal has a first period, and wherein the in-phase clock signal and the quadrature-phase clock signal have a phase difference about equal to one-quarter of the first period when a frequency of the clock input signal is about equal to a frequency of the first pole.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the polyphase filter further comprises a second stage including a second plurality of resistors and a second plurality of capacitors, wherein the second stage is associated with a second pole of the transfer function of the polyphase filter.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the polyphase filter further comprises an inter-stage buffer circuit disposed between the first and second stages, wherein inter-stage buffer circuit is configured to buffer output signals generated by the first stage and to generate buffered signals as inputs to the second stage.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

a sine-shaping filter configured to receive a clock input signal and to filter the clock input signal to generate a sinusoidal clock signal;

a polyphase filter configured to receive the sinusoidal clock signal and to generate an in-phase clock signal and a quadrature-phase clock signal based on the sinusoidal clock signal, wherein the in-phase clock signal and the quadrature-phase clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship;

a buffer circuit configured to buffer the in-phase clock signal to generate an in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and to buffer the quadrature-phase clock signal to generate a quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal, wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship;

a phase interpolator configured to generate an interpolated clock signal based on a weighted sum of the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal; and

a sampler configured to receive a serial data stream and to sample the serial data stream on at least one of a rising edge of a sampling clock signal and a falling edge of the sampling clock signal, wherein the phase interpolator is configured to generate the sampling clock signal based on the interpolated clock signal.

13. An apparatus comprising:

a sine-shaping filter configured to receive a clock input signal and to filter the clock input signal to generate a sinusoidal clock signal;

a polyphase filter configured to receive the sinusoidal clock signal and to generate an in-phase clock signal and a quadrature-phase clock signal based on the sinusoidal clock signal, wherein the in-phase clock signal and the quadrature-phase clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship;

a buffer circuit configured to buffer the in-phase clock signal to generate an in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and to buffer the quadrature-phase clock signal to generate a quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal, wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship; and

a regulator configured to generate a regulated voltage, wherein the regulator is configured to power at least a portion of the buffer circuit using the regulated voltage.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a sine-shaping filter configured to receive a clock input signal and to filter the clock input signal to generate a sinusoidal clock signal;

a polyphase filter configured to receive the sinusoidal clock signal and to generate an in-phase clock signal and a quadrature-phase clock signal based on the sinusoidal clock signal, wherein the in-phase clock signal and the quadrature-phase clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship; and

a buffer circuit configured to buffer the in-phase clock signal to generate an in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and to buffer the quadrature-phase clock signal to generate a quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal, wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship,

wherein the clock input signal, the sinusoidal clock signal, the in-phase clock signal, the quadrature-phase clock signal, the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal, and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal are differential signals.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the polyphase filter comprises a first stage including a first plurality of resistors and a first plurality of capacitors, wherein the first stage is associated with a first pole of a transfer function of the polyphase filter.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a sine-shaping filter configured to receive a clock input signal and to filter the clock input signal to generate a sinusoidal clock signal;

a polyphase filter configured to receive the sinusoidal clock signal and to generate an in-phase clock signal and a quadrature-phase clock signal based on the sinusoidal clock signal, wherein the in-phase clock signal and the quadrature-phase clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship; and

a buffer circuit configured to buffer the in-phase clock signal to generate an in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and to buffer the quadrature-phase clock signal to generate a quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal, wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship,

wherein the buffer circuit comprises a first buffer inverter, a second buffer inverter, a first buffer resistor, and a second buffer resistor, and wherein the first buffer inverter includes an input configured to receive the in-phase clock signal and an output configured to generate the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal, and wherein the second buffer inverter includes an input configured to receive the quadrature-phase clock signal and an output configured to generate the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal, and wherein the first buffer resistor is electrically connected between the input and the output of the first buffer inverter, and wherein the second buffer resistor is electrically connected between the input and the output of the second buffer inverter.

17. A method of clock signal generation, the method comprising:

filtering a clock input signal to generate a sinusoidal clock signal using a sine-shaping filter;

generating an in-phase clock signal and a quadrature-phase clock signal from the sinusoidal clock signal using a polyphase filter,

wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship;

buffering the in-phase clock signal to generate an in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal using a buffer circuit;

buffering the quadrature-phase clock signal to generate a quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal using the buffer circuit, wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship;

generating an interpolated clock signal using a phase interpolator, wherein the interpolated clock signal is based on a weighted sum of the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal; and

generating a sampling clock signal based on the interpolated clock signal and sampling a serial data stream using the sampling clock signal.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have equal amplitudes.

19. A method of clock signal generation comprising:

filtering a clock input signal to generate a sinusoidal clock signal using a sine-shaping filter;

generating an in-phase clock signal and a quadrature-phase clock signal from the sinusoidal clock signal using a polyphase filter, wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship;

buffering the in-phase clock signal to generate an in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal using a buffer circuit; and

buffering the quadrature-phase clock signal to generate a quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal using the buffer circuit, wherein the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal have a quadrature phase relationship,

generating a regulated voltage for the buffer circuit using a regulator.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising generating an interpolated clock signal using a phase interpolator, wherein the interpolated clock signal is based on a weighted sum of the in-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal and the quadrature-phase sinusoidal reference clock signal.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising generating a sampling clock signal based on the interpolated clock signal and sampling a serial data stream using the sampling clock signal.