Crystal-less clock generator and operation method thereof

• US 9,024,693 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2013
• Issued: 05/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Liu, Jen-Chieh, Cheng, Kuo-Hsing, Chang, Chi-Yang, Tu, Yo-Hao
• Primary Examiner(s): Gannon, Levi
• Application Number:
  US14/025,834
• Publication Number:
  US 20140361840A1
• Time in Patent Office: 599 Days
• Field of Search: 327/146, 327/147, 327/155, 327/156, 331/1.R, 331 16- 18, 331/44, 331 46- 48, 331/57, 331/175, 331/176, 331/177.V, 375/371, 375373-376
• US Class Current: 331/18
• CPC Class Codes: H03B 2201/0208 the means being an element with a variable capacitance, e.g. capacitance diode
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 3/0315 Ring oscillators
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 1/00 Stabilisation of generator output against variations of physical values, e.g. power supply
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/06 using a reference signal applied to a frequency- or phase-locked loop
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/08 Details of the phase-locked loop
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/085 concerning mainly the frequency- or phase-detection arrangement including the filtering or amplification of its output signal H03L7/10 takes precedence; circuits for comparing the phase or frequency of two mutually-independent oscillations H03D13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/087 using at least two phase detectors or a frequency and phase detector in the loop
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/093 using special filtering or amplification characteristics in the loop H03L7/087 - H03L7/091 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/097 using a comparator for comparing the voltages obtained from two frequency to voltage converters
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/0995 the oscillator comprising a ring oscillator

Abstract

A crystal-less clock generator (CLCG) and an operation method thereof are provided. The CLCG includes a first oscillation circuit, a second oscillation circuit, and a control circuit. The first oscillation circuit is controlled by a control signal for generating an output clock signal of the CLCG. The second oscillation circuit generates a reference clock signal. The control circuit is coupled to the first oscillation circuit for receiving the output clock signal and coupled to the second oscillation circuit for receiving the reference clock signal. The control circuit is used to generate the control signal for the first oscillation circuit according to the relationship between the output clock signal and the reference clock signal.

Claims

1. A crystal-less clock generator (CLCG), comprising:

a first oscillation circuit, controlled by a control signal for generating an output clock signal of the CLCG;

a second oscillation circuit, generating a reference clock signal; and

a control circuit, coupled to the first oscillation circuit for receiving the output clock signal, and coupled to the second oscillation circuit for receiving the reference clock signal, wherein the control circuit is used to generate the control signal for the first oscillation circuit,

wherein the control circuit calculates a first difference between a frequency of the output clock signal and a first reference frequency, calculates a second difference between a frequency of the reference clock signal and a second reference frequency, and generates the control signal for the first oscillation circuit according to a relationship between the first difference and the second difference,

wherein the control circuit takes a frequency of the output clock signal measured after the first oscillation circuit is initialized to serve as the first reference frequency, and takes a frequency of the reference clock signal measured after the second oscillation circuit is initialized to serve as the second reference frequency.

2. The CLCG according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit adjusts the control signal until the first difference is equal to the second difference.

3. The CLCG according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit adjusts the control signal until a product of the first difference and a first weight is equal to a product of the second difference and a second weight.

4. The CLCG according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit takes the frequency of the output clock signal measured for a first time after the first oscillation circuit is initialized to serve as the first reference frequency, and takes the frequency of the reference clock signal measured for a first time after the second oscillation circuit is initialized to serve as the second reference frequency.

5. The CLCG according to claim 1, wherein the first oscillation circuit comprises a digital controlled oscillator.

6. The CLCG according to claim 1, wherein the first oscillation circuit comprises:

a main loop, comprising a plurality of main loop inverters coupled with each other, wherein at least one of the main loop inverters is controlled by the control signal, and an output terminal of one of the main loop inverters generates the output clock signal.

7. The CLCG according to claim 6, wherein the first oscillation circuit further comprises:

at least one secondary loop inverter, wherein an input terminal of the at least one secondary loop inverter is coupled to an output terminal of an i^th main loop inverter among the main loop inverters, and an output terminal of the at least one secondary loop inverter is coupled to an input terminal of an (i-1)^th main loop inverter among the main loop inverters, wherein i is an integer, and an output terminal of the (i-1)^th main loop inverter is coupled to an input terminal of the i^th main loop inverter.

8. The CLCG according to claim 7, wherein the secondary loop inverter is controlled by the control signal.

9. The CLCG according to claim 6, wherein the control signal comprises a coarse-tuning signal and a fine-tuning signal, at least one of the main loop inverters is controlled by the coarse-tuning signal, and the first oscillation circuit further comprises:

at least one varactor, coupled to the output terminal of one of the main loop inverters, wherein the at least one varactor is controlled by the fine-tuning signal.

10. The CLCG according to claim 1, wherein the first oscillation circuit comprises:

N main loop inverters MLI_I-MLI_N, wherein an input terminal of the main loop inverter MLI_I is coupled to an output terminal of the main loop inverter MLI_N, and an input terminal of the main loop inverter MLI_i is coupled to an output terminal of the main loop inverter MLI<sub>i−

1</sub>, wherein N is an integer, i is an integer between 1 and N, at least one of the main loop inverters MLI_I-MLI_N is controlled by the control signal, and an output terminal of one of the main loop inverters MLI_I-MLI_N generates the output clock signal of the CLCG.

11. The CLCG according to claim 10, wherein the first oscillation circuit further comprises:

N secondary loop inverters SLI_I-SLI_N, wherein an input terminal of the secondary loop inverter SLI_i is coupled to an output terminal of the main loop inverter MLI_i+1, and an output terminal of the secondary loop inverter SLI_i is coupled to the input terminal of the main loop inverter MLI_i.

12. The CLCG according to claim 10, wherein the control signal comprises a coarse-tuning signal and a fine-tuning signal, at least one of the main loop inverters MLI_I-MLI_N is controlled by the coarse-tuning signal, and the first oscillation circuit further comprises:

K varactors VC_I-VC_K, wherein a varactor VC_i among the varactors VC_I-VC_K is coupled to an output terminal of the main loop inverter MLI_i, wherein K is an integer, and the varactors VC_I-VC_K are controlled by the fine-tuning signal.

13. The CLCG according to claim 1, wherein a circuit structure of the second oscillation circuit is the same as a circuit structure of the first oscillation circuit.

14. The CLCG according to claim 1, wherein the second oscillation circuit comprises a ring oscillator.

15. The CLCG according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit comprises:

a time-to-digital converter (TDC), coupled to the first oscillation circuit and the second oscillation circuit, wherein the TDC converts the output clock signal into an output clock characteristic value and converts the reference clock signal into a reference clock characteristic value; and

a controller, coupled to an output terminal of the TDC, wherein the controller generates the control signal for the first oscillation circuit according to a relationship between the output clock characteristic value and the reference clock characteristic value.

16. The CLCG according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit correct a frequency error or a frequency accuracy of the output clock signal caused by an environmental variation by adjusting the control signal according to the relationship between the output clock signal and the reference clock signal, and the environmental variation comprises a temperature variation, a voltage variation, or a process variation.

17. A crystal-less clock generator (CLCG), comprising:

a first oscillation circuit, controlled by a control signal for generating an output clock signal of the CLCG;

a second oscillation circuit, generating a reference clock signal; and

a control circuit, coupled to the first oscillation circuit for receiving the output clock signal, and coupled to the second oscillation circuit for receiving the reference clock signal, wherein the control circuit is used to generate the control signal for the first oscillation circuit according to a relationship between the output clock signal and the reference clock signal, wherein the control circuit comprises;

a first time amplifier (TA), wherein an input terminal of the first TA is coupled to an output terminal of the first oscillation circuit, and a gain of the first TA is controlled by a first gain-adjustment signal;

a second TA, wherein an input terminal of the second TA is coupled to an output terminal of the second oscillation circuit, and a gain of the second TA is controlled by a second gain-adjustment signal;

a time-to-digital converter (TDC), coupled to the first TA to convert at least one output signal of the first TA into an output clock characteristic value, and coupled to the second TA to convert at least one output signal of the second TA into a reference clock characteristic value; and

a controller, coupled to the TDC, wherein the controller generates the control signal for the first oscillation circuit according to a relationship between the output clock characteristic value and the reference clock characteristic value.

18. The CLCG according to claim 17, wherein the control circuit further comprises:

a first multiplexer, wherein a first input terminal of the first multiplexer is coupled to an output terminal of the first TA, and a second input terminal of the first multiplexer is coupled to an output terminal of the second TA;

wherein the time-to-digital converter (TDC), coupled to an output terminal of the first multiplexer to convert the at least one output signal of the first TA into the output clock characteristic value and convert the at least one output signal of the second TA into the reference clock characteristic value.

19. The CLCG according to claim 18, wherein the control circuit further comprises:

a second multiplexer, wherein a first input terminal of the second multiplexer is coupled to an output terminal of the controller to receive the control signal, a second input terminal of the second multiplexer receives an external control signal, and an output terminal of the second multiplexer is coupled to the first oscillation circuit to pass the control signal or the external control signal to the first oscillation circuit.

20. The CLCG according to claim 18, wherein the controller comprises:

a demultiplexer, wherein an input terminal of the demultiplexer is coupled to an output terminal of the TDC;

a first register, coupled to a first output terminal of the demultiplexer, and recording a first reference frequency;

a second register, coupled to a second output terminal of the demultiplexer, and recording a second reference frequency;

a third register, coupled to a third output terminal of the demultiplexer, and recording the output clock characteristic value;

a fourth register, coupled to a fourth output terminal of the demultiplexer, and recording the reference clock characteristic value;

a compensator, coupled to the first register, the second register, the third register, and the fourth register, and generating an operation result according to contents of the first register, the second register, the third register, and the fourth register; and

a digital filter, coupled to the compensator, and generating the control signal for the first oscillation circuit according to the operation result of the compensator.

21. The CLCG according to claim 20, wherein the compensator comprises:

a first subtractor, coupled to the second register and the fourth register, and calculating and outputting a difference between the content of the second register and the content of the fourth register;

a fifth register, coupled to an output terminal of the first subtractor, and recording an output of the first subtractor;

an adder, coupled to the first register and the fifth register, and calculating and outputting a sum of the content of the first register and a content of the fifth register;

a sixth register, coupled to an output terminal of the adder, and recording an output of the adder; and

a second subtractor, coupled to the third register and the sixth register, and calculating and outputting a difference between the content of the third register and a content of the sixth register as the operation result.

22. An operation method of a crystal-less clock generator (CLCG), comprising:

generating an output clock signal of the CLCG according to a control signal by a first oscillation circuit;

generating a reference clock signal by a second oscillation circuit;

calculating a first difference between a frequency of the output clock signal and a first reference frequency;

calculating a second difference between a frequency of the reference clock signal and a second reference frequency;

generating the control signal for the first oscillation circuit according to a relationship between the first difference and the second difference;

taking a frequency of the output clock signal measured after the first oscillation circuit is initialized to serve as the first reference frequency; and

taking a frequency of the reference clock signal measured after the second oscillation circuit is initialized to serve as the second reference frequency.

23. The operation method according to claim 22, wherein the step of generating the control signal according to the relationship between the first difference and the second difference comprises:

adjusting the control signal until the first difference is equal to the second difference.

24. The operation method according to claim 22, wherein the step of generating the control signal according to the relationship between the first difference and the second difference comprises:

adjusting the control signal until a product of the first difference and a first weight is equal to a product of the second difference and a second weight.

25. The operation method according to claim 22 further comprising:

taking the frequency of the output clock signal measured for a first time after the first oscillation circuit is initialized to serve as the first reference frequency; and

taking the frequency of the reference clock signal measured for a first time after the second oscillation circuit is initialized to serve as the second reference frequency.

26. The operation method according to claim 22, wherein the first oscillation circuit comprises a digital controlled oscillator (DCO).

27. The operation method according to claim 22, wherein a circuit structure of the second oscillation circuit is the same as a circuit structure of the first oscillation circuit.

28. The operation method according to claim 22, wherein the second oscillation circuit comprises a ring oscillator.

29. The operation method according to claim 22, wherein the step of generating the control signal comprises:

converting the output clock signal into an output clock characteristic value by a time-to-digital converter (TDC);

converting the reference clock signal into a reference clock characteristic value by the TDC; and

generating the control signal for the first oscillation circuit according to a relationship between the output clock characteristic value and the reference clock characteristic value.

30. The operation method according to claim 22, wherein the step of generating the control signal comprises:

amplifying the output clock signal according to a first gain-adjustment signal by a first time amplifier (TA);

amplifying reference clock signal according to a second gain-adjustment signal by a second TA;

converting at least one output signal of the first TA into an output clock characteristic value by a time-to-digital converter (TDC);

converting at least one output signal of the second TA into a reference clock characteristic value by the TDC; and

generating the control signal for the first oscillation circuit according to a relationship between the output clock characteristic value and the reference clock characteristic value.

31. The operation method according to claim 22, wherein a frequency error or a frequency accuracy of the output clock signal caused by an environmental variation is corrected by adjusting the control signal according to the relationship between the output clock signal and the reference clock signal, and the environmental variation comprises temperature variation, voltage variation, or process variation.