Low-power oscillator

• US 9,432,034 B2
• Filed: 04/01/2015
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nordic Semiconductor ASA
• Original Assignee: Nordic Semiconductor ASA
• Inventors: Bruset, Ola, Vedal, Tor Oyvind
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US14/676,585
• Publication Number:
  US 20150207515A1
• Time in Patent Office: 517 Days
• Field of Search: 331/44, 331/47
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/08 Clock generators with changeable or programmable clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H03B 2201/025 the means being an electronic switch for switching in or out oscillator elements
• CPC Class Codes: H03B 5/20 with frequency-determining element comprising resistance and either capacitance or inductance, e.g. phase-shift oscillator
• CPC Class Codes: H03B 5/32 being a piezoelectric resonator selection of piezoelectric material H10N30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 5/135 by the use of time reference signals, e.g. clock signals
• CPC Class Codes: H03L 7/24 using a reference signal directly applied to the generator

Abstract

An integrated oscillator circuit comprises an oscillator configured to be switched between a first frequency and a second frequency. A switching circuit receives an input representing a target frequency and switches the oscillator between the first and second frequencies at intervals determined by the input, so as to cause the average output frequency of the oscillator to approximate the target frequency.

Claims

1. An integrated oscillator circuit comprising:

an oscillator configured to be switched between a first frequency and a second frequency;

a calibration controller configured to perform a coarse calibration of the oscillator by adjusting the values of the first or second frequencies so that they span a target frequency; and

switching circuitry configured to receive an input representative of the target frequency and to switch the oscillator between the first and second frequencies at intervals determined by the input so as to cause the average output frequency of the oscillator to approximate the target frequency, wherein the calibration controller is further configured to use a reference clock to perform a fine calibration of the oscillator at intervals in order to generate an updated input to be provided to the oscillator.

2. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, wherein the calibration controller is configured to perform the fine calibration of the oscillator periodically.

3. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, configured to vary the interval between fine calibrations according to data relating to the historical accuracy of the oscillator.

4. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, wherein a higher one of the first and second frequencies is less than double a lower one of the two frequencies.

5. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 4, wherein the higher of the first and second frequencies is less than ten percent higher than the lower of the two frequencies.

6. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, wherein one of the first and second frequencies is incrementally adjustable, and wherein the difference between the first and second frequencies is always wider than a smallest increment by which said frequency can be adjusted.

7. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, wherein the switching circuitry is configured to receive an input comprising or encoding a value indicating a switching ratio between the first and second frequencies.

8. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, comprising charge-storing circuitry whose capacitance can be varied between a first value and a second value;

and a current source connected to the charge-storing circuitry, to form an oscillator configured to oscillate at the first frequency when said capacitance is equal to the first value, and at the second frequency when the capacitance is equal to the second value, wherein the switching circuitry is configured to switch the charge-storing circuitry between the first and second capacitance values at intervals determined by the input.

9. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 8, wherein the charge-storing circuitry comprises a first capacitor that is permanently connected into the oscillator circuit, and a second capacitor that is selectively connectable into the circuit.

10. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 8, wherein the charge-storing circuitry comprises first and second capacitors having respective first and second capacitances, and a switch arranged to connect one or other of the first capacitor and the second capacitor into the oscillator circuit at a time.

11. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, wherein the switching circuitry is configured to distribute first-frequency cycles among second-frequency cycles according to a predetermined pattern or dispersion characteristic.

12. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, wherein the switching circuitry comprises a sigma-delta modulator, arranged to distribute frequency cycles at the first frequency as uniformly as possible among frequency cycles at the second frequency, over a finite time period.

13. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, comprising a programmable current source, wherein the oscillator is arranged so that the value of one or both of the first and second frequencies depends on the level of a variable current within the oscillator circuit.

14. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, wherein the calibration controller is configured to perform a fine calibration of the oscillator by counting oscillator output cycles over a reference time period for each of the first and second frequencies.

15. The integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1, wherein the calibration controller is configured to perform a fine calibration of the oscillator by counting pulses from the reference clock over a reference number of oscillator output cycles for each of the first and second frequencies.

16. An integrated circuit comprising the integrated oscillator circuit of claim 1 and further comprising an integrated microprocessor, wherein the integrated circuit is configured (i) to use a crystal oscillator as a system clock for the microprocessor, and (ii) to calibrate the integrated oscillator circuit against the crystal oscillator.

17. The integrated circuit of claim 16, comprising a power-management component configured to turn the crystal oscillator on when one or more criteria are met, wherein the calibration controller is configured to calibrate the integrated oscillator circuit against the crystal oscillator when the crystal oscillator is turned on.

18. The integrated circuit of claim 17, wherein the power-management component is configured to turn on the crystal oscillator in response to the output of a timer which is clocked using the integrated oscillator circuit.

19. The integrated circuit of claim 16, comprising circuitry forming all or part of a radio transmitter or receiver configured to transmit or receive radio packets according to a schedule implemented using the integrated oscillator circuit as a clock source.

20. A method of operating an integrated-circuit oscillator, wherein the oscillator is configured to be switched between a first frequency and a second frequency, the method comprising:

receiving an input representative of a target frequency;

coarsely calibrating the oscillator by adjusting the values of the first or second frequencies so that they span the target frequency;

switching the oscillator between the first and second frequencies at intervals determined by the target frequency so as to cause the average output frequency of the oscillator to approximate the target frequency; and

finely calibrating the oscillator at intervals using a reference clock, to generate an updated input representative of the target frequency.