Voltage-controlled ring oscillator with delay line
First Claim
1. Multi-phase oscillator for generating multiple phase-shifted oscillator signals comprising:
- a ring oscillator having a number of concatenated oscillator delay cells which are interconnected to generate an oscillator signal, wherein phase-shifted oscillator signals are generated between the oscillator delay cells;
a phase-blending unit configured to receive two phase-shifted oscillator signals and to generate a mid-phase oscillator signal mpo whose phase shift is between the shifts of the two phase-shifted oscillator signals;
an interpolator delay line having a number of concatenated interpolator delay cells to generate further phase-shifted oscillator signals based on the mid-phase oscillator signal; and
wherein the concatenated oscillator delay cells and the concatenated interpolator delay cells have the same delay, in particular the concatenated oscillator delay cells and the concatenated interpolator delay cells are identical in configuration.
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Abstract
The invention relates to a multi-phase oscillator for generating multiple phase-shifted oscillator signals including: a ring oscillator having a number of concatenated oscillator delay cells which are interconnected to generate an oscillator signal, wherein phase-shifted oscillator signals are generated between the oscillator delay cells; a phase-blending unit configured to receive two phase-shifted oscillator signals and to generate a mid-phase oscillator signal whose phase shift is between the shifts of the two phase-shifted oscillator signals; and an interpolator delay line having a number of concatenated interpolator delay cells to generate further phase-shifted oscillator signals.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. Multi-phase oscillator for generating multiple phase-shifted oscillator signals comprising:
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a ring oscillator having a number of concatenated oscillator delay cells which are interconnected to generate an oscillator signal, wherein phase-shifted oscillator signals are generated between the oscillator delay cells; a phase-blending unit configured to receive two phase-shifted oscillator signals and to generate a mid-phase oscillator signal mpo whose phase shift is between the shifts of the two phase-shifted oscillator signals; an interpolator delay line having a number of concatenated interpolator delay cells to generate further phase-shifted oscillator signals based on the mid-phase oscillator signal; and wherein the concatenated oscillator delay cells and the concatenated interpolator delay cells have the same delay, in particular the concatenated oscillator delay cells and the concatenated interpolator delay cells are identical in configuration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. Multi-phase oscillator for generating multiple phase-shifted oscillator signals comprising:
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a ring oscillator having a number of concatenated oscillator delay cells which are interconnected to generate an oscillator signal, wherein phase-shifted oscillator signals are generated between the oscillator delay cells; a phase-blending unit configured to receive two phase-shifted oscillator signals and to generate a mid-phase oscillator signal mpo whose phase shift is between the shifts of the two phase-shifted oscillator signals; an interpolator delay line having a number of concatenated interpolator delay cells to generate further phase-shifted oscillator signals based on the mid-phase oscillator signal; and wherein frequency range switches are provided to selectively couple at least one of the interpolator delay cells into the concatenation of the oscillator delay cells in order to extend the ring oscillator, so that the oscillation frequency of the ring oscillator is reduced.
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9. Multi-phase oscillator for generating multiple phase-shifted oscillator signals comprising:
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a ring oscillator having a number of concatenated oscillator delay cells which are interconnected to generate an oscillator signal, wherein phase-shifted oscillator signals are generated between the oscillator delay cells; a phase-blending unit configured to receive two phase-shifted oscillator signals and to generate a mid-phase oscillator signal mpo whose phase shift is between the shifts of the two phase-shifted oscillator signals; an interpolator delay line having a number of concatenated interpolator delay cells to generate further phase-shifted oscillator signals based on the mid-phase oscillator signal; and wherein oscillator dummy load blocks are provided at phase shift taps between those oscillator delay cells which are not connected to the phase-blending unit, so that the load is balanced between each of the oscillator delay cells.
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10. Multi-phase oscillator for generating multiple phase-shifted oscillator signals comprising:
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a ring oscillator having a number of concatenated oscillator delay cells which are interconnected to generate an oscillator signal, wherein phase-shifted oscillator signals are generated between the oscillator delay cells; a phase-blending unit configured to receive two phase-shifted oscillator signals and to generate a mid-phase oscillator signal mpo whose phase shift is between the shifts of the two phase-shifted oscillator signals; an interpolator delay line having a number of concatenated interpolator delay cells to generate further phase-shifted oscillator signals based on the mid-phase oscillator signal; and wherein an interpolator dummy load block is provided at an output of the last interpolator delay cell, so that each of the interpolator delay cells has the same load at its output.
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Specification