Method and apparatus for clock skew control with low jitter in an integrated circuit

A method for adjusting a clock skew between N clock signals, wherein N≥3, said method comprising:

• configuring 2(N−1) skew sensors as successive pairs k of two skew sensors per pair, where k=1, 2, 3, . . . each successive pair k comprising a first skew sensor and a second skew sensor;
• receiving, by the first skew sensor of the pair k, third and fourth clock signals, wherein the third clock signal is obtained by delaying the first clock signal by a first delay and the fourth clock signal is obtained by delaying the second clock signal by a second delay;
• receiving, by the second skew sensor of the pair k, fifth and sixth clock signals, wherein the fifth clock signal is obtained by delaying the first clock signal by a third delay and the sixth clock signal is obtained by delaying the second clock signal by a fourth delay wherein for each pair k, the second clock signal being delayed at each first skew sensor and second skew sensor of the respective pair k corresponds to a (k+1)th clock of said N clock signals and is different than a second clock signal being delayed at a different pair k;
• generating, by the first skew sensor of the pair k, first information based on the third and fourth clock signals, wherein the first information varies depending on a clock skew between the first and second clock signals;
• generating, by the second skew sensor of the pair k, second information based on the fifth and sixth clock signals, wherein the second information varies depending on the clock skew between the first and second clock signals;
• and
• performing the clock skew adjustment based on the first and second information, and
• stopping, by a clock skew controller, the clock skew adjustment when the clock skew is within a first window ranging from (−ΔtA−S) and (ΔtB+S), where ΔtA corresponds to a difference between the first and second delays, ΔtB corresponds to a difference between the third and fourth delays, and S is a sensing resolution of each of the first and second skew sensors,
• and wherein said clock skew adjustment is performed in an initial first clock skew adjustment period and in subsequent clock skew adjustment periods of the pair k.

A computer program product stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable program instructions, the computer readable program instructions read and carried out by a processing device for performing a method of adjusting a clock skew between N clock signals, wherein N≥3,

• wherein the method comprises:
• configuring 2(N−1) skew sensors as successive pairs k of two skew sensors per pair, where k=1, 2, 3, . . . each successive pair k comprising a first skew sensor and a second skew sensor;
• receiving, by the first skew sensor of the pair k, third and fourth clock signals, wherein the third clock signal is obtained by delaying the first clock signal by a first delay and the fourth clock signal is obtained by delaying the second clock signal by a second delay;
• receiving, by the second skew sensor of the pair k, fifth and sixth clock signals, wherein the fifth clock signal is obtained by delaying the first clock signal by a third delay and the sixth clock signal is obtained by delaying the second clock signal by a fourth delay wherein for each pair k, the second clock signal being delayed at each first skew sensor and second skew sensor of the respective pair k corresponds to a (k+1)th clock of said N clock signals and is different than a second clock signal being delayed at a different pair k;
• generating, by the first skew sensor of the pair k, first information based on the third and fourth clock signals, wherein the first information varies depending on a clock skew between the first and second clock signals;
• generating, by the second skew sensor of the pair k, second information based on the fifth and sixth clock signals, wherein the second information varies depending on the clock skew between the first and second clock signals;
• and
• performing the clock skew adjustment based on the first and second information, and
• stopping, by a clock skew controller, the clock skew adjustment when the clock skew is within a first window ranging from (−ΔtA−S) and (ΔtB+S), where ΔtA corresponds to a difference between the first and second delays, ΔtB corresponds to a difference between the third and fourth delays, and S is a sensing resolution of each of the first and second skew sensors,
• and wherein said clock skew adjustment is performed in an initial first clock skew adjustment period and in subsequent clock skew adjustment periods of the pair k and wherein said clock skew adjustment is performed in an initial first clock skew adjustment period and in subsequent clock skew adjustment periods.