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US 2009/0267668 A1Published application
Method and apparatus for calibrating a delay chain
AssigneeRealtek Semiconductor Corp.
InventorChia-Liang Lin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Apparatus and methods are provided for calibration within a delay chain. In various embodiments, such apparatus and techniques can be used to address delay mismatch, but are not limited to such applications. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
Claims20
A method for calibrating a variable delay cell within a delay chain, the method comprising:
- receiving a target delay value;
- selectively amplifying a time difference between an output signal and an input signal of the variable delay cell to generate an amplified time difference;
- digitalizing the amplified time difference into a digital delay value;
- and
- adjusting the variable delay cell in accordance with a comparison between the digital delay value and the target delay value.
2 more elements
A method of operating a self-calibrating delay chain, the method comprising:
- receiving a target delay for the self-calibrating delay chain, the self-calibrating delay chain having a plurality of delay devices;
- receiving an input signal at a first delay device having a first delay setpoint;
- receiving the input signal at a time amplifier;
- receiving a first delay signal from the first delay device at the time amplifier;
- generating a time amplified input signal and a time amplified first delayed signal using the time amplifier;
- generating a delay code related to an actual delay between the input signal and the first delayed signal using the time amplified input signal and the time amplified first delayed signal;
- comparing the delay code to the target delay;
- and
- adjusting the first delay setpoint of the first delay device such that subsequent actual delay of the first delay device is essentially equal to the target delay.
6 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a delay chain including a plurality of delay cells;
- and
- a calibration circuit coupled to the delay chain, wherein the calibration circuit is configured to calibrate a delay interval of a delay cell of the plurality of delay cells relative to a target delay interval.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.