Isolator with narrow-range clock scrambling unit
AssigneeAvago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.
InventorGek Yong Ng
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An isolation system and isolation device are disclosed. An illustrative isolation device is disclosed to include a transmitter side and receiver side separated by an isolation material. One or more components of the transmitter side operate on a clock signal whereas one or more components of the receiver side operate on a scrambled clock signal. The scrambled clock signal is generated to have a different energy distribution than the clock signal and is also generated to have a dominant peak value that is lower than the dominant peak value of the clock signal.
Claims20
An isolation device, comprising:
- first circuitry;
- second circuitry;
- an isolation material that electrically isolates the first circuitry from the second circuitry;
- a modulator disposed within the first circuitry, the modulator being configured to modulate an input signal into a modulated signal in accordance with a predetermined modulation scheme;
- a transmitter disposed within the first circuitry, the transmitter being configured to transmit the modulated signal across the isolation material to the second circuitry;
- a receiver disposed within the second circuitry, the receiver being configured to receive the modulated signal from the first circuitry;
- a decoder disposed within the second circuitry, the decoder being configured to decode the modulated signal into a reconstructed signal in accordance with the predetermined modulation scheme;
- a clock terminal that receives a clock signal having a first energy distribution across a first frequency spectrum with a first dominant peak value, the clock terminal being disposed within the first circuitry such that the modulator is driven by the clock signal;
- and
- a scrambled clock terminal disposed in the second circuitry such that the decoder is driven by a scrambled clock signal received at the scrambled clock terminal, the scrambled clock terminal being configured to receive the scrambled clock signal having a second energy distribution across a second frequency spectrum with a second dominant peak value, wherein the second frequency spectrum is wider than the first frequency spectrum.
An isolation system, comprising:
- a transmitter that receives an output from a modulator and generates a signal for transmission across an isolation material, wherein the modulator is driven by a first clock signal, wherein the first clock signal comprises a first energy distribution across a first frequency spectrum with a first dominant peak value;
- and
- a receiver that receives the signal transmitted by the transmitter and generates an output based on the received signal, wherein the output of the receiver is provided to a decoder that is driven by a second clock signal, wherein the second clock signal comprises a second energy distribution across a second frequency spectrum with a second dominant peak value, wherein the second dominant peak value is lower than the first dominant peak value, wherein the second frequency spectrum is wider than the first frequency spectrum, wherein the second clock signal is generated by a narrow-range clock scrambling unit, wherein the second clock signal comprises a waveform having a first edge and a second edge, and wherein the narrow-range clock scrambling unit varies at least one of the first edge and the second edge based on a scrambling control signal.
A method of transmitting an input signal across an isolation barrier from a first circuit to a second circuit that is electrically isolated from the first circuit, the method comprising:
- modulating the input signal with a modulator that is driven by a first clock having a first energy distribution across a first frequency spectrum;
- transmitting the modulated input signal across the isolation barrier;
- receiving the transmitted modulated input signal and, in response thereto, generating a received electrical signal in accordance with the transmitted modulated input signal;
- and
- decoding the received electrical signal with a decoder that is driven by a second clock having a second energy distribution across a second frequency spectrum, wherein the second frequency spectrum is wider than the first frequency spectrum, and wherein a transmitter used to transmit the modulated input signal is driven by the second clock.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.