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US 7,375,593 B2Granted
Circuits and methods of generating and controlling signals on an integrated circuit
OwnerPaul William Ronald Selfinventor
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Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention include an integrated circuit comprising an integrated transmission line, wherein the integrated transmission line is used as a timing reference for a feedback loop and wherein the feedback loop and the transmission line are integrated on a single integrated circuit. The feedback loop and transmission line may be used as a frequency generator or controlled delay, for example. In another embodiment, the present invention includes a timing loop with first and second commutating phase detectors.
Claims16
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a phase detector and a voltage controlled oscillator coupled in series;
- and
- a transmission line having an input coupled to at least one output of the voltage controlled oscillator, the transmission line providing a time delay between the transmission line input and a transmission line output,
- wherein the phase detector includes a first input coupled to the transmission line output and a second input coupled to at least one output of the voltage controlled oscillator, wherein an entire propagation time delay between the transmission line input and the transmission line output sets the frequency of the voltage controlled oscillator, and wherein the phase detector, the voltage controlled oscillator, and the transmission line are integrated on a single integrated circuit, wherein the voltage controlled oscillator output is conditioned to avoid locking onto fractional values of the entire propagation time delay.
1 more element
A method of generating an electronic signal comprising:
- delaying a first signal by a first delay in an integrated transmission line to produce a first delayed signal;
- coupling the first delayed signal in a feedback loop with at least one other signal, wherein the feedback loop includes a phase detector;
- and
- detecting a phase difference between the first delayed signal and said at least one other signal, and in accordance therewith, changing a voltage at an input of a voltage controlled oscillator,
- wherein an entire propagation time delay between the transmission line input and the transmission line output sets the frequency of the voltage controlled oscillator, and wherein the phase detector, the voltage controlled oscillator, and the transmission line are integrated on a single integrated circuit, wherein the voltage controlled oscillator output is conditioned to avoid locking onto fractional values of the entire propagation time delay.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.