# US 7,609,122 B2 · Method and system for calibration of a tank circuit in a phase lock loop

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- Number: US 7,609,122 B2
- Document ID: US7609122B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 11/868,306
- Filed: 2007-10-05
- Published: 2009-04-09
- Granted: 2009-10-27
- Earliest claimed: 2007-10-05
- Assignees: Silicon Storage Technology, Inc.
- Inventors: Heng-Yu Jian; Zhiwei Xu; Yi-Cheng Wu; Charles Chien
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7609122B2

## CPC

- H03L 7/099: concerning mainly the controlled oscillator of the loop
- H03L 7/103: {the additional signal being a digital signal}
- H03L 7/104: {using an additional signal from outside the loop for setting or controlling a parameter in the loop (H03L7/107, H03L7/12 take precedence)}
- H03L: AUTOMATIC CONTROL, STARTING, SYNCHRONISATION OR STABILISATION OF GENERATORS OF ELECTRONIC OSCILLATIONS OR PULSES (generation of oscillations H03B)

## Abstract

A phase lock loop (PLL) includes a calibration loop for calibrating a tank circuit for capacitance variation through process variations of manufacturing an integrated circuit including the PLL. A capacitance profile for setting the frequency of the PLL at a process comer is stored. At power up, or after an idle time, a calibration is performed at two frequencies. The capacitances of operating the phase lock loop at the two frequencies are determined and stored. During a frequency change, the capacitance of operating the PLL is determined from the capacitance profile and stored capacitances. The capacitance of the PLL is presumed to change linearly with frequency and the two stored capacitances are used to determine a difference capacitance at the selected frequency by linear interpolating between the two stored capacitances, which is added to the capacitance in the capacitance profile at the selected frequency to generate an operating capacitance.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for calibrating a phase lock loop, the method comprising:
receiving a capacitance profile of the phase lock loop for a frequency range and at a process corner;
determining a first capacitance for the phase lock loop to operate at a first frequency;
determining a second capacitance for the phase lock loop to operate at a second frequency;
determining a first capacitance difference from the determined first capacitance to operate at the first frequency and a capacitance corresponding to the first frequency in the received capacitance profile;
determining a second capacitance difference from the determined second capacitance to operate at the second frequency and a capacitance corresponding to the second frequency in the received capacitance profile;
receiving a frequency selection signal for an operating frequency of the phase lock loop;
calculating a difference capacitance corresponding to the operating frequency from the first and second capacitance differences; and
determining a capacitance for operating the phase lock loop at the selected operating frequency in response to the capacitance corresponding to the received capacitance profile at the selected frequency and the calculated difference capacitance.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A method of claim 1 further comprising determining the capacitance profile of the phase lock loop from a plurality of phase lock loops on a plurality of semiconductor substrates.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the determining the first and second capacitances occurs in response to a start up signal.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3 wherein the determining the first and second capacitances further occurs a predetermined idle time after receiving the frequency selection signal.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising generating the capacitance profile of the phase lock loop.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5 wherein generating the capacitance profile includes determining a capacitance to set an operating frequency of the phase lock loop for each of a plurality of operating frequencies and at the process corner.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6 wherein the process corner is a typical process corner of a design of the phase lock loop.

### Claim 8 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5 wherein the generating the capacitance profile comprises:
determining a capacitance for the phase lock loop for each of a plurality of frequencies in the frequency range at a second process corner, the second process corner being indicative of a plurality of phase lock loops.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the determining the capacitance for operating the phase lock loop comprises:
interpolating a difference capacitance at the operating frequency in response to the first and second capacitance differences: and
adding the interpolated difference capacitance to a capacitance of the capacitance profile corresponding to the operating frequency.

### Claim 10

A phase lock loop comprising:
a phase frequency detector for generating a phase frequency signal in response to a reference frequency signal and a feedback frequency signal;
a charge pump for generating a boosted voltage signal in response to the phase frequency signal;
a loop filter for generating a filtered boosted voltage signal in response to the boosted voltage signal;
a voltage controlled oscillator for generating an output frequency signal in response to the filtered boosted voltage signal;
a tank circuit coupled to the voltage controlled oscillator for controlling frequency of the output frequency signal in response to a control signal;
a divider circuit for generating the feedback frequency signal in response to the output frequency signal;
a table for storing the capacitance profile of the phase lock loop,
wherein the capacitance profile of the phase lock loop corresponds to a capacitance profile at a typical process corner of a design of the phase lock loop and determined under a first set of operating conditions,
a storage circuit for storing capacitance values for first and second frequencies; and
a calibration circuit for generating the control signal to set a capacitance of the tank circuit for controlling the frequency of the output frequency signal in response to the filtered boosted voltage signal and a frequency selection signal, the calibration circuit determines the capacitance values of the tank circuit for the phase lock loop to operate at the first and second frequencies in response to the frequency selection signal being indicative of the first and second frequencies, respectively, calculates a capacitance corresponding to an operating frequency in response to the determined capacitances for the first and second frequencies and a capacitance profile, in response to the frequency selection signal being indicative of the operating frequency, and generates the control signal to set the capacitance of the tank circuit at the calculated capacitance in response to the filtered boosted voltage signal and the frequency selection signal being indicative of the operating frequency, the capacitance profile being indicative of a predetermined capacitive profile of the phase lock loop for a frequency range and at a process corner, and wherein the calibration circuit determines the capacitance values of the tank circuit for the phase lock loop to operate at the first and second frequencies and calculates the capacitance corresponding to the operating frequency under a second set of operating conditions, the first and second sets of operating conditions being different.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The phase lock loop of claim 10 wherein the calibration circuit determines the capacitances for the phase lock loop to operate at the first and second frequencies in response to a start up signal.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The phase lock loop of claim 11 wherein the calibration circuit also determines the capacitances for the phase lock loop to operate at the first and second frequencies a predetermined idle time after receiving the frequency selection signal.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The phase lock loop of claim 10 wherein the tank circuit comprises an inductor and an adjustable capacitor, the adjustable capacitor having a capacitance that is selectable in response to the control signal.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The phase lock loop of claim 13 wherein the adjustable capacitor comprises a plurality of selectable capacitor circuits coupled to each other in parallel, each selectable capacitor circuit comprising a switch and a fixed capacitor coupled in series, the switch being enabled or disabled in response to the control signal.

### Claim 15

A phase lock loop comprising:
a phase frequency detector for generating a phase frequency signal in response to a reference frequency signal and a feedback frequency signal;
a charge pump for generating a boosted voltage signal in response to the phase frequency signal;
a loop filter for generating a filtered boosted voltage signal in response to the boosted voltage signal;
a voltage controlled oscillator for generating an output frequency signal in response to the filtered boosted voltage signal;
a tank circuit coupled to the voltage controlled oscillator for controlling frequency of the output frequency signal in response to a control signal;
a divider circuit for generating the feedback frequency signal in response to the output frequency signal;
a storage circuit for storing capacitance values for first and second frequencies; and
a calibration circuit for generating the control signal to set a capacitance of the tank circuit for controlling the frequency of the output frequency signal in response to the filtered boosted voltage signal and a frequency selection signal, the calibration circuit determines the capacitance values of the tank circuit for the phase lock loop to operate at the first and second frequencies in response to the frequency selection signal being indicative of the first and second frequencies, respectively, calculates a capacitance corresponding to an operating frequency in response to the determined capacitances for the first and second frequencies and a capacitance profile of the phase lock loop for a frequency range and at a process corner, in response to the frequency selection signal being indicative of the operating frequency, and generates the control signal to set the capacitance of the tank circuit at the calculated capacitance in response to the filtered boosted voltage signal and the frequency selection signal being indicative of the operating frequency,
wherein the capacitance profile of the phase lock loop corresponds to capacitance values of a plurality of phase lock loops on a plurality of semiconductor substrates.

### Claim 16

A phase lock loop comprising:
a phase frequency detector for generating a phase frequency signal in response to a reference frequency signal and a feedback frequency signal;
a charge pump for generating a boosted voltage signal in response to the phase frequency signal;
a loop filter for generating a filtered boosted voltage signal in response to the boosted voltage signal;
a voltage controlled oscillator for generating an output frequency signal in response to the filtered boosted voltage signal;
a tank circuit coupled to the voltage controlled oscillator for controlling frequency of the output frequency signal in response to a control signal;
a divider circuit for generating the feedback frequency signal in response to the output frequency signal;
a storage circuit for storing capacitance values for first and second frequencies; and
a calibration circuit for generating the control signal to set a capacitance of the tank circuit for controlling the frequency of the output frequency signal in response to the filtered boosted voltage signal and a frequency selection signal, the calibration circuit determines the capacitance values of the tank circuit for the phase lock loop to operate at the first and second frequencies in response to the frequency selection signal being indicative of the first and second frequencies, respectively, calculates a capacitance corresponding to an operating frequency in response to the determined capacitances for the first and second frequencies and a capacitance profile of the phase lock loop for a frequency range and at a process corner, in response to the frequency selection signal being indicative of the operating frequency, and generates the control signal to set the capacitance of the tank circuit at the calculated capacitance in response to the filtered boosted voltage signal and the frequency selection signal being indicative of the operating frequency,
wherein the calibration circuit calculates the capacitance corresponding to the operating frequency using an interpolation of the capacitances for the first and second frequencies and adding the interpolation to a capacitance of the capacitance profile corresponding to the operating frequency.