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US 9,000,848 B2Granted
Noise reduction in MEMS oscillators and related apparatus and methods
AssigneeSand 9, Inc.
InventorPritiraj Mohanty
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Mechanical resonating structures are used to generate signals having a target frequency with low noise. The mechanical resonating structures may generate output signals containing multiple frequencies which may be suitably combined with one or more additional signals to generate the target frequency with low noise. The mechanical resonating structures may be used to form oscillators.
Claims13
A method, comprising:
- generating a multiple-frequency output signal of a mechanical resonating structure;
- generating, from the multiple-frequency output signal, a correction signal comprising at least one frequency;
- and
- combining the correction signal and at least a portion of the multiple-frequency output signal, wherein combining the correction signal and at least the portion of the multiple-frequency output signal produces a combined signal comprising a target frequency, and wherein the combined signal comprising the target frequency has greater stability than the multiple-frequency output signal.
1 more element
A method, comprising:
- generating a multiple-frequency output signal of a mechanical resonating structure;
- generating, from the multiple-frequency output signal, a correction signal comprising at least one frequency;
- and
- combining the correction signal and at least a portion of the multiple-frequency output signal, wherein combining the correction signal and at least the portion of the multiple-frequency output signal produces a combined signal comprising a target frequency, and wherein the combined signal comprising the target frequency has improved noise characteristics compared to the multiple-frequency output signal.
1 more element
A timing oscillator, comprising:
- a mechanical resonator;
- a driving circuit configured to excite the mechanical resonator, wherein the mechanical resonator is configured to produce a multiple-frequency output signal in response to being excited by the driving circuit;
- correction circuitry configured to generate, from the multiple-frequency output signal, a correction signal comprising at least one frequency;
- and
- combination circuitry configured to combine the correction signal and at least a portion of the multiple-frequency output signal,
- wherein the multiple-frequency output signal comprises a first frequency comb, and wherein the correction signal comprises a second frequency comb,
- wherein the mechanical resonator is configured to exhibit multiple resonance modes, and wherein the driving circuit is configured to excite the multiple resonance modes of the mechanical resonator,
- wherein the multiple resonance modes include a target resonance mode and at least one spurious resonance mode, and wherein the at least one spurious resonance mode is associated with a coupling between a suspended portion of the mechanical resonator and at least one anchor.
5 more elements
A timing oscillator, comprising:
- a mechanical resonator;
- a driving circuit configured to excite the mechanical resonator, wherein the mechanical resonator is configured to produce a multiple-frequency output signal in response to being excited by the driving circuit;
- correction circuitry configured to generate, from the multiple-frequency output signal, a correction signal comprising at least one frequency;
- and
- combination circuitry configured to combine the correction signal and at least a portion of the multiple-frequency output signal,
- wherein the combination circuitry comprises circuitry configured to perform a subtraction operation to produce a combined signal, and
- wherein the combined signal comprises a target frequency, and wherein the combined signal comprising the target frequency has greater stability than the multiple-frequency output signal.
4 more elements
A timing oscillator, comprising:
- a mechanical resonator;
- a driving circuit configured to excite the mechanical resonator, wherein the mechanical resonator is configured to produce a multiple-frequency output signal in response to being excited by the driving circuit;
- correction circuitry configured to generate, from the multiple-frequency output signal, a correction signal comprising at least one frequency;
- and
- combination circuitry configured to combine the correction signal and at least a portion of the multiple-frequency output signal,
- wherein the combination circuitry comprises circuitry configured to perform a subtraction operation to produce a combined signal, and
- wherein the combined signal comprises a target frequency, and wherein the combined signal comprising the target frequency has improved noise characteristics compared to the multiple-frequency output signal.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.