Electro-mechanical oscillator and method for generating a signal
AssigneePMC-Sierra US, Inc.
InventorsHormoz Djahanshahi, Su-Tarn Lim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An oscillator and method for generating a signal are provided. The oscillator comprises an electro-mechanical resonator and a reconfigurable oscillator driver. The reconfigurable oscillator driver starts the oscillator in single-ended mode to avoid latching and transitions the oscillator to differential mode in such a manner as to sustain oscillations therein. The reconfigurable oscillator driver comprises two back-to-back banks of inverters and an adjustable feedback resistor. In single-ended mode, one bank is disabled and the other bank is enabled. To transition to differential mode and improve the quality of the signal, the number of enabled inverters is equalized in both banks.
Claims15
An oscillator for generating a signal, comprising:
- an electro-mechanical resonator for creating oscillations in the oscillator;
- a reconfigurable oscillator driver connected to the electro-mechanical resonator for initiating and sustaining oscillations therein, the reconfigurable oscillator driver operable in a single-ended mode and a differential mode;
- a controller for starting the reconfigurable oscillator driver in single-ended mode and transitioning to differential mode to avoid latching;
- and
- an output driver circuit connected to the electro-mechanical resonator and reconfigurable oscillator driver for outputting the oscillations as a signal, the output driver circuit comprising either one of a band-pass filter or a tuned amplifier to help output a pure sinusoidal signal.
An oscillator for generating a signal, comprising:
- an electro-mechanical resonator for creating oscillations in the oscillator;
- a reconfigurable oscillator driver connected to the electro-mechanical resonator for initiating and sustaining oscillations therein, the reconfigurable oscillator driver operable in a single-ended mode and a differential mode;
- a controller for starting the reconfigurable oscillator driver in single-ended mode and transitioning to differential mode to avoid latching;
- and
- an output driver circuit connected to the electro-mechanical resonator and reconfigurable oscillator driver for outputting the oscillations as a signal,
- wherein the reconfigurable oscillator driver comprises two back-to-back banks of inverters, wherein in single-ended mode all inverters from one bank are disabled and two or more inverters from the other bank are enabled, when transitioning between single-ended mode and differential mode at least one inverter is enabled in both banks and a different number of inverters are enabled between each bank, and in differential mode an equal number of inverters are enabled in both banks.
A method for generating a signal, comprising:
- operating an oscillator in a single-ended mode;
- controlling the oscillator to transition without latching to operating in a differential mode;
- and
- operating the oscillator in differential mode and outputting the signal, wherein starting the oscillator in single-ended mode comprises enabling a first inverter, disabling a second inverter arranged back-to-back with the first inverter, and maximizing feedback resistance
- wherein transitioning from single-ended mode to differential mode comprises:
- enabling the second inverter and decreasing the feedback resistance to avoid latching;
- waiting for the oscillations to reach a steady amplitude state;
- and
- increasing feedback resistance to maximize the amplitude and quality of the electronic signal.
A method for generating a signal, comprising:
- operating an oscillator in a single-ended mode;
- controlling the oscillator to transition without latching to operating in a differential mode;
- and
- operating the oscillator in differential mode and outputting the signal,
- wherein starting the oscillator in single-ended mode comprises enabling two or more inverters from a first bank of inverters and disabling all inverters in a second bank of inverters arranged back-to-back with the first bank;
- wherein transitioning from single-ended mode to differential mode comprises enabling inverters from the second bank or disabling inverters from the first bank in such a manner as to avoid latching until the number of enabled inverters are equal in both banks;
- and
- wherein inverters are enabled or disabled at least one at a time and oscillations are allowed to reach a steady amplitude state between enabling each or disabling the next inverter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.