Abstract:
Methods and apparatuses are described for a DSP receiver with an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) having high speed, low BER performance with low power and area requirements. Speed is increased for multi-path ADC configurations by resolving a conventional bottleneck. ADC performance is improved by integrating calibration and error detection and correction, such as distributed offset calibration and redundant comparators. Power and area requirements are dramatically reduced by using low BER rectification to nearly halve the number of comparators in a conventional high speed, low BER flash ADC.
Abstract:
A device for high-speed clock generation may include an injection locking-ring oscillator (ILRO) configured to receive one or more input clock signals and to generate multiple clock signals with different equally spaced phase angles. A phase-interpolator (PI) circuit may be configured to receive the multiple coarse spaced clock signals and to generate an output clock signal having a correct phase angle. The PI circuit may include a smoothing block that may be configured to smooth the multiple clock signals with different phase angles and to generate multiple smooth clock signals. A pulling block may be configured to pull edges of the multiple smooth clock signals closer to one another.
Abstract:
According to an example embodiment, a communications receiver may include a variable gain amplifier (VGA) configured to amplify received signals, a VGA controller configured to control the VGA, a plurality of analog to digital converter (ADC) circuits coupled to an output of the VGA, wherein the plurality of ADC circuits are operational when the communications receiver is configured to process signals of a first communications protocol, and wherein only a subset of the ADC circuits are operational when the communications receiver is configured to process signals of a second communications protocol.
Abstract:
A low-power reconfigurable voltage-mode digital-to-analog converter (DAC) driver circuit includes a first and a second supply voltage and a number of DAC units. Each DAC unit is coupled to a respective bit of a digital input. The DAC units are configured to maintain a constant output impedance. Each DAC unit includes one or more complementary switch pairs that couple first nodes of one or more respective impedances to one of the first or the second supply voltage, based on the respective bit of the digital input. Second nodes of the one or more respective impedances are coupled to an output node.
Abstract:
Embodiments provide a reference-less frequency detector that overcomes the “dead zone” problem of conventional circuits. In particular, the frequency detector is able to accurately resolve the polarity of the frequency difference between the VCO clock signal and the data signal, irrespective of the magnitude of the frequency difference and the presence of VCO clock jitter and/or ISI on the data signal.
Abstract:
Techniques are described herein that provide an interface for receiving and deserializing digital bit stream(s). For instance, a receiver for a high-speed deserializer may include digital slicers, a digital phase interpolator, and a digital clock phase generator. The digital slicers may be configured to determine a digital value of a data input. The digital phase interpolator may be configured to generate an interpolated clock signal based on input clock signals that correspond to respective phases of a reference clock. The phase of the interpolated clock tracks the data input to the receiver through a clock recovery loop. The digital clock phase generator may be configured to generate output clock signals to control timing of the respective digital slicers. The receiver may further include a single digital eye monitor configured to monitor a data eye of the data input.
Abstract:
Methods, systems, and apparatuses are described for reducing the latency in a transceiver. A transceiver includes a high latency communication channel and a low latency communication channel that is configured to be a bypass channel for the high latency communication channel. The low latency communication channel may be utilized when implementing the transceiver is used in low latency applications. By bypassing the high latency communication channel, the high latency that is introduced therein (due to the many stages of de-serialization used to reduce the data rate for digital processing) can be avoided. An increase in data rate is realized when the low latency communication channel is used to pass data. A delay-locked loop (DLL) may be used to phase align the transmitter clock of the transceiver with the receiver clock of the transceiver to compensate for a limited tolerance of phase offset between these clocks.
Abstract:
Embodiments provide a reference-less frequency detector that overcomes the “dead zone” problem of conventional circuits. In particular, the frequency detector is able to accurately resolve the polarity of the frequency difference between the VCO clock signal and the data signal, irrespective of the magnitude of the frequency difference and the presence of VCO clock jitter and/or ISI on the data signal.
Abstract:
An apparatus for driving a load using a low supply voltage includes a voltage-mode driver and a current source arrangement. The voltage-mode driver provides a desired termination impedance and a first portion of a desired output current to the load. The current source arrangement provides a second portion of the desired output current. The desired output current generates a predetermined voltage swing across the load, while the voltage-mode driver and the current source arrangement are powered by the low supply voltage.
Abstract:
A device for passive equalization and slew-rate control of a signal includes a first branch that includes a first driver coupled in series with an equalization capacitor, and a second branch that includes a second driver coupled in series with a resistor. The second branch may be coupled in parallel to the first branch, and the first branch may be configurable to enable one of passive equalization or slew-rate control of the signal based on a mode control signal.