Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100271120 | DISTRIBUTED THRESHOLD ADJUSTMENT FOR HIGH SPEED RECEIVERS - According to one general aspect, an apparatus may include a terminal configured to receive an analog input signal. In various embodiments, the apparatus may also include a multistage amplifier configured to amplify the analog input signal by an amount of gain. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include a distributed threshold adjuster interspersed between the stages of the multistage amplifier configured to adjust the DC voltage of the analog input signal to facilitate a decision by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). In one embodiment, the apparatus may include the ADC configured to convert the amplified analog input signal to a digital output signal. | 10-28-2010 |
20110074610 | High Speed, Low Power Non-Return-To-Zero/Return-To-Zero Output Driver - A gating logic receives a non-return-to-zero (NRZ) input signal and couples the NRZ input signal as an NRZ output signal when operating in a NRZ mode of operation and converts the NRZ input signal to a return-to-zero (RZ) output signal when operating in a RZ mode of operation. A circuit coupled to the gating logic receives a clock signal and couples the clock signal to the gating logic to convert the NRZ input signal to the RZ output signal in the RZ mode of operation. In the NRZ mode of operation, the circuit decouples the clock signal and places a predetermined signal state at the gating logic to pass through the NRZ input signal as the NRZ output signal. The circuit receives a select signal to select between the NRZ and RZ modes of operation and the NRZ and RZ modes are obtained by controlling the clock signal to the gating logic. | 03-31-2011 |
20110291757 | DISTRIBUTED THRESHOLD ADJUSTMENT FOR HIGH SPEED RECEIVERS - According to one general aspect, a distributed threshold adjuster (DTA) may be interspersed between stages of a multistage amplifier to adjust the DC voltage of an input signal. The DTA may include an input signal terminal configured to receive the input signal. The DTA may also include a plurality of current sources configured to produce an adjustment current signal whose amperage is configured to be increased or decreased by fixed steps in order to adjust the DC voltage of the input signal. The DTA may include a control unit configured to selectively turn on or off the individual current sources of the plurality of current sources to select the amperage of the adjustment current signal. The DTA may further include an output terminal configured to produce an output signal, comprising a combination of the input signal and the adjustment current signal, to a stage of a multistage amplifier. | 12-01-2011 |
20120313714 | Reference-Less Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) Calibration - Embodiments for reference-less voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) calibration are provided. Embodiments include a VCO calibration module which uses one or more signals from a frequency detector to automatically select a proper VCO band and bring the VCO clock frequency close enough to the data rate. The VCO calibration module uses a calibration code to calibrate the VCO. In embodiments, the calibration code is determined using a frequency search scheme, which includes a discovery phase to determine the proper VCO band, and a binary search phase and a monitoring phase to select the calibration code that brings the VCO clock frequency closest to the data rate. | 12-13-2012 |
20120313715 | Reference-Less Frequency Detector - 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. | 12-13-2012 |
20130285752 | Reference-Less Frequency Detector - 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. | 10-31-2013 |
20140036982 | High Bandwidth Equalizer and Limiting Amplifier - Embodiments of the present disclosure enable bandwidth extension of receiver front-end circuits without the use of inductors. As a result, significantly smaller and cheaper receiver implementations are made possible. In an embodiment, bandwidth extension is achieved by virtue of very small floating capacitors that are coupled around amplifier stages of the receiver front-end circuit. Each of the capacitors is configured to generate a negative capacitance for the preceding stage (e.g., equalizer or amplifier), thus extending the bandwidth of the preceding stage. A capacitively-degenerated cross-coupled transistor pair allows bandwidth extension for the final (e.g., amplifier) stage. Embodiments further enable DC offset compensation with the use of a digital feedback loop. The feedback loop can thus be turned on/off as needed, reducing power consumption. | 02-06-2014 |
20140146922 | QUASI-DIGITAL RECEIVER FOR HIGH SPEED SER-DES - 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. | 05-29-2014 |
20140153680 | MULTILANE SERDES CLOCK AND DATA SKEW ALIGNMENT FOR MULTI-STANDARD SUPPORT - A communication system may include a number of communication channels operating in accordance with one or more communication standards. The channels may generate data clocks from one or more master clock signals. The phase of the data clocks may be aligned using phase detectors for determining respective phase relationships and using phase interpolators for adjusting respective clock phases. The communication system may include communication channels that operate at different data clock frequencies. These systems may divide their respective data clocks in order to achieve a common clock frequency for use in their phase alignment. The phase detectors and associated circuitry may be disabled to save power when not in use. | 06-05-2014 |