Broadcom Corporation

Mark Chambers

Kwang Young Kim

Siavash Fallahi

Chun Ying Chen

Sathish Kumar Radhakrishnan

Lionel D'Luna

Josephus A E P Van Engelen

Thomas A Hughes

Karapet Khanoyan

William G Bliss

Yee Ling Cheung

Gerald Grand

Baobinh Truong

Darwin Cheung

Natarajan Ramachandran

Tong Zhu

A disk drive controller includes a servo system operable to associate a time stamp with an arrival of a servo wedge, a firmware loop and core PLLs in the read channel. The firmware loop is operable to determine a period between the arrival of a pair of consecutive servo wedges and produce a desired frequency of when to read/write data to disk based on the period between the arrival of a pair of consecutive servo wedges. Processing circuitry is operable to adjust a clock signal, wherein the clock signal itself is not locked to the data and produce a fine control signal for the core PLLs in the read channel. These core PLLs are operable to determine a phase and/or frequency associated with when an analog signal is sampled and/or written to disk, wherein these core PLLs comprises Fractional N Sigma Delta PLLs.

Delta-sigma PLL using fractional divider from a multiphase ring oscillator

A system and method for seamlessly reprogramming clock frequencies includes a phase locked loop (PLL) that generates CPU and double data rate (DDR) clocks. A crystal is used to generate a reference clock. The CPU clock and the reference clock are inputs to a first multiplexer, and the DDR clock and reference clock are inputs to a second multiplexer. In normal operation the multiplexers provide the CPU and DDR clock signal as outputs. To reprogram the clock frequencies and reset the PLL, (1) the reference clock signal is selected to be the output of both multiplexers, so the device is running on the internal reference clock. The mux switching is synchronized with the CPU and DDR clock signals. (2) The PLL is reprogrammed, its internal voltage-controlled oscillator is reset, and the PLL is restarted at the new desired frequency. (3) When the new PLL frequency output is stable, the multiplexers are switched back to the PLL-generated CPU and DDR clocks, synchronously with the reference clock signal.

System and method for maintaining device operation during clock signal adjustments

An apparatus and method is disclosed to substantially reduce phase noise introduced in fractional-N phase-locked loop (PLL) through feedback modulation. A fractional frequency divider is introduced in the feedback path of the PLL to generate a true fractional division factor with finite fractional steps to increase the resolution of the PLL by a factor equal to the inverse of the finite step size in the fractional frequency divider. Increasing the resolution of the PLL reduces phase noise. The fractional frequency divider uses the true fractional division factor to divide the frequency of a single output of a multi-phased voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) by the fractional division factor to match the frequency of the divided feedback signal to frequency a reference signal. The fractional frequency divider incrementally selects among all the outputs of the multi-phased VCO according to either a forward phase shifting operation or a backward phase shifting operation to generate a true fractional division factor.

Fractional-N phase locked loop

A system and method are used to allow high speed communication between a circuit and an external device. The system and method include a PLL with multiple phased outputs configured to be controlled digitally, a deskew PLL configured to align a clock of controller circuitry to interface circuitry, and a phase interpolated voltage controlled delay line configured to phase shift incoming signals. Analog design techniques of phase interpolation accurately position clocks and strobe signals that are required for high speed interfaces. The high speed interface is for transmitting and receiving signals from the external device, for example, a DDR DRAM.

Phase controlled high speed interfaces

A system for generating multiple synthesized clocks having an input terminal for receiving a reference signal, a phase locked loop circuit coupled to the input signal terminal, where the phase locked loop circuit is capable of generating a plurality of output signals that are frequency locked to the reference signal and having a plurality of different phases, a phase rotator coupled to the phase locked loop circuit, where the phase rotator generates an even greater plurality of phases.

Methods and systems to provide a plurality of signals having respective different phases

The present invention relates to frequency dividers. The frequency divider comprises an input, a counter, a first comparator, an interconnect, and an output. The counter has a counter reset port and is configured to receive a clock signal from the input and to produce a sum signal. The first comparator is configured to receive the sum signal, to compare the sum signal to a first integer, and to produce a first comparison signal. The interconnect is configured to convey the first comparison signal from the first comparator to the counter reset port. The output coupled to the first comparator. The clock signal has a periodic waveform. The sum signal represents a first sum, which equals a number of waveforms of the clock signal received by the counter after the counter has been reset. In a first embodiment, the first integer is selectable from a set of at least three consecutive integers. In a second embodiment, a frequency of the clock signal is at least 1.5 gigahertz. A third embodiment includes the features of both the first embodiment and the second embodiment.

Frequency divider and associated methods

A system and method are used to allow high speed communication between a chip and an external device. The system and method include a PLL with multiple phased outputs configured to be controlled digitally, a deskew PLL configured to align a clock of controller circuitry to interface circuitry, and a phase interpolated voltage controlled delay line configured to phase shift incoming signals. Analog design techniques of phase interpolation accurately position clocks and strobe signals that are required for high speed interfaces. The high speed interface is for transmitting and receiving signals from the external device, for example, a DDR DRAM.

A signal driving system generates an output swinging between a first power supply (e.g., about 1.2 Volts), powering first and second drivers, and a second power supply (e.g., about 3.3 Volts), powering a first current mirror. The second power supply is generated external to the signal driving system and is used to allow for a desired common-mode differential output signal range. However, the second power supply produces voltage at a level above a rating of the devices in the signal driving system. Therefore, protection devices are used to protect the elements of the signal driving system from the second power supply. Accordingly, through use of the signal driving system of the present invention, a high voltage current mode driver can operate in a low voltage process without damaging the devices in the signal driving system.

Signal driving system

A system and method are used to accelerate settling or steady state of an amplifier in an amplifier system. This is used to ensure the amplifier reaches steady-state within a specified time period from stand-by or another state without using more current than is needed for steady-state. A comparator in a common-mode feedback system compares a desired amplifier output signal to one or more nodes of the amplifier. A result of the comparison is compared to a threshold value using a comparator in a settling acceleration system. If the result crosses the threshold, a controller turns on a driver in the settling acceleration system. The driver pulls on one or more nodes of the amplifier, which, along with a driver in the amplifier system pulling on the node, quickly brings the amplifier to settling or steady state.

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Mission Viejo, CA, United States of America

Mark Chambers