Other

Sony Electronics Inc

Sony Corporation of Japan

Stephen D Edwards

Mehrdad Nayebi

Phil Shapiro

A low side, low voltage current sink circuit having improved output impedance to reduce effects of leakage current. A current sink circuit is described having a transistor having its emitter coupled to an emitter degeneration resistor which is coupled to the low side (e.g., ground) of a power supply. The output of the current sink is taken at the collector of the transistor. In one embodiment, the transistor is an NPN transistor device. The base of the transistor is coupled to the output of an operational amplifier. One input of the operational amplifier is coupled in a feedback loop to the emitter of the transistor. A direct current bias voltage is applied to the other input of the operational amplifier. In this arrangement, the output impedance (R&Prime;o) of the current is sink is based on the open loop gain of the operational amplifier (e.g., about 35 dB) and is therefore orders of magnitude larger than the output impedance of other prior art current sink designs. The novel design limits the voltage drop over the emitter degeneration resistor thereby increasing the differential voltage swing at the collector of the transistor for low power applications. The present invention finds particular application within a clock generator circuit where its reduced leakage current properties and improved dynamic range help to reduce clock jitter in the clock generation circuit.

Low side current sink circuit having improved output impedance to reduce effects of leakage current

A differential charge pump for providing a low charge pump current. The present invention operates in one embodiment as part of an integrated circuit of a semiconductor chip by providing very small magnitude currents to other on-chip circuitry. Specifically, one embodiment of the present invention utilizes an R-2R resistor ladder circuit having moderate sized resistors to progressively reduce a large magnitude current into a very small magnitude current of accurate size. In this manner, available on-chip circuitry voltage can be used to produce the desired small magnitude of current without utilizing excessively large resistors, which can occupy too much die area. This is advantageous when dealing with specific types of on-chip components and circuitry which require accurate currents having very small magnitudes. For example, it may be desirable to integrate filter components (e.g., capacitors) on-chip together with accompanying phase lock loop (PLL) circuitry. However, smaller sized filter components typically need to be supplied accurate charge pump currents having very small magnitudes in order to produce the desired operational bandwidth. As such, the present invention is able to provide accurate charge pump currents having very small magnitudes for the smaller sized filter components from the available on-chip circuitry voltages. The present invention finds particular application within a clock generator circuit where it reduces clock jitter by enabling PLL filter components to be completely integrated on-chip.

Differential charge pump for providing a low charge pump current

A high side low voltage current source circuit having improved output impedance to reduce effects of leakage current. A current source circuit is described with a transistor having an emitter coupled to an emitter degeneration resistor which is coupled to a power supply voltage. The output of the current source is taken at the collector of the transistor. In one embodiment, the transistor is a PNP transistor device. The base of the transistor is coupled to the output of an operational amplifier. One input of the operational amplifier is coupled in a feedback loop to the emitter of the transistor. A direct current bias voltage is applied to the other input of the operational amplifier. The output impedance (R&Prime;o) of the current is source is based on the open loop gain of the operational amplifier (e.g., about 35 dB) and is therefore orders of magnitude larger than the output impedance of other prior art current source designs. Also included is a novel level shifting circuit for shifting (up) the DC voltage level at the emitter of the transistor to improve its dynamic range of operation in low power supply voltage environments. A resistor is also placed in a tail current path of the operational amplifier, rather than a transistor, to further improve the dynamic range of the current source. The present invention finds particular application within a clock generator circuit where its reduced leakage current properties and improved dynamic range help to reduce clock jitter.

High side current source circuit having improved output impedance to reduce effects of leakage circuit

A current source circuit for providing a stable current into a filter element of a phase-lock-loop circuit of a clock generator. The current source circuit comprises a first resistor coupled to a voltage supply. The emitter of a first transistor is coupled to the first resistor; the base is coupled to a bias voltage, and the collector is coupled to a capacitor. The capacitor forms part of the filter of the phase-lock-loop circuit. Current flows from the voltage supply through the first resistor and first transistor into the capacitor. A second transistor has a collector coupled to the capacitor; a base; and an emitter coupled to ground via a second resistor. The second transistor and resistor causes a fixed amount of current to be sinked from the capacitor. Leakage current flowing out of the capacitor due to the inherent Rcb impedance associated with the second transistor is directed to a path provided by a third transistor. The third transistor has an emitter coupled to the base of the second transistor and a collector coupled to the emitter of the first transistor. The third transistor directs the Rcb leakage current inherent to the second transistor back into the capacitor. Thereby, the Rcb leakage current flowing out from the capacitor is canceled by the current flowing back into the capacitor via the third and first transistors. This produces a more stable current, and hence, more stable voltage being maintained by the capacitor. A more stable voltage means that the capacitor can be made smaller. In turn, this enables the phase-lock-loop to be fabricated on-chip with the rest of the clock generator, thereby minimizing its susceptibility to external noise and interferences. Furthermore, a more stable voltage across the filter element of the phase-lock-loop reduces unwanted jitter in the clock signal.

Rcb cancellation in low-side low power supply current sources

A buffer circuit having a high input impedance. The buffer circuit comprises an input lead, a first stage having a first emitter follower transistor and a first level shifter transistor, a second stage having a second emitter follower transistor and a second level shifter transistor, and an output lead coupled to said second stage. The first emitter follower transistor is coupled to the input lead and coupled to the first level shifter transistor. The first and second stage of the buffer circuit acts as a voltage follower. The second emitter follower transistor is coupled to the second level shifter transistor, while the second emitter follower transistor is coupled to the first emitter follower transistor. The buffer circuit has a high input impedance and very low leakage current. Hence, it is ideal for sampling filter components of a phase lock loop circuit within a high frequency clock generation circuit thereby reducing clock jitter.

High input impedance buffer circuit having a high-side current source

A current source circuit for providing a stable current into a filter element of a phase-lock-loop circuit of a clock generator. The current source circuit comprises a first resistor coupled to a voltage supply. The emitter of a first transistor is coupled to the first resistor; the collector is coupled to a capacitor which is part of the filter elements of the phase-lock-loop. Current flows from the voltage supply through the first resistor and first transistor into the capacitor. Leakage current flowing out of the capacitor due to the inherent Rcb impedance associated with the first transistor is directed to a path provided by a second transistor. The second transistor has an emitter coupled to the base of the first transistor and a collector coupled to the capacitor. The second transistor is biased such that the Rcb leakage current is directed back into the capacitor. Thereby, the Rcb leakage current flowing out from the capacitor is canceled by the current flowing back into the capacitor via the second transistor. This produces a more stable current, and hence, more stable voltage being maintained by the capacitor. A more stable voltage means that the capacitor can be made smaller. In turn, this enables the phase-lock-loop to be fabricated on-chip with the rest of the clock generator, thereby minimizing its susceptibility to external noise and interferences. Furthermore, a more stable voltage across the filter element of the phase-lock-loop reduces unwanted jitter in the clock signal.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Stephen D Edwards