The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 17, 2007
Filed:
Nov. 15, 2005
Sudheer K. Vemulapalli, Allen, TX (US);
John Wallberg, Richardson, TX (US);
Prasant K. Vallur, Wylie, TX (US);
Robert B. Staszewski, Garland, TX (US);
Sudheer K. Vemulapalli, Allen, TX (US);
John Wallberg, Richardson, TX (US);
Prasant K. Vallur, Wylie, TX (US);
Robert B. Staszewski, Garland, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A novel time-to-digital converter (TDC) used as a phase/frequency detector and charge pump replacement in an all-digital PLL within a digital radio processor. The TDC core is based on a pseudo-differential digital architecture making it insensitive to NMOS and PMOS transistor mismatches. The time conversion resolution is equal to an inverter propagation delay, e.g., 20 ps, which is the finest logic-level regenerative timing in CMOS. The TDC is self calibrating with the estimation accuracy better than 1%. The TDC circuit can also serve as a CMOS process strength estimator for analog circuits in large SoC dies. The circuit also employs power management circuitry to reduce power consumption to a very low level.