Apparatus for data recovery in a synchronous chip-to-chip system

Abstract

An apparatus that reduces sampling errors for data communicated between devices uses phase information acquired from a timing reference signal such as a strobe signal to align a data-sampling signal for sampling a data signal that was sent along with the timing reference signal. The data-sampling signal may be provided by adjustably delaying a clock signal according to the phase information acquired from the strobe signal. The data-sampling signal may also have an improved waveform compared to the timing reference signal, including a fifty percent duty cycle and sharp transitions. The phase information acquired from the timing reference signal may also be used for other purposes, such as aligning received data with a local clock domain, or transmitting data so that it arrives at a remote device in synchronism with a reference clock signal at the remote device.