Delay line trim unit having consistent performance under varying process and temperature conditions

The invention relates to delay lines in integrated circuits (ICs). More particularly, the invention relates to a delay line trim unit that exhibits consistent performance under varying process and temperature conditions, such trim units being particularly useful in the design of delay-lock loop circ...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Oh, Kwansuhk, Pang, Raymond C
Format: Patent
Sprache:eng
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The invention relates to delay lines in integrated circuits (ICs). More particularly, the invention relates to a delay line trim unit that exhibits consistent performance under varying process and temperature conditions, such trim units being particularly useful in the design of delay-lock loop circuits (DLLs). A delay circuit has a delay that is consistent under varying process and temperature conditions. The delay through a delay path is controlled by inserting resistors on the pull-up and pull-down paths of the delaying inverters. Each resistor has a resistance value that is determined by a varying a number of enabled similarly-sized transistors coupled in parallel across the resistor, rather than by varying the size of a single transistor. In one embodiment, a first transistor in each resistor is always enabled, while additional transistors are enabled using select signals. In one embodiment, the select signals are provided by configuration memory cells in a PLD. Other embodiments include additional delay paths and a multiplexer circuit that selects one of the delay paths. The described delay circuit is particularly useful in a DLL trim unit, where variations between resistors can cause jitter and locking problems in the DLL.