A Sub-0.9-ps Static Phase Offset 500 MHz Delay-Locked Loop With a Large Gain Phase Detector

Abstract

This article presents an analog delay-locked loop (DLL) designed for high-precision measurement applications, featuring low static phase offset (SPO) and fast locking speed, such as time-to-digital converters (TDCs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). A large gain and dead-zone free phase detector (PD) is proposed. When the DLL reaches the locked state, the phase error between the two input signals of the PD can be reduced to 0.53 ps (0.095°), which has an 18-time improvement compared to the conventional DLL. Therefore, the SPO of the entire DLL can be effectively reduced to be less than 0.87 ps. Furthermore, the auxiliary circuit, consisting of a large phase difference detector (LPDD) and fast-adjusting branches (FABs), accelerates the DLL’s locking process to 42 clock cycles and improves the locking speed by 4.1 times. Designed by a standard 180 nm CMOS technology, the DLL occupies an area of 106.1×93.3 μ m. It achieves low power consumption of 1.89mW at 500 MHz, and the root mean square (rms) jitter and P-P jitter are 1.01 and 6.26 ps, respectively.

Publication
IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems ( Early Access ).
Jingjing Liu
Jingjing Liu
Associate Professor

My research interests include low-power smart micro-sensor integrated circuit design, image sensors, biomedical sensors, and energy harvesting circuits.

Ruihuang Wu
Ruihuang Wu
M.Sc.

My research interests include circuit design of delay loop lock.

Haoning Sun
Haoning Sun
Master’s Student

My research interests include circuit design of analog to digital converter for biomedical applications and noise shaping SAR ADC.

Bingjun Xiong
Bingjun Xiong
PhD Student

My research interests include circuit design of optical receivers and references.

Feng Yan
Feng Yan
PhD Student

My research interests include circuit design of analog front end for biomedical applications and sensor interfaces.

Kangkang Sun
Kangkang Sun
PhD Student

My research interests include circuit design of analog to digital converter for biomedical applications and SAR ADC.

Zhipeng Li
Zhipeng Li
PhD Student

My research interests include circuit design of image sensors and energy harvesting circuits.

Jian Guan
Jian Guan
PhD Student

My research interests include the design of solar cells and energy harvesting circuits.