US Patent Application 17828538. TIME TO DIGITAL CONVERTER (TDC) CIRCUIT WITH SELF-ADAPTIVE TIME GRANULARITY AND RELATED METHODS simplified abstract

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TIME TO DIGITAL CONVERTER (TDC) CIRCUIT WITH SELF-ADAPTIVE TIME GRANULARITY AND RELATED METHODS

Organization Name

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC==Inventor(s)==

[[Category:Ping Lu of Cary NC (US)]]

[[Category:Minhan Chen of Cary NC (US)]]

TIME TO DIGITAL CONVERTER (TDC) CIRCUIT WITH SELF-ADAPTIVE TIME GRANULARITY AND RELATED METHODS - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 17828538 titled 'TIME TO DIGITAL CONVERTER (TDC) CIRCUIT WITH SELF-ADAPTIVE TIME GRANULARITY AND RELATED METHODS

Simplified Explanation

The abstract describes a time-to-digital converter (TDC) circuit that generates a digital output indicating the phase difference between a generated signal and a reference signal. This digital output is used to synchronize the generated signal with the reference signal using a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO).

  • The TDC circuit operates in two modes: coarse mode and fine mode.
  • In the coarse mode, the TDC circuit generates a first digital indication when the offset time (phase difference) is above a threshold.
  • In the fine mode, the TDC circuit generates a second digital indication when the offset time is below the threshold.
  • Both the first and second digital indications have the same number of bits.
  • The first digital indication is normalized to the second digital indication to provide the digital output of the adaptive TDC circuit.
  • A fractional bit is used to compensate for any quantization error in the digital output.


Original Abstract Submitted

A time-to-digital converter (TDC) circuit generates a digital output indicating a time, known as a phase difference, from a phase of the generated signal to a corresponding phase of a reference signal. The digital output is used by the digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) to correct for the phase/frequency difference to synchronize the generated signal with the reference signal. In an aspect, an adaptive TDC circuit generates a first digital indication in a coarse mode when the offset time is above a threshold and generates a second digital indication in a fine mode when the offset time is below the threshold. The first digital indication and the second digital indication each comprise a same number of bits, and the first digital indication is normalized to the second digital indication for the digital output of the adaptive TDC circuit. A fractional bit may be employed to compensate for a quantization error.

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