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US5831484A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Differential charge pump for phase locked loop circuits

Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1997-03-18
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Granted: 1998-11-03
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Expires: 2017-03-18
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Abstract

Abstract A differential charge pump is provided for use with phase locked loop (PLL) circuits including a differential loop filter and a common mode bias circuit for maintaining a predetermined bias voltage value on a high voltage filter side of the loop filter. The differential charge pump includes a reference current source. First and second current mirrors are coupled to the reference current source for providing a first mirror current and a second mirror current. A first switching transistor coupled to the first current mirror receives an input UP signal conducts current from a first side of the loop filter. A second switching transistor coupled to the second current mirror receives an input DOWN signal and conducts current from a second side of the loop filter. The first and second current mirror and switching transistors are formed by N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) devices. The differential charge pump enables a large differential output voltage with low phase error.

Inventors

  • 👤 Eric John Lukes
  • 👤 James David Strom

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-03 03:51
CPC Classifications
H; H03; H03L; H03L7/00; H03L7/06; H03L7/08; H03L7/085; H03L7/089; H03L7/0891; H03L7/0895; H03L7/0896

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim 134 words
A differential charge pump for use with phase locked loop (PLL) circuits including a differential loop filter and a common mode bias circuit for maintaining a predetermined bias voltage value on a high voltage filter side of the loop filter, said differential charge pump comprising: means for providing a reference current source; first and second current mirror means coupled to said reference current means for providing a first mirror current and a second mirror current; first transistor switching means coupled to said first current mirror means for receiving an input UP signal and for conducting current from a first side of the loop filter; and second transistor switching means coupled to said second current mirror means for receiving an input DOWN signal and for conducting current from a second side of the loop filter.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 134 words
A differential charge pump for use with phase locked loop (PLL) circuits including a differential loop filter and a common mode bias circuit for maintaining a predetermined bias voltage value on a high voltage filter side of the loop filter, said differential charge pump comprising: means for providing a reference current source; first and second current mirror means coupled to said reference current means for providing a first mirror current and a second mirror current; first transistor switching means coupled to said first current mirror means for receiving an input UP signal and for conducting current from a first side of the loop filter; and second transistor switching means coupled to said second current mirror means for receiving an input DOWN signal and for conducting current from a second side of the loop filter.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 35 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 1 wherein said first and second current mirror means and said first and second transistor switching means include a plurality of N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) devices.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 24 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 2 wherein said plurality of N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) devices include field effect transistors (FETs).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 38 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 1 wherein said first and second current mirror means include current mirror field effect transistors (FETs) coupled between said first and second transistor switching means and the differential loop filter.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 40 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 1 wherein said first and second current mirror means include current mirror field effect transistors (FETs) sized to provide an output current being equal to a multiplied value of said reference current.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 73 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 1 wherein said means for providing a reference current include a first reference current field effect transistor having a drain and gate connected to a reference current source and a source coupled to ground and wherein said first and second current mirror means include a pair of field effect transistors (FETs), the gates of which are connected to said first reference current field effect transistor.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 24 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 6 wherein each of said field effect transistors (FETS) are N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) devices.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 45 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 1 wherein said first and second current mirror means include a pair of N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) current mirroring devices, a drain of each is coupled to a respective filter node of the differential loop filter.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 49 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 8 wherein said first and second transistor switching means include a pair of N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) devices, a drain of each is coupled to a respective source of said pair of N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) current mirroring devices.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 73 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said first and second transistor switching means include a pair of field effect transistors (FETs), the sources of which are connected together and one of said input UP or DOWN signals is applied to a gate of one of said FETs and a complementary UP or DOWN input signal is applied to the gate of the other one of the FETs.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 44 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 10 wherein said one of said FETs the gate of which receives one of said input UP or DOWN signals, the gate of which is connected to a respective filter node of the differential loop filter.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 42 words
A differential charge pump as recited in claim 10 wherein each said pair of field effect transistors (FETs) includes sources connected together, and wherein a respective one of said first and second current mirror means is connected between said sources and ground.

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Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2001-11-02 2002-05-04 2002-11-03 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2005-11-02 2006-05-04 2006-11-03 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2009-11-02 2010-05-04 2010-11-03 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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