Oscillator circuit and phase locked loop

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11418202-B2
Application number	US-201917274431-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 4, 2019
Priority date	Sep 18, 2018
Publication date	Aug 16, 2022
Grant date	Aug 16, 2022

Abstract

An oscillator circuit includes a current source, an oscillating section, a first capacitor, and a setting section. The current source is coupled to a connection node and causes a current having a current value based on an input voltage to flow from a first power node to the connection node. The oscillating section is on a current path between the connection node and a second power node. The oscillating section oscillates at an oscillation frequency based on a current flowing through the current path. The first capacitor is between the connection node and the second power node. The first capacitor has a capacitance that varies in accordance with a voltage at the connection node. The setting section that performs variation operation based on the voltage at the connection node. The variation operation is operation of varying an impedance between the connection node and the second power node.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An oscillator circuit, comprising:
a current source coupled to a connection node, wherein
the current source is configured to:
receive input voltage; and
control a flow of a first current from a first power node to the connection node based on the input voltage, and

the first current has a current value corresponding to the input voltage;

an oscillating section on a current path between the connection node and a second power node, wherein the oscillating section is configured to oscillate at an oscillation frequency based on a second current that flows through the current path;
a first capacitor between the connection node and the second power node, wherein the first capacitor has a capacitance that varies based on a voltage at the connection node;
a variable capacitance section between the connection node and the second power node, wherein the variable capacitance section has a capacitance that is variable; and
a setting section configured to:
execute a variation operation to vary the capacitance of the variable capacitance section between a first capacitance and a second capacitance, wherein
the execution of the variation operation is based on the voltage at the connection node,
the capacitance of the variable capacitance section is the first capacitance in a case where the voltage at the connection node is lower than a first threshold voltage,
the capacitance of the variable capacitance section is the second capacitance in a case where the voltage at the connection node is higher than the first threshold voltage, and
the variation operation is an operation of variation of an impedance between the connection node and the second power node; and

control the first capacitance to be greater than the second capacitance.

2. The oscillator circuit according to claim 1 , wherein
the variable capacitance section includes at least two sub-circuits,
the at least two sub-circuits include a first sub-circuit and a second sub-circuit,
the first sub-circuit is coupled in parallel with the second sub-circuit,
each sub-circuit of the at least two sub-circuits includes a first end coupled to the connection node and a second end coupled to the second power node,
each sub-circuit of the at least two sub-circuits includes a second capacitor and a switch,
the second capacitor in each sub-circuit of the at least two sub-circuits is coupled in series with the switch in a respective sub-circuit of the at least two sub-circuits,
the at least two sub-circuits includes a plurality of switches, and
the setting section is further configured to vary a number of switches of the plurality of switches that are turned on in the at least two sub-circuits to vary the capacitance of the variable capacitance section.

3. The oscillator circuit according to claim 1 , further comprising a variable resistance section on the current path, wherein
the variable resistance section has a resistance that is variable, and
the setting section is further configured to execute the variation operation to vary the resistance of the variable resistance section.

4. The oscillator circuit according to claim 3 , wherein the setting section is further configured to:
control variation of the resistance of the variable resistance section; and
vary, based on the control of the variation of the resistance, the voltage at the connection node and the capacitance of the first capacitor.

5. The oscillator circuit according to claim 3 , wherein the setting section is further configured to:
control the resistance of the variable resistance section to vary between a first resistance and a second resistance, wherein
the resistance of the variable resistance section is the first resistance in a case where the voltage at the connection node is lower than a second threshold voltage, and
the resistance of the variable resistance section is the second resistance in a case where the voltage at the connection node is higher than the second threshold voltage; and

control the first resistance to be greater than the second resistance.

6. The oscillator circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the setting section is further configured to:
execute the variation operation based on the voltage at the connection node in a first operation mode; and
stop the execution of the variation operation in a second operation mode.

7. The oscillator circuit according to claim 1 , wherein
the voltage at the connection node is one of a first voltage or a second voltage,
the second voltage is lower than the first voltage,
the capacitance of the first capacitor is one of a third capacitance or a fourth capacitance,
the first capacitor has the third capacitance in a case where the connection node has the first voltage,
the first capacitor has the fourth capacitance in a case where the connection node has the second voltage, and
the third capacitance is greater than the fourth capacitance.

8. The oscillator circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the first capacitor has a MOS structure.

9. A phase locked loop, comprising:
a phase comparator circuit configured to compare a phase of a first signal and a phase of a second signal based on a clock signal to generate a phase comparison result;
a loop filter configured to generate a control voltage based on the phase comparison result; and
an oscillator circuit configured to generate the clock signal based on the control voltage, wherein the oscillator circuit includes:
a current source coupled to a connection node, wherein
the current source is configured to control a flow of a first current from a first power node to the connection node based on the control voltage, and
the first current has a current value corresponding to the control voltage;

an oscillating section on a current path between the connection node and a second power node, wherein the oscillating section is configured to oscillate at an oscillation frequency based on a second current that flows through the current path;
a first capacitor between the connection node and the second power node, wherein the first capacitor has a capacitance that varies based on a voltage at the connection node;
a variable capacitance section between the connection node and the second power node, wherein the variable capacitance section has a capacitance that is variable; and
a setting section configured to:
execute a variation operation to vary the capacitance of the variable capacitance section between a first capacitance and a second capacitance, wherein
the execution of the variation operation is based on the voltage at the connection node,
the capacitance of the variable capacitance section is the first capacitance in a case where the voltage at the connection node is lower than a threshold voltage,
the capacitance of the variable capacitance section is the second capacitance in a case where the voltage at the connection node is higher than the threshold voltage, and
the variation operation is an operation of variation of an impedance between the connection node and the second power node; and

control the first capacitance to be greater than the second capacitance.

10. An oscillator circuit, comprising:
a current source coupled to a connection node, wherein
the current source is configured to:
receive input voltage; and
control a flow of a first current from a first power node to the connection node based on the input voltage, and

the first current has a current value corresponding to the input voltage;

an oscillating section on a current path between the connection node and a second power node, wherein the oscillating section is configured to oscillate at an oscillation frequency based on a second

Assignees

• Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp

Inventors

• Ishida Uichi
• Nakamura Takashi

Classifications

• H03K3/0315

  Ring oscillators · CPC title

• H03L7/18

  using a frequency divider or counter in the loop (H03L7/20, H03L7/22 take precedence) · CPC title

• H03L7/099 Primary

  concerning mainly the controlled oscillator of the loop · CPC title

• H03L7/103

  the additional signal being a digital signal · CPC title

• H03L7/093

  using special filtering or amplification characteristics in the loop (H03L7/087 - H03L7/091 take precedence) · CPC title