Granted Patent B1

US 9,071,194 · App. 13/909,739 · Granted Jun 30, 2015

Abstract

Claims (40)

1. An oscillator for generating a signal, comprising:

an electro-mechanical resonator for creating oscillations in the oscillator;

a reconfigurable oscillator driver connected to the electro-mechanical resonator for initiating and sustaining oscillations therein, the reconfigurable oscillator driver operable in a single-ended mode and a differential mode;

a controller for starting the reconfigurable oscillator driver in single-ended mode and transitioning to differential mode to avoid latching; and

an output driver circuit connected to the electro-mechanical resonator and reconfigurable oscillator driver for outputting the oscillations as a signal, the output driver circuit comprising either one of a band-pass filter or a tuned amplifier to help output a pure sinusoidal signal.

2. The oscillator of claim 1 , wherein the output driver circuit comprises a hard-limiter to convert the oscillations to an electronic signal and output the electronic signal.

3. The oscillator of claim 1 , wherein the output driver circuit outputs a complementary pair of signals.

4. The oscillator of claim 1 , wherein the reconfigurable oscillator driver comprises:

two inverters arranged back-to-back to amplify the oscillations by providing negative resistance; and

an adjustable feedback resistor connected in parallel with the inverters to decrease the feedback resistance in the oscillator when transitioning between single-ended mode and differential mode to inhibit latching,

wherein, when operating in single-ended mode one inverter is disabled and the other inverter is enabled, and when operating in differential mode both of the inverters are enabled.

5. The oscillator of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises counters for controlling the transition of the oscillator from single-ended mode to differential mode.

6. The oscillator of claim 5 , wherein the counters are connected to the oscillator to receive the signal therefrom for decrementing the counters.

7. The oscillator of claim 1 , wherein the resonator is a piezoelectric resonator.

8. The oscillator of claim 7 , wherein the piezoelectric resonator is any one of a bulk acoustic wave resonator, a film bulk acoustic wave resonator, a quartz crystal resonator, and a surface acoustic wave resonator.

9. The oscillator of claim 8 , wherein the piezoelectric resonator is a bulk acoustic wave resonator integrated with the oscillator in either one of a System-in-Package and System-on-Chip device.

10. An oscillator for generating a signal, comprising:

an electro-mechanical resonator for creating oscillations in the oscillator;

a reconfigurable oscillator driver connected to the electro-mechanical resonator for initiating and sustaining oscillations therein, the reconfigurable oscillator driver operable in a single-ended mode and a differential mode;

a controller for starting the reconfigurable oscillator driver in single-ended mode and transitioning to differential mode to avoid latching; and

an output driver circuit connected to the electro-mechanical resonator and reconfigurable oscillator driver for outputting the oscillations as a signal,

wherein the reconfigurable oscillator driver comprises two back-to-back banks of inverters, wherein in single-ended mode all inverters from one bank are disabled and two or more inverters from the other bank are enabled, when transitioning between single-ended mode and differential mode at least one inverter is enabled in both banks and a different number of inverters are enabled between each bank, and in differential mode an equal number of inverters are enabled in both banks.

11. The oscillator of claim 10 , wherein the reconfigurable oscillator driver further comprises an adjustable feedback resistor connected to the banks of inverters to decrease the feedback resistance in the oscillator when transitioning between single-ended mode and differential mode to avoid latching.

12. A method for generating a signal, comprising:

operating an oscillator in a single-ended mode;

controlling the oscillator to transition without latching to operating in a differential mode; and

operating the oscillator in differential mode and outputting the signal, wherein starting the oscillator in single-ended mode comprises enabling a first inverter, disabling a second inverter arranged back-to-back with the first inverter, and maximizing feedback resistance

wherein transitioning from single-ended mode to differential mode comprises:

enabling the second inverter and decreasing the feedback resistance to avoid latching;

waiting for the oscillations to reach a steady amplitude state; and

increasing feedback resistance to maximize the amplitude and quality of the electronic signal.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein outputting the signal comprises outputting a pair of balanced complementary signals.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein outputting the signal comprises outputting an electronic signal.

15. A method for generating a signal, comprising:

operating an oscillator in a single-ended mode;

controlling the oscillator to transition without latching to operating in a differential mode; and

operating the oscillator in differential mode and outputting the signal,

wherein starting the oscillator in single-ended mode comprises enabling two or more inverters from a first bank of inverters and disabling all inverters in a second bank of inverters arranged back-to-back with the first bank;

wherein transitioning from single-ended mode to differential mode comprises enabling inverters from the second bank or disabling inverters from the first bank in such a manner as to avoid latching until the number of enabled inverters are equal in both banks; and

wherein inverters are enabled or disabled at least one at a time and oscillations are allowed to reach a steady amplitude state between enabling each or disabling the next inverter.

Assignments (9)