Method and apparatus for calibrating an input interface
View Patent ↗According to at least one example embodiment a two phase calibration approach is employed for calibrating an input/output interface having multiple single-ended receivers. During a first phase, amplifier offset calibration is applied to each of the multiple single-ended receivers. During a second phase, reference voltage calibration is applied to a single-ended receiver of the multiple single-ended receivers to determine a calibration reference voltage value. The calibration reference voltage value is then employed in each of the multiple single-ended receivers during an active phase of the input/output interface.
1. A method of calibrating an input/output interface having multiple single-ended receivers, the method comprising:
applying amplifier offset calibration to each of the multiple single-ended receivers during a first phase,
each single ended receiver including an amplifier,
the amplifier offset calibration iteratively determines a value for calibrating an internal voltage offset of the amplifier of each of the multiple single-ended receivers to produce a determined value;
employing the determined value for each amplifier to the amplifier corresponding to each of the multiple single-ended receivers during an active phase of the input/output interface;
applying reference voltage calibration to one single-ended receiver of the multiple single-ended receivers to determine a calibration reference voltage value during a second phase; and
employing the calibration reference voltage value determined for the one single-ended receiver in each of the multiple single-ended receivers during the active phase of the input/output interface.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein applying amplifier offset calibration includes:
applying an input value to both input leads of the amplifier associated with a corresponding single-ended receiver of the multiple single-ended receivers, the amplifier including one or more digital-to-analog converters (DACs) used to calibrate the internal voltage offset of the amplifier; and
updating, over a number of iterations by a control logic coupled to the amplifier, a digital value based on an output of the amplifier, the digital value updated being provided as input to a DAC of the one or more DACs in the amplifier,
a final value of the digital value is employed as input to the DAC of the one or more DACs in the amplifier for calibrating the internal voltage offset of the amplifier during a data reception phase.
3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the one or more DACs are coupled to at least one gain circuit in the amplifier.
4. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein updating the digital value at a first iteration includes determining the DAC, from the one or more DACs, associated with the digital value.
5. The method as recited in claim 4 , wherein determining the DAC associated with the digital value includes determining the DAC based on the output of the amplifier and a coupling of the DAC to a gain circuit in the amplifier.
6. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein updating the digital value based on the output of the amplifier includes updating the digital value based on an indication of whether the output of the amplifier is logic 1 or 0.
7. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the digital value is represented by multiple bits.
8. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the number of iterations is equal to a number of bits representing the digital value.
9. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein applying reference voltage calibration includes:
applying a clock signal and a reference voltage signal as inputs to the amplifier associated with the one single-ended receiver of the multiple single-ended receivers;
evaluating an indication of a duty cycle associated with an output signal of the amplifier:
adjusting, by control logic, a level of the reference voltage signal based on the evaluated indication of the duty cycle; and
repeating said evaluating and said adjusting over a number of iterations.
10. The method as recited in claim 9 , wherein adjusting the level of reference voltage signal includes setting, by the control logic, an input digital value to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), the DAC providing a reference voltage level value to the amplifier.
11. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the input digital value is represented by multiple bits.
12. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the number of iterations is equal to the number of bits representing the input digital value minus one.
13. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein applying reference voltage calibration is repeated during an idle state of the input/output interface.
14. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the input/output interface is associated with a memory interface, the memory interface is:
a double data rate 2 (DDR2) memory interface; a double data rate 3 (DDR 3) memory interface;
a double data rate 4 (DDR4) memory interface: a low power double data rate 2(LP DDR2) memory interface;
a low power double data rate 3 (LP DDR3) memory interface;
a low power double data rate 4 (LP DDR4) memory interface;
a graphical double data rate 3 (GDDR3) memory interface;
a graphical double data rate 4 (GDDR4) memory interface;
a graphical double data rate 5 (GDDR5) memory interface;
a wide input/output (Wide I/O) memory interface; or
a wide input/output 2 (Wide I/O 2) memory interface.
15. An input/output interface having multiple single-ended receivers, the input/output interface comprising:
an amplifier in each single ended receiver of the multiple single-ended receivers; and
a control logic,
the amplifiers and the control logic being configured to:
apply amplifier offset calibration to each of the amplifiers during a first phase, the amplifier offset calibration iteratively determines a value for calibrating an internal voltage offset of the amplifier of each of the multiple single-ended receivers to produce a value;
employing the determined value for each amplifier to the amplifier corresponding to each of the multiple single-ended receivers during an active phase of the input/output interface;
apply reference voltage calibration to one single-ended receiver of the multiple single-ended receivers to determine a calibration reference voltage value during a second phase; and
employ the calibration reference voltage value determined for the one single-ended receiver in each of the multiple single-ended receivers during the active phase of the input/output interface.
16. The input/output interface as recited in claim 15 , wherein each amplifier of the multiple single-ended receivers includes one or more digital-to-analog converters (DACs) with corresponding input of each amplifier of the multiple single-ended receivers used to calibrate an amplifier offset, the control logic being configured to update, over a number of iterations, a digital value for each amplifier of the multiple single-ended receivers based on an amplifier output, the digital value updated being provided as input to a DAC of the one or more DACs,
a final value of the digital value updated being employed as input to the DAC of the one or more DACs for calibrating the amplifier offset during the active phase of the input/output interface.
17. The input/output interface as recited in claim 16 , wherein the one or more DACs in each amplifier are coupled to at least one gain circuit.
18. The input/output interface as recited in claim 16 , wherein updating the digital value at a first iteration includes determining DAC, from the one or more DACs, associated with the digital value.
19. The input/output interface as recited in claim 16 , wherein the number of iterations is equal to a number of bits representing the digital value.
20. The input/output interface as recited in claim 15 , wherein in applying reference voltage calibration, an amplifier of each single-end receiver is configured to provide an output signal in response to a clock signal and a reference voltage signal being applied as inputs to the amplifier, and the control logic configured to adjust, for a number of iterations, a level of the reference voltage signal based on an evaluated indication of a duty cycle associated with the output signal.
21. The input/output interface as recited in claim 20 , wherein in adjusting the level of reference voltage signal, the control logic is configured to update an input digital value to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), the DAC providing a reference voltage level value to the amplifier.
22. The input/output interface as recited in claim 20 , wherein the number of iterations is equal to the number of bits representing the input digital value minus one.
23. The input/output interface as recited in claim 15 , Wherein the input/output interface is configured to repeat applying reference voltage calibration during an idle state of the input/output interface.
24. The input/output interface as recited in claim 15 , wherein the input/output interface is associated with a memory interface, the memory interface includes:
a double data rate 2 (DDR2) memory interface;
a double data rate 3 (DDR3) memory interface;
a double data rate 4 (DDR4) memory interface;
a low power double data rate 2 (LP DDR2) memory interface;
a low power double data rate 3 (LP DDR3) memory interface;
a low power double data rate 4 (LP DDR4) memory interface;
a graphical double data rate 3 (GDDR3) memory interface;
a graphical double data rate 4 (GDDR4) memory interface;
a graphical double data rate 5 (GDDR5) memory interface;
a wide input/output (Wide I/O) memory interface; or
a wide input/output 2 (Wide I/O 2) memory interface.