Variable gain electro-mechanical oscillator and method for starting balanced oscillations

1. An oscillator, comprising:

a resonator input configured to receive, from an electro-mechanical resonator, a resonator signal;

an oscillator core comprising a first and a second cross-coupled complementary inverter forming a first loop and a second loop with the resonator input, respectively;

wherein the inverters are programmable to contribute to the resonator signal a first gain or a second gain to generate balanced oscillations in the oscillator;

wherein the first gain is less than an upper threshold gain required to generate parasitic-mode oscillations when starting balanced oscillations, and the second gain is equal to or greater than a lower threshold gain required to generate resonator-mode oscillations; and

wherein each inverter comprises a first complementary transistor pair and a second complementary transistor pair, the first complementary transistor pair connected to the oscillator core to contribute gain to the resonator signal, the second complementary transistor pair in series with the first complementary transistor pair to regulate the amount of power received to control the gain contributed by the first complementary transistor pair according to a control voltage signal.

2. The oscillator of claim 1 , further comprising an inverter controller connected to the inverters, the inverter controller configured to program the inverters to contribute the first gain when starting the balanced oscillations.

3. The oscillator of claim 2 , wherein the inverters are programmable to contribute to the resonator signal a third gain between the first gain and the second gain.

4. The oscillator of claim 3 , wherein the inverter controller is configured to increase the third gain contributed by the inverters by an amount less than the difference between the upper threshold gain required to generate parasitic-mode oscillations and the lower threshold gain required to generate resonator-mode oscillations.

5. The oscillator of claim 1 , wherein each of the first gain and the second gain are less than the maximum amount of gain collectively contributable by all of the inverters.

6. The oscillator of claim 1 , wherein the first gain is equal to or greater than the lower threshold gain required to generate resonator-mode oscillations.

7. The oscillator of claim 1 , wherein second gain is equal to or less than an optimum power dissipation upper threshold gain amount.

8. The oscillator of claim 2 , wherein the first and second inverters comprise a first bank of inverters and a second bank of inverters, respectively.

9. The oscillator of claim 8 , wherein the inverter controller is configured to enable a first set of inverters in the banks of inverters and disable a second set of inverters in the banks of inverters to program the inverters.

10. The oscillator of claim 1 , wherein the inverter controller comprises a digital counter connected to a digital-to-analog converter configured to output the control voltage signal.

11. The oscillator of claim 1 , further comprising a process monitor unit configured to detect manufacturing process corner parameters of the inverters, wherein the first gain and the second gain of the inverters are programmed based on the detected manufacturing process corner parameters.

12. The oscillator of claim 1 , further comprising an electro-mechanical resonator connected to the resonator input, the electro-mechanical resonator comprising a thin-film bulk acoustic resonator, a bulk acoustic wave resonator, a surface acoustic wave resonator, a micro-electro-mechanical system resonator, or a quartz crystal resonator.

13. The oscillator of claim 1 , wherein the oscillator comprises a first and a second capacitor connected in series in the first and second loops to outputs of the first and second cross-coupled complementary inverters, respectively, the capacitors for inhibiting the cross-coupled complementary inverters from latching to a non-oscillatory direct-current stable state when starting balanced oscillations; and the oscillator comprises a resistor connected to the capacitors and to the inverters for creating a high-pass filter with the capacitors to inhibit relaxation-mode oscillations.

14. An oscillator for generating balanced oscillations, the oscillator comprising:

a resonator input configured to receive, from an electro-mechanical resonator, a resonator signal for creating oscillations in the oscillator;

an oscillator core connected to the resonator input, the oscillator core for starting and sustaining balanced oscillations in the oscillator, the oscillator core comprising

first and second cross-coupled complementary programmable inverters forming a first loop and a second loop with the resonator input, respectively, the inverters programmable to contribute a first gain to the balanced oscillations, and contribute a second gain, greater than or equal to the first gain, to the balanced oscillations, wherein the first gain is less than an upper threshold gain required to generate parasitic-mode oscillations when starting balanced oscillations, and the second gain is equal to or greater than a lower threshold gain required to generate resonator-mode oscillations;

first and second capacitors connected in series in the first and second loops to outputs of the first and second cross-coupled complementary inverters, respectively, the capacitors for inhibiting the cross-coupled complementary inverters from latching to a non-oscillatory direct-current stable state when starting balanced oscillations; and

a resistor network connected to the capacitors and to the inverters for creating a high pass filter with the capacitors to inhibit relaxation-mode oscillations;

wherein each inverter comprises a first complementary transistor pair and a second complementary transistor pair, the first complementary transistor pair connected to the oscillator core to contribute gain to the resonator signal, the second complementary transistor pair in series with the first complementary transistor pair to regulate the amount of power received to control the gain contributed by the first complementary transistor pair according to a control voltage signal.

15. A method for generating balanced oscillations in an oscillator, the method comprising:

starting balanced oscillations in the oscillator using an electro-mechanical resonator and an oscillator core;

inhibiting the oscillator from latching to a non-oscillatory direct-current stable state using a capacitance in the oscillator core;

inhibiting relaxation mode oscillations in the oscillator using a high-pass filter;

contributing a gain to the balanced oscillations using the oscillator core, the gain less than an upper threshold gain required to generate parasitic-mode oscillations and greater than a lower threshold gain required to generate resonator-mode oscillations; and

increasing the gain contributed by the oscillator core to the oscillations in increments over a period of time, each increment sufficiently small to avoid parasitic mode oscillations.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising detecting a manufacturing process corner parameter of the oscillator core, and selecting the gain in response to the detected process corner parameter.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising detecting a manufacturing process corner parameter of the oscillator core, and increasing the gain in response to the detected process corner parameter so that the gain is less than an optimum power dissipation upper threshold.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the gain is contributed by complementary cross-coupled programmable inverters, each inverter comprising a first complementary transistor pair and a second complementary transistor pair, the first complementary transistor pair connected to the oscillator core to contribute gain to the balanced oscillations, the second complementary transistor pair in series with the first complementary transistor pair to regulate the amount of power received to control the gain contributed by the first complementary transistor pair according to a control voltage signal.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising counting the number of balanced oscillations in the period of time, and varying the voltage signal according to the number of balanced oscillations.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein every 0.1 milliseconds the gain is increased by an increment of no more than 20 percent of the maximum gain contributable by the oscillator core.