Apparatuses and methods for partial bit de-emphasis

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a variable delay circuit configured to introduce a delay into a digital signal, wherein the delay is less than one bit period;

a transition detector configured to detect a logical transition of the digital signal between a logic high and a logic low; and

a control circuit coupled to the variable delay circuit, the control circuit comprising a pull-up leg control circuit and a pull-down leg control circuit,

wherein the pull-up leg control circuit is configured to concurrently deactivate a pull-up circuit and activate a pull-down circuit in response to the transition detector detecting the logical transition from logic high to logic low, the pull-down circuit operable to drive an output signal to a first amplitude for a partial bit period,

wherein the pull-down leg control circuit is configured to concurrently deactivate the pull-down circuit and activate the pull-up circuit in response to the transition detector detecting the logical transition from logic low to logic high, the pull-up circuit operable to drive the output signal to a second amplitude for the partial bit period, and

wherein the partial bit period is based on the delay introduced into the digital signal.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pull-up circuit comprises one or more pull-up legs and the pull-down circuit comprises one or more pull-down legs.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the one or more pull-up legs are deactivated while a corresponding number of the one or more pull-down legs are activated in response to the transition detector detecting the logical transition from logic high to logic low.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the one or more pull-up legs are activated while a corresponding number of the one or more pull-down legs are deactivated.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the number of the one or more pull-up legs and the one or more pull-down legs activated and/or deactivated is based on a desired amplitude of the output signal.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to generate a first intermediate signal in response to multiplying a magnitude of the digital signal by a first factor and generate a second intermediate signal in response to multiplying the magnitude of the digital signal with the delay by a second factor.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising an output circuit coupled to the control circuit; the output circuit configured to drive the output signal responsive to the first and second intermediate signals.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein each of the first and second factors are positive or negative, and an absolute value of the first and second factors add up to 1.

9. An apparatus comprising:

an external terminal; and

an output driver coupled to the external terminal, the output driver configured to:

receive a first signal having a first logical value,

receive a second signal following the first signal, the second signal having a second logical value different from the first logical value, and

drive, in response to receiving the second signal, the external terminal from a first voltage to a second voltage by way of a third voltage, wherein the output driver is further configured to:

receive a third signal having the second logical value, wherein the first signal is received following the third signal, and

drive, in response to receiving the first signal, the external terminal from the second voltage to the first voltage by way of a fourth voltage, wherein the first voltage is between the second and fourth voltages.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the output driver includes a plurality of pull-down transistors coupled in parallel between a first voltage node and the external terminal,

wherein each of the plurality of pull-down transistors is controlled to be conductive when the external terminal is driven to the fourth voltage, and

wherein at least one of the plurality of pull-down transistors is controlled to be non-conductive when the external terminal is driven to the first voltage.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the output driver further includes a plurality of pull-up transistors coupled in parallel between a second voltage node and the external terminal,

wherein each of the plurality of pull-up transistors is controlled to be non-conductive when the external terminal is driven to the fourth voltage,

wherein at least one of the plurality of pull-up transistors is controlled to be conductive when the external terminal is driven to the first voltage.

12. An apparatus comprising:

an external terminal, and

an output driver coupled to the external terminal, the output driver configured to:

receive a first signal having a first logical value,

receive a second signal following the first signal, the second signal having a second logical value different from the first logical value, and

drive, in response to receiving the second signal, the external terminal from a first voltage to a second voltage by way of a third voltage, wherein the output driver includes a plurality of pull-up transistors coupled in parallel between a first voltage node and the external terminal,

wherein each of the plurality of pull-up transistors is controlled to be conductive when the external terminal is driven to the third voltage, and

wherein at least one of the plurality of pull-up transistors is controlled to be non-conductive when the external terminal is driven to the second voltage.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the output driver further includes a plurality of pull-down transistors coupled in parallel between a second voltage node and the external terminal,

wherein each of the plurality of pull-down transistors is controlled to be non-conductive when the external terminal is driven to the third voltage, and

wherein at least one of the plurality of pull-down transistors is controlled to be conductive when the external terminal is driven to the second voltage.

14. A method comprising:

receiving a digital signal;

introducing a delay into the digital signal, wherein the delay is less than one bit period;

detecting a logical transition of the digital signal between a logic high and a logic low;

concurrently deactivating a pull-up circuit and activating a pull-down circuit in response to detecting the logical transition from logic high to logic low, including driving an output signal to a first amplitude for a partial bit period; and

concurrently deactivating the pull-down circuit and activating the pull-up circuit in response to detecting the logical transition from logic low to logic high, including driving the output signal to a second amplitude for the partial bit period, wherein the partial bit period is based on the delay introduced into the digital signal.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein concurrently deactivating the pull-up circuit and activating the pull-down circuit includes deactivating one or more pull-up legs of the pull-up circuit while a corresponding number of one or more pull-down legs of the pull-down circuit are activated.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein concurrently deactivating the pull-down circuit and activating the pull-up circuit includes activating the one or more pull-up legs of the pull-up circuit while a corresponding number of the one or more pull-down legs of the pull-down circuit are deactivated.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising setting the corresponding number of the one or more pull-up legs and the one or more pull-down legs activated and/or deactivated based on a desired amplitude of the output signal.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising generating a first intermediate signal in response to multiplying a magnitude of the digital signal by a first factor and generating a second intermediate signal in response to multiplying the magnitude of the digital signal with the delay by a second factor.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising driving the output signal responsive to the first and second intermediate signals.