Systems and methods for detecting capacitor process variation

1. A method for detecting capacitor variation in a device, said method comprising:

operating an oscillator in said device, said oscillator being an Inductive-Capacitive (LC) oscillator and including an inductor of known value and a capacitor under test;

comparing an output of said oscillator to a reference output;

evaluating variation for a plurality of capacitors in said device based on said comparing;

wherein comparing said output comprises:

capturing cycles of said oscillator in a counter,

outputting the contents of said counter to a computational circuit, and

comparing said counter contents to a reference value by said computational circuit; and

wherein said capturing cycles of said oscillator in said counter comprises:

dividing said output of said oscillator; and

zeroing portions of said divided output that do not occur in a designated time period.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said designated time period is a function of an output of a reference oscillator.

3. A method for tuning an on-chip circuit, said method comprising:

measuring a variation of a first capacitor by oscillating said first capacitor in an Inductive-Capacitive (LC) circuit with an inductor of known value and comparing the output of the oscillator with a reference value;

adjusting a frequency response of said on-chip circuit based at least in part on said variation, said on-chip circuit including at least a second capacitor;

wherein said on-chip circuit is a filter that includes a plurality of filter components, each with a different frequency response, and wherein adjusting a frequency response comprises selecting a filter element based on said measured variation; and

wherein said selecting said filter element comprises:

permanently making or breaking one or more connections in said filter, thereby hardwiring said selection.

4. A method for detecting capacitor variation, said method comprising:

operating an oscillator, said oscillator being an Inductive-Capacitive (LC) oscillator and including an inductor of known value and a capacitor under test, wherein said capacitor under test is formed on a same semiconductor chip as a circuit component that comprises a plurality of other capacitors;

comparing an output of said oscillator to a reference output;

determining variation for said plurality of other capacitors based on said comparing; and

adjusting an operation of said circuit component in response to said determined variation;

wherein comparing said output comprises:

capturing cycles of said oscillator in a counter;

outputting the contents of said counter to a computational circuit; and

comparing said counter contents to a reference value by said computational circuit; and

wherein said capturing cycles of said oscillator in said counter comprises:

dividing said output of said oscillator;

zeroing portions of said divided output that do not occur in a designated time period.