US20060244503A1 - Internal clock generator - Google Patents
Internal clock generator Download PDFInfo
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- US20060244503A1 US20060244503A1 US11/158,456 US15845605A US2006244503A1 US 20060244503 A1 US20060244503 A1 US 20060244503A1 US 15845605 A US15845605 A US 15845605A US 2006244503 A1 US2006244503 A1 US 2006244503A1
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- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C11/00—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor
- G11C11/21—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements
- G11C11/34—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements using semiconductor devices
- G11C11/40—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements using semiconductor devices using transistors
- G11C11/401—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements using semiconductor devices using transistors forming cells needing refreshing or charge regeneration, i.e. dynamic cells
- G11C11/4063—Auxiliary circuits, e.g. for addressing, decoding, driving, writing, sensing or timing
- G11C11/407—Auxiliary circuits, e.g. for addressing, decoding, driving, writing, sensing or timing for memory cells of the field-effect type
- G11C11/4076—Timing circuits
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
- G06F1/04—Generating or distributing clock signals or signals derived directly therefrom
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- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C11/00—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor
- G11C11/21—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements
- G11C11/34—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements using semiconductor devices
- G11C11/40—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements using semiconductor devices using transistors
- G11C11/401—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements using semiconductor devices using transistors forming cells needing refreshing or charge regeneration, i.e. dynamic cells
- G11C11/4063—Auxiliary circuits, e.g. for addressing, decoding, driving, writing, sensing or timing
- G11C11/407—Auxiliary circuits, e.g. for addressing, decoding, driving, writing, sensing or timing for memory cells of the field-effect type
- G11C11/409—Read-write [R-W] circuits
- G11C11/4096—Input/output [I/O] data management or control circuits, e.g. reading or writing circuits, I/O drivers or bit-line switches
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C7/00—Arrangements for writing information into, or reading information out from, a digital store
- G11C7/22—Read-write [R-W] timing or clocking circuits; Read-write [R-W] control signal generators or management
- G11C7/222—Clock generating, synchronizing or distributing circuits within memory device
Definitions
- the present invention relates to an internal clock generator used in a high-speed semiconductor device.
- a synchronous semiconductor device controls an internal operation of the semiconductor device using an internal clock that is synchronized with an external clock.
- a representative synchronous semiconductor device may be a synchronous memory device (hereinafter referred to as a memory device) such as an SDRAM, DDR, SDRAM, etc.
- the operating frequency of a memory device is greatly being heightened and the size of the memory device is gradually increasing as well.
- the fact that the operating frequency of the memory device is increasing means that the frequency of the internal clock is also being heightened.
- a moving distance (i.e., transmission distance) of the internal clock is increasing, an RC loading of a transmission line is also increasing.
- a problem may occur in transmitting a high-frequency signal.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a general memory device that uses the internal clock.
- a clock buffer 101 receives an external clock signal of an SSTL level or a TTL level.
- a clock generator 102 receives an output signal of the clock buffer 101 , and generates an internal clock ICLK.
- the internal clock ICLK is applied to a column control unit 11 , a row control unit 12 , a command control unit 13 , a data control unit 14 , etc., in the memory device, and controls the operating timing of the memory device.
- the column control device 11 is a circuit for controlling a column operation of the memory device
- the row control unit 12 is a circuit for controlling a row operation of the memory device.
- the command control unit 13 is a circuit for controlling a command such as an active, read, write, precharge, etc.
- the data control unit 14 is an input/output (I/O) unit of the memory device.
- FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an example of a conventional clock generator 102 used in the memory device of FIG. 1 .
- a clock generator causes no trouble in the case in which a period of an input signal IN is longer than a delay time of a delay unit 21 .
- the memory device may malfunction. Specifically, if the input signal IN is a high-frequency signal over 500 MHz, it is difficult to apply such a clock generator to a high-speed memory device.
- an object of the present invention is to provide an internal clock generator that modulates a high-frequency clock signal to a low-frequency signal to transmit the low-frequency signal if a transmission line for transmitting the high-frequency clock signal is long, and then restores the transmitted low-frequency signal to the high-frequency signal.
- an internal clock generator comprising a first signal generation unit for receiving a first signal having a first frequency and generating a second signal having a second frequency that is lower than the first frequency, and a second signal generation unit for receiving the second signal and generating a third signal having a frequency equal to the first frequency.
- the third signal is used as a signal for controlling an operating time point of an internal circuit of a synchronous memory device.
- an internal clock generator comprising a frequency modulation unit for receiving a first clock signal having a first frequency and outputting second and third clock signal having a second frequency, and a clock generation unit for receiving the second and third clock signals and outputting a fourth clock signal having the first frequency.
- the second frequency becomes fo/2.
- a rising edge of the second clock signal is in synchronization with a rising edge of the first clock signal
- a rising edge of the third clock signal is in synchronization with a falling edge of the first clock signal
- a high-level period of the second and third clock signals is equal to a period of the first clock signal.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a general memory device that uses the internal clock
- FIG. 2 is an exemplary circuit diagram of a conventional clock generator 102 used in the memory device of FIG. 1 ;
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an internal clock generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 4 is an exemplary circuit diagram of a frequency modulator as illustrated in FIG. 3 ;
- FIG. 5 is an exemplary circuit diagram of a clock generator as illustrated in FIG. 3 ;
- FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram illustrating clock signals IN, Up_clk, Down_clk and ICLK that appear in the circuits of FIGS. 3 to 5 .
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an internal clock generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- a clock buffer 301 that receives an external clock signal CLK are the same as those of the conventional clock buffer.
- the clock buffer 301 is the same as the clock buffer 101 explained with reference to FIG. 1 .
- the period of a clock signal IN output from the clock buffer 301 is the same as that of the external clock signal CLK (See FIG. 6 ).
- a frequency modulation unit 302 modulates the frequency of the clock signal IN output from the clock buffer 301 .
- the frequency of output signals Up_clk and Down_clk of the frequency modulation unit 302 is a 1 ⁇ 2 of the frequency of the clock signal IN. That is, the frequency modulation unit 302 of FIG. 3 performs the same function as a frequency divider.
- the clock signal Up_clk rises in synchronization with a rising edge of the clock signal IN, and falls in synchronization with a rising edge of the next clock signal IN (See FIG. 6 ).
- the clock signal Down_clk rises in synchronization with a falling edge of the clock signal IN, and falls in synchronization with a falling edge of the next clock signal IN (See FIG. 6 ).
- Clock generation units 35 to 38 receive in common the output signals Up_clk and Down_clk of the frequency modulation unit 302 , and output an internal clock signal ICLK.
- the clock generation units 35 to 38 correspond to a column control unit 31 , a row control unit 32 , a command decoder 33 and a data control unit 34 etc. in a one-to-one manner because there are differences in distance from frequency unit(differences in operating time points) among the column control unit 31 , row control unit 32 , command decoder 33 and data control unit 34 etc.
- the clock generation units 35 to 38 that have received the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk combine the clock signals and generate the internal clock signal ICLK having the same frequency as the clock signal IN.
- the frequency modulation unit and the clock generation units as described above are constituent elements of the internal clock generator newly proposed in one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 4 is an exemplary circuit diagram of the frequency modulation unit as illustrated in FIG. 3 .
- a method of increasing twice the period of the input clock signal IN using flip-flops is illustrated.
- a power-up signal pwrup is a signal for sensing an input of an external power supply to the memory device and initializing internal circuits of the memory device when the external power is supplied to the memory device. Specifically, the power-up signal sets an initial level of the flip-flops.
- the flip-flop 41 receives the clock signal IN and outputs the clock signal Up_clk having the period that is twice the period of the clock signal IN
- the the flip-flop 42 receives the clock signal IN and outputs the clock signal Down_clk having the period that is twice the period of the clock signal IN.
- the clock signal Up_clk rises in synchronization with the rising edge of the clock signal IN and falls in synchronization with the rising edge of the next clock signal
- the clock signal Down_clk rises in synchronization with the falling edge of the clock signal IN and falls in synchronization with the falling edge of the next clock signal IN.
- the flip-flop 42 receives an inversed signal of the clock signal IN.
- the frequency modulation unit of FIG. 4 is exemplary, and it is apparent to those skilled in the art that diverse circuits for dividing the frequency by 2 can be used in place of the frequency modulation unit.
- FIG. 5 is an exemplary circuit diagram of the clock generator as illustrated in FIG. 3 .
- the clock generator of FIG. 5 includes a NAND gate 51 for receiving the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk, an inverter 52 for receiving an output signal of the NAND gate 51 , a NOR gate 53 for receiving the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk, a NAND gate 54 for receiving an output signal of the inverter 52 and an output signal of the NOR gate 53 , and an inverter 55 for receiving an output signal of the NAND gate 54 .
- the inverter 55 outputs the internal clock signal ICLK.
- FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram illustrating clock signals IN, Up_clk, Down_clk and ICLK that appear in the circuits of FIGS. 3 to 5 .
- the period of the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk is twice the period of the clock signal IN, and the period of the internal clock signal ICLK is equal to the period of the clock signal IN.
- the clock buffer 301 receives the external clock signal CLK of the SSTL level or the TTL level, and output the clock signal IN.
- the low level of the clock signal IN corresponds to a ground voltage
- the high level thereof corresponds to a driving voltage VCC. That is, the clock signal IN is a clock signal fully swinging between the ground voltage and the driving voltage VCC.
- the driving voltage VCC is for driving the clock buffer 301 .
- the frequency modulation unit 302 generates and transmits the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk having the period that is twice the period of the clock signal IN to the clock generation units 35 to 38 .
- a signal distortion is greatly reduced in comparison to the conventional clock generator.
- the signal distortion can properly be reduced by transmitting the low-frequency signal using the frequency modulation unit.
- the clock generation units 35 to 38 receive the output signals of the frequency modulation unit 302 , generate and provide the internal clock signal ICLK having the same frequency as the operating frequency of the memory device to the column control unit 31 , the row control unit 32 , etc.
- the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk having the lower frequency than the clock signal IN are generated and transferred to the clock generation units, and then the internal clock signal ICLK is generated.
- the present invention can prevent the signal distortion occurring when the high-frequency signal is transmitted for a long distance through the transmission of the low-frequency signal instead of the high-frequency signal.
- the clock signal transmission is performed using the same circuit as the conventional circuit if the internal transmission line is short, while the clock signal transmission is performed using the circuit proposed according to the present invention if the internal transmission line is long.
- a stable internal clock signal can be generated by transmitting a low-frequency clock signal through a transmission line of a great loading and then generating an internal clock signal having the same frequency as an operating frequency using the transmitted low-frequency signal.
- the present invention is not limited to this, but in the case in which the loading of the transmission line is extremely great, the clock signal having a frequency that is four times or more lower than the original clock signal may be generated and transmitted, and then the transmitted lower-frequency clock signal may be restored to the original clock signal.
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Abstract
An internal clock generator that modulates a high-frequency clock signal to a low-frequency signal to transmit the low-frequency signal if a transmission line for transmitting the high-frequency clock signal is long, and then restores the transmitted low-frequency signal to the high-frequency signal. The internal clock generator includes a first signal generation unit for receiving a first signal having a first frequency and generating a second signal having a second frequency that is lower than the first frequency, and a second signal generation unit for receiving the second signal and generating a third signal having a frequency equal to the first frequency. Here, the third signal is used as a signal for controlling an operating time point of an internal circuit of a synchronous memory device.
Description
- 1. Field of the invention
- The present invention relates to an internal clock generator used in a high-speed semiconductor device.
- 2. Description of the Prior Art
- Generally, a synchronous semiconductor device controls an internal operation of the semiconductor device using an internal clock that is synchronized with an external clock. A representative synchronous semiconductor device may be a synchronous memory device (hereinafter referred to as a memory device) such as an SDRAM, DDR, SDRAM, etc.
- Recently, with the development of technology, the operating frequency of a memory device is greatly being heightened and the size of the memory device is gradually increasing as well. Typically, the fact that the operating frequency of the memory device is increasing means that the frequency of the internal clock is also being heightened. Here, as a moving distance (i.e., transmission distance) of the internal clock is increasing, an RC loading of a transmission line is also increasing. However, in the case in which the loading of the transmission line is increasing, a problem may occur in transmitting a high-frequency signal.
- Hereinafter, the conventional method of transmitting an internal clock will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.
-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a general memory device that uses the internal clock. - Referring to
FIG. 1 , aclock buffer 101 receives an external clock signal of an SSTL level or a TTL level. Aclock generator 102 receives an output signal of theclock buffer 101, and generates an internal clock ICLK. - The internal clock ICLK is applied to a
column control unit 11, arow control unit 12, acommand control unit 13, adata control unit 14, etc., in the memory device, and controls the operating timing of the memory device. Here, thecolumn control device 11 is a circuit for controlling a column operation of the memory device, and therow control unit 12 is a circuit for controlling a row operation of the memory device. Also, thecommand control unit 13 is a circuit for controlling a command such as an active, read, write, precharge, etc., and thedata control unit 14 is an input/output (I/O) unit of the memory device. -
FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an example of aconventional clock generator 102 used in the memory device ofFIG. 1 . - As illustrated in
FIG. 2 , a clock generator causes no trouble in the case in which a period of an input signal IN is longer than a delay time of adelay unit 21. - However, if the period of the input signal IN is shorter than the delay time of the
delay unit 21, the memory device may malfunction. Specifically, if the input signal IN is a high-frequency signal over 500 MHz, it is difficult to apply such a clock generator to a high-speed memory device. - Additionally, in the case in which a signal transmission line is long, this may cause a problem in that the loading of the transmission line becomes extremely great and thus the high-frequency signal is not properly transferred.
- Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an internal clock generator that modulates a high-frequency clock signal to a low-frequency signal to transmit the low-frequency signal if a transmission line for transmitting the high-frequency clock signal is long, and then restores the transmitted low-frequency signal to the high-frequency signal.
- In a first embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an internal clock generator comprising a first signal generation unit for receiving a first signal having a first frequency and generating a second signal having a second frequency that is lower than the first frequency, and a second signal generation unit for receiving the second signal and generating a third signal having a frequency equal to the first frequency.
- Here, the third signal is used as a signal for controlling an operating time point of an internal circuit of a synchronous memory device.
- In a second embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an internal clock generator comprising a frequency modulation unit for receiving a first clock signal having a first frequency and outputting second and third clock signal having a second frequency, and a clock generation unit for receiving the second and third clock signals and outputting a fourth clock signal having the first frequency.
- Here, if the first frequency is fo, the second frequency becomes fo/2.
- Additionally, a rising edge of the second clock signal is in synchronization with a rising edge of the first clock signal, and a rising edge of the third clock signal is in synchronization with a falling edge of the first clock signal.
- It is preferable that a high-level period of the second and third clock signals is equal to a period of the first clock signal.
- The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a general memory device that uses the internal clock; -
FIG. 2 is an exemplary circuit diagram of aconventional clock generator 102 used in the memory device ofFIG. 1 ; -
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an internal clock generator according to an embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 4 is an exemplary circuit diagram of a frequency modulator as illustrated inFIG. 3 ; -
FIG. 5 is an exemplary circuit diagram of a clock generator as illustrated inFIG. 3 ; and -
FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram illustrating clock signals IN, Up_clk, Down_clk and ICLK that appear in the circuits of FIGS. 3 to 5. - Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components, and so repetition of the description on the same or similar components will be omitted.
-
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an internal clock generator according to an embodiment of the present invention. - In
FIG. 3 , the construction and operation of aclock buffer 301 that receives an external clock signal CLK are the same as those of the conventional clock buffer. For example, theclock buffer 301 is the same as theclock buffer 101 explained with reference toFIG. 1 . Also, the period of a clock signal IN output from theclock buffer 301 is the same as that of the external clock signal CLK (SeeFIG. 6 ). - A
frequency modulation unit 302 modulates the frequency of the clock signal IN output from theclock buffer 301. In an embodiment of the present invention, the frequency of output signals Up_clk and Down_clk of thefrequency modulation unit 302 is a ½ of the frequency of the clock signal IN. That is, thefrequency modulation unit 302 ofFIG. 3 performs the same function as a frequency divider. Here, the clock signal Up_clk rises in synchronization with a rising edge of the clock signal IN, and falls in synchronization with a rising edge of the next clock signal IN (SeeFIG. 6 ). Additionally, the clock signal Down_clk rises in synchronization with a falling edge of the clock signal IN, and falls in synchronization with a falling edge of the next clock signal IN (SeeFIG. 6 ). -
Clock generation units 35 to 38 receive in common the output signals Up_clk and Down_clk of thefrequency modulation unit 302, and output an internal clock signal ICLK. Theclock generation units 35 to 38 correspond to acolumn control unit 31, arow control unit 32, acommand decoder 33 and adata control unit 34 etc. in a one-to-one manner because there are differences in distance from frequency unit(differences in operating time points) among thecolumn control unit 31,row control unit 32,command decoder 33 anddata control unit 34 etc. - The
clock generation units 35 to 38 that have received the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk combine the clock signals and generate the internal clock signal ICLK having the same frequency as the clock signal IN. - The frequency modulation unit and the clock generation units as described above are constituent elements of the internal clock generator newly proposed in one embodiment of the present invention.
-
FIG. 4 is an exemplary circuit diagram of the frequency modulation unit as illustrated inFIG. 3 . InFIG. 3 , a method of increasing twice the period of the input clock signal IN using flip-flops is illustrated. Here, a power-up signal pwrup is a signal for sensing an input of an external power supply to the memory device and initializing internal circuits of the memory device when the external power is supplied to the memory device. Specifically, the power-up signal sets an initial level of the flip-flops. - In
FIG. 4 , the flip-flop 41 receives the clock signal IN and outputs the clock signal Up_clk having the period that is twice the period of the clock signal IN, and the the flip-flop 42 receives the clock signal IN and outputs the clock signal Down_clk having the period that is twice the period of the clock signal IN. As described above, the clock signal Up_clk rises in synchronization with the rising edge of the clock signal IN and falls in synchronization with the rising edge of the next clock signal, and the clock signal Down_clk rises in synchronization with the falling edge of the clock signal IN and falls in synchronization with the falling edge of the next clock signal IN. For reference, the flip-flop 42 receives an inversed signal of the clock signal IN. - The frequency modulation unit of
FIG. 4 is exemplary, and it is apparent to those skilled in the art that diverse circuits for dividing the frequency by 2 can be used in place of the frequency modulation unit. -
FIG. 5 is an exemplary circuit diagram of the clock generator as illustrated inFIG. 3 . - The clock generator of
FIG. 5 includes aNAND gate 51 for receiving the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk, aninverter 52 for receiving an output signal of theNAND gate 51, a NORgate 53 for receiving the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk, aNAND gate 54 for receiving an output signal of theinverter 52 and an output signal of the NORgate 53, and aninverter 55 for receiving an output signal of theNAND gate 54. Theinverter 55 outputs the internal clock signal ICLK. -
FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram illustrating clock signals IN, Up_clk, Down_clk and ICLK that appear in the circuits of FIGS. 3 to 5. - As can be seen in
FIG. 6 , the period of the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk is twice the period of the clock signal IN, and the period of the internal clock signal ICLK is equal to the period of the clock signal IN. - Hereinafter, the operation of the internal clock generator according to the present invention that is advantageous in high-frequency operation will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.
- The
clock buffer 301 receives the external clock signal CLK of the SSTL level or the TTL level, and output the clock signal IN. Here, the low level of the clock signal IN corresponds to a ground voltage, and the high level thereof corresponds to a driving voltage VCC. That is, the clock signal IN is a clock signal fully swinging between the ground voltage and the driving voltage VCC. Here, the driving voltage VCC is for driving theclock buffer 301. - The
frequency modulation unit 302 generates and transmits the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk having the period that is twice the period of the clock signal IN to theclock generation units 35 to 38. In the case of doubling the period of the high-frequency clock signal IN as in the internal clock generator according to the present invention, a signal distortion is greatly reduced in comparison to the conventional clock generator. Particularly, if the loading of the transmission line is great, the signal distortion can properly be reduced by transmitting the low-frequency signal using the frequency modulation unit. - The
clock generation units 35 to 38 receive the output signals of thefrequency modulation unit 302, generate and provide the internal clock signal ICLK having the same frequency as the operating frequency of the memory device to thecolumn control unit 31, therow control unit 32, etc. - In the present invention, the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk having the lower frequency than the clock signal IN are generated and transferred to the clock generation units, and then the internal clock signal ICLK is generated. Here, it is preferable to make the transmission distance of the clock signals Up_clk and Down_clk, which reach the clock generation units, longer than the distance of the internal clock signal ICLK which reaches the
column control units 31, etc. By doing so, the signal distortion which may occur during the transmission of the high-frequency signal can be prevented. As described above, the present invention can prevent the signal distortion occurring when the high-frequency signal is transmitted for a long distance through the transmission of the low-frequency signal instead of the high-frequency signal. Particularly, it may be possible that the clock signal transmission is performed using the same circuit as the conventional circuit if the internal transmission line is short, while the clock signal transmission is performed using the circuit proposed according to the present invention if the internal transmission line is long. - As described above, according to the present invention which is applicable to an ultrahigh-speed memory device, a stable internal clock signal can be generated by transmitting a low-frequency clock signal through a transmission line of a great loading and then generating an internal clock signal having the same frequency as an operating frequency using the transmitted low-frequency signal.
- The present invention is not limited to this, but in the case in which the loading of the transmission line is extremely great, the clock signal having a frequency that is four times or more lower than the original clock signal may be generated and transmitted, and then the transmitted lower-frequency clock signal may be restored to the original clock signal.
- In the case in which the internal clock generator according to the present invention is used, a stable internal clock can be generated even if the operating frequency is greatly high.
- Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
Claims (9)
1. An internal clock generator comprising:
a first signal generation unit for receiving a first signal having a first frequency and generating a second signal having a second frequency that is lower than the first frequency; and
a second signal generation unit for receiving the second signal and generating a third signal having a frequency equal to the first frequency.
2. The internal clock generator as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the third signal is used as a signal for controlling an operating time point of an internal circuit of a synchronous memory device.
3. An internal clock generator comprising:
a frequency modulation unit for receiving a first clock signal having a first frequency and outputting second and third clock signal having a second frequency; and
a clock generation unit for receiving the second and third clock signals and outputting a fourth clock signal having the first frequency.
4. The internal clock generator as claimed in claim 3 , wherein if the first frequency is fo, the second frequency becomes fo/2.
5. The internal clock generator as claimed in claim 4 , wherein a rising edge of the second clock signal is in synchronization with a rising edge of the first clock signal, and a rising edge of the third clock signal is in synchronization with a falling edge of the first clock signal.
6. The internal clock generator as claimed in claim 5 , wherein a high-level period of the second and third clock signals is equal to a period of the first clock signal.
7. The internal clock generator as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the first frequency is the same as a frequency of an external clock applied to a synchronous memory device.
8. The internal clock generator as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the fourth clock signal is applied to an internal circuit of the synchronous memory device and controls an operating time point of the internal circuit.
9. The internal clock generator as claimed in claim 8 , wherein a transmission distance of the second and third clock signals that reach the clock generation unit is longer than a transmission distance of the fourth clock signal that reaches the internal circuit.
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KR1020050034974A KR100639217B1 (en) | 2005-04-27 | 2005-04-27 | Internal clock generator |
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US11/747,993 Expired - Fee Related US7612596B2 (en) | 2005-04-27 | 2007-05-14 | Internal clock generator |
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US20080001638A1 (en) * | 2006-06-30 | 2008-01-03 | Byoung Jin Choi | Clock generator circuit, method of clock generating, and data output circuit using the clock generating circuit and method |
US20190304532A1 (en) * | 2018-03-27 | 2019-10-03 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Apparatuses and methods for providing clock signals in a semiconductor device |
US10734046B2 (en) | 2018-10-10 | 2020-08-04 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Apparatus and methods for providing voltages to conductive lines between which clock signal lines are disposed |
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Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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KR100968150B1 (en) * | 2008-04-28 | 2010-07-06 | 주식회사 하이닉스반도체 | Clock Control Circuit and Semiconductor Memory Device using the same |
KR101008991B1 (en) * | 2008-12-23 | 2011-01-17 | 주식회사 하이닉스반도체 | Read end signal generate circuit and internal clock generate circuit using the same |
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US6909312B2 (en) * | 2003-01-31 | 2005-06-21 | Renesas Technology Corp. | Synchronization circuit and synchronization method |
US7106118B2 (en) * | 2004-01-16 | 2006-09-12 | Realtek Semiconductor Corp. | Clock signal generator with low power comsumption function and method thereof |
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TWI229501B (en) * | 2003-10-16 | 2005-03-11 | Via Tech Inc | Frequency divider and related frequency divider designing method |
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2005
- 2005-04-27 KR KR1020050034974A patent/KR100639217B1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2005-06-22 US US11/158,456 patent/US20060244503A1/en not_active Abandoned
-
2007
- 2007-05-14 US US11/747,993 patent/US7612596B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
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US6909312B2 (en) * | 2003-01-31 | 2005-06-21 | Renesas Technology Corp. | Synchronization circuit and synchronization method |
US7106118B2 (en) * | 2004-01-16 | 2006-09-12 | Realtek Semiconductor Corp. | Clock signal generator with low power comsumption function and method thereof |
Cited By (9)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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US20070188211A1 (en) * | 2006-02-15 | 2007-08-16 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Level-converting flip-flop and pulse generator for clustered voltage scaling |
US20100073028A1 (en) * | 2006-02-15 | 2010-03-25 | Min-Su Kim | Level-converting flip-flop and pulse generator for clustered voltage scaling |
US7999590B2 (en) | 2006-02-15 | 2011-08-16 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Level-converting flip-flop and pulse generator for clustered voltage scaling |
US20080001638A1 (en) * | 2006-06-30 | 2008-01-03 | Byoung Jin Choi | Clock generator circuit, method of clock generating, and data output circuit using the clock generating circuit and method |
US7884661B2 (en) * | 2006-06-30 | 2011-02-08 | Hynix Semiconductor Inc. | Clock generator circuit, method of clock generating, and data output circuit using the clock generating circuit and method |
US20190304532A1 (en) * | 2018-03-27 | 2019-10-03 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Apparatuses and methods for providing clock signals in a semiconductor device |
CN110310684A (en) * | 2018-03-27 | 2019-10-08 | 美光科技公司 | For providing the device and method of clock signal in semiconductor devices |
US10803923B2 (en) * | 2018-03-27 | 2020-10-13 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Apparatuses and methods for providing clock signals in a semiconductor device |
US10734046B2 (en) | 2018-10-10 | 2020-08-04 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Apparatus and methods for providing voltages to conductive lines between which clock signal lines are disposed |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20070210850A1 (en) | 2007-09-13 |
KR100639217B1 (en) | 2006-10-30 |
US7612596B2 (en) | 2009-11-03 |
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