A Feed-Forward Time Amplifier Using a Phase Detector and Variable Delay Lines

Kiichi NIITSU  Naohiro HARIGAI  Takahiro J. YAMAGUCHI  Haruo KOBAYASHI  

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics   Vol.E96-C   No.6   pp.920-922
Publication Date: 2013/06/01
Online ISSN: 1745-1353
DOI: 10.1587/transele.E96.C.920
Print ISSN: 0916-8516
Type of Manuscript: BRIEF PAPER
Category: 
Keyword: 
time amplifier,  feed-forward,  CMOS,  integrated circuits,  design for testability,  

Full Text: PDF(676.9KB)>>
Buy this Article



Summary: 
This paper describes a high-speed, robust, scalable, and low-cost feed-forward time amplifier that uses phase detectors and variable delay lines. The amplifier works by detecting the time difference between two rising input edges with a phase detector and adjusting the delay of the variable delay line accordingly. A test chip was designed and fabricated in 65 nm CMOS. The measured resulting performance indicates that it is possible to amplify time difference while maintaining high-speed operation.