IC Design Education Center

Delay-Locked Loop
- Design Examples, Design Issues/Tips

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

Agenda
Introduction Building blocks of DLL Design issues of DLL DLL examples Design examples
DLL for DDR SDRAM DLL for direct RDRAM

Summary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

Why DLL in DRAM?

tAC
Clock @ Transmitter DOUT @ Transmitter

tF

tCC > tAC + tF +tS tCC : clock period tAC : clock to DOUT delay tF : data flight time tS : data setup time

Clock @ Receiver DIN @ Receiver

tS

SDRAM system timing

tAC, tF and tS should be minimum.

Delay to be compensated tAC Clock buffer & data output buffer tS Data input buffer & clock buffer PLL & DLL can do this job.
Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics 3

Is DLL better than PLL for DRAM?

Yes !!!
Frequency multiplication is not necessary. There is no jitter accumulation in DLL. DLL is a first-order system.
- Inherently stable - Parasitic pole due to the feedback delay exists and thus the stability should be considered as well.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

PLL & DLL Loop Topologies

PLL
Second-order system Phase alignment by VCO

DLL
First-order system Phase alignment by VCDL

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

Transient Response to Supply Step

Ref. IEEE Micro98

Jitter of VCO accumulates until the loop feedbacks correcting action takes effect. VCDL in DLL ; no jitter accumulation
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Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

Delay Locked Loop

d1 Ext. Clock tCC - (d1 + d2) d1 + d2 Compensation Delay

Variable Delay Line

PD

LPF

Ext. Data

DOUT Buffer

Int. Clock

Data from Array d2

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

Agenda
Introduction Building blocks of DLL Design issues of DLL DLL examples Design examples
DLL for DDR SDRAM DLL for direct RDRAM

Summary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

Variable Delay Line Schemes - 1

Variable unit delay
min max
- Conventional

Variable number of delay stages

min max
- Digital DLL (SMD, HPLD )

Variable number of delay stages & variable unit delay

coarse fine
Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

- SEC DDR SDRAM

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Variable Delay Line Schemes - 2

Variable unit delay
Simple control. Limited locking range due to stuck/harmonic-lock problem.

Variable number of delay stages

Fast locking and/or fast standby-mode exit. For wide locking range, large silicon area is required. Inherently large skew (resolution = fixed unit delay).

Variable number of delay stages & variable unit delay

Wide locking range. Complex control.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Compensation Delay
Compensation delay
Sum of the delays of input clock buffer, data buffer, and internal clock buffer.

Loading and bias differences between original buffers and replica buffers.
Compensation delay cannot be exactly the same as the original delay. Fuse/metal options for post-tuning.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Wafer Level Comp. Delay Control

Hitachi, SOVC00

Ext.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Delay Cell
Single-ended delay cell
Simple Dynamic power only (no static current)

Differential delay cell

Complex biasing Static power consumption Immune to supply noise and thus smaller jitter

Variables for delay control

Current Capacitance Resistance Voltage swing
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Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

Single-Ended Delay Cell

Vctrl

Variable loading capacitance

Vctrl

Pull-down strength control

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Differential Delay Cell

Vctrl

Vlow

Replica biasing ensures constant voltage swing independent of control voltage.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics 15

Phase Detector - D F/F

CLK1 CLK2 CLK1 CLK2 Up CLK1 CLK2 Down D Q Up Down

D F/F can be used as a phase detector. Bang-bang jitter. Uncertainty window as large as set-up/hold window of D F/F.
Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics 16

Phase Detector - PFD

Reset D Q A Reset D Q B A B Up Dn A B Up Dn A B Up Dn Dn B Up B Up=0 Dn=1 A Up=0 Dn=0 B Up=1 Dn=0 A A

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Direct Phase Comparison

Hitachi, SOVC00

External clock is directly compared with the replica clock. No need for replica input clock buffer. Slew rate independent skew control.
Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics 18

Charge Pump
In analog DLL, PD output is converted to charge by charge pump. Charge pump output is low-pass filtered by a capacitor.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Loop Filter
In conventional analog DLL, a capacitor is sufficient. For fast standby-mode exit, locking information can be stored in a digital code.
In digitally controlled DLL, a digital low-pass filter is necessary. Feedback delay should be considered when designing the digital low-pass filter.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Agenda
Introduction Building blocks of DLL Design issues of DLL DLL examples Design examples
DLL for DDR SDRAM DLL for direct RDRAM

Summary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Delay Range Problem of DLL - 1

tD = delay from Ref-CLK to DLL-CLK tCC = clock period tVCDL_max = max. delay of VCDL tVCDL_min = min. delay of VCDL

DLL cannot distinguish between tD= & tD=tCC+.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics 22

Delay Range Problem of DLL - 2

To prevent stuck/harmonic-lock problem, the following relationship should be ensured.
0.5 x tCC < tVCDL_min < tCC, tCC < tVCDL_max < 1.5 x tCC Max ( tVCDL_min, 2/3 x tVCDL_max ) < tCC < Min ( 2 x tVCDL_min, tVCDL_max)

Limited locking range.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Stuck/Harmonic-Lock Free DLL - 1

For wide locking range, control range of tVCDL should be as large as possible.
for min. tCC for max. tCC

Wide tVCDL range leads to stuck/harmonic-lock problem.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Stuck/Harmonic-Lock Free DLL - 2

Initial locking starts with tVCDL_max or tVCDL_min.
If locking starts from tVCDL_min or tVCDL_max, it is clear that tVCDL should be increased/decreased till DLL is locked.

Use a PD which can prevent stuck/harmonic-lock problem. Develop a DLL which can find the stuck/harmoniclock free initial condition.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Stuck/Harmonic-Lock Free PD
SEC, ISSCC99

CLK1 - External Clock CLK2 - Internal Clock CLKM - Center-tap of VCDL (a)

(b)

With conventional PD, case (a) and (b) would give the same PD output, and thus stuck/harmonic-lock occurs.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Stuck/Harmonic-Lock Free DLL - Ex.

SNU, CICC99

tRDC is settled at 1/8 x tCC by replica delay line.

Stuck/harmonic-free locking range is greatly increased.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Locking Time
Closed-loop DLL
Locking time > several hundred clock cycles Conventional DLL with feedback loop

Open-loop DLL
Locking time < several clock cycles Synchronous mirror delay (SMD) type

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Fast-Lock Technique - Ex. 1

Hitachi, ISSCC98

Fast-lock by successive approximation < 64 cycles Counter-mode operation during normal cycle

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Fast-Lock Technique - Ex. 1 (contd)

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Fast-Lock Technique - Ex. 2

d1 d1+d2 Ext.. CLK pclk Dummy Delay(I) Clock Buffer Compare & Latch Flag tCK Unit Delay Meas. Delay Line

Patent Pending, SEC

Voltage Unit Delay PD up down Vcont CP&LPF

Controlled

VDL DLL_Enable

Clock Driver d2 Internal Clock

DLL Block

FB

d1 Dummy Delay(II)

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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DLL Locking Time for DDR SDRAM

In DDR SDRAM, DLL should be locked within 200 cycles after power-up sequence.
Not a hard job. In DDR SDRAM, DLL is necessary only during read cycle. For small standby current, it is desirable to turn off DLL except read cycle which requires DLL to be able to provide stable clock within 4 cycles after turn-on. Initial locking right after power-up need not be faster than 200 cycles. Fast standby-mode exit is the key issue.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Agenda
Introduction Building blocks of DLL Design issues of DLL DLL examples Design examples
DLL for DDR SDRAM DLL for direct RDRAM

Summary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Synchronous Mirror Delay (SMD) - 1

tCC d1 Ext. Clock d1+d2 NEC, ISSCC96

Meas. Delay Line Compare & Transfer Int. Clock Var. Delay Line

d2

tCC-(d1+d2)

Open-loop system ; fast locking < 2 cycles Area penalty for wide freq. range and locking accuracy.
Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics 34

Synchronous Mirror Delay (SMD) - 2

Ext. Clock Input Buffer Meas. Delay Line Var. Delay Line Int. Clock d1 d1+d2 tCC - tCC - d2 (d1+d2) (d1+d2)

2*tCC - (d1+d2)

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Hierarchical Phase-Locking Delay

~ tCC
CLK BUFF. DELAY d1

SEC, SOVC96
COARSE DELAY STAGE

d1+d2

~ tCC - (d1 + d2)

CLK
TDS

C1

C2

C3

DELAY ELEMENT

C4
COMPARATOR

Cm-1

COARSE DELAY ELEM. (~1ns) Cm

Dm PCLK D1 D2 D3 D4
SWITCH

F1

F2

F3

F4

Fn-1

Fn

FINE DELAY ELEM. (~0.2ns)

G1

G2

G3

G4
FINE DELAY STAGE

Gn

PCLK_HPLD
CLK DRIVER DELAY d2

TUNING

Number of Delay Stage @ 50MHz (tCC=20ns)

CONVENTIONAL
(DELAY ELEM. 0.2ns)

20ns / 0.2ns = 100 (stage) 20ns / 1ns + 1ns / 0.2ns = 25 (stage)

HIERARCHICAL
(COARSE DELAY ELEM. : 1ns FINE DELAY ELEM. : 0.2ns)

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Bi-Directional Delay (BDD)

NEC, ISSCC99

Open-loop system ;
Fast locking < 2 cycles

High resolution Area penalty

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics 37

Register Controlled DLL - 1

Fujitsu, ISSCC97,98

Delay step size is too large.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Register Controlled DLL - 2

Fujitsu, ISSCC97,98

Locking information is stored as a digital code.

Fast standby-mode exit

High resolution thanks to vernier type delay line.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics 39

Loop Configurations of DLL

Initial lock 180 64M DDR 128M DDR A B C D RAMBUS E None Variable Variable Variable Variable Variable Coarse None no. of stages no. of stages no. of stages Fine unit delay unit delay unit delay unit delay 180 None Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Variable (dual loop) Active lock Coarse None Fixed Fixed Variable (dual VDL) Variable Variable Fine Variable Variable Variable (partial) Variable (partial) Variable Variable Variable Variable

no. of stages interpolation no. of stages unit delay interpolation unit delay

Unit delay + Selection (Reference loop) Unit delay + Selection (Reference loop)

Variable Fixed Variable (dual VDL)

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Agenda
Introduction Building blocks of DLL Design issues of DLL DLL examples Design examples
DLL for DDR SDRAM DLL for direct RDRAM

Summary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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DLL for DDR SDRAM

Wide locking range
tCC ; 6ns ~ 15ns

Jitter specification is not tough.

tAC, tDQSCK ; +/-0.75ns tDQSQ ; +/-0.5ns @ tCC = 7.5ns But, most of the jitter comes from SSO noise of DOUT buffer and thus the DLL jitter should be minimized.

Locking time < 200 cycles Power consumption < 20mA

As small as possible

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Hybrid DLL for DDR SDRAM - 1

SEC, ISSCC99

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Hybrid DLL for DDR SDRAM - 2

Coarse locking + Fine locking = Wide freq. range

tCC-(t1+t2)-

Coarse locking finds the optimum number of delay cells for the specific tCC. Fine locking controls the skew to be < several 10ps.

tCC-(t1+t2)

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Hybrid DLL for DDR SDRAM - 3

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Hybrid DLL for DDR SDRAM - 4

CAS

DQS

~ 420ps Preamble Most of the jitter comes from SSO noise of VDDQ/VSSQ. (not from DLL)
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Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

DLL for Direct RAMBUS DRAM - 1

Direct RDRAM channel structure
Source synchronous data transmission
Rx clock Controller CTM RDRAM CFM Tx clock CFM CTM

Tx/Rx on both edges of clock Tx is in quadrature

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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DLL for Direct RAMBUS DRAM - 2

DLL purpose
On-chip buffer delay compensation. Quadrature phase generation for transmission clock.
@ RDRAM CFM Rx data CTM Tx data Phase relationship between CTM and CFM varies with channel location.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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DLL Operation in RDRAM

Reference loop
Multi-phase clock generation. Locking information is stored as a digital code which is converted to analog quantity by a D/A converter. Reference loop is shared by Rx/Tx fine loops.

Rx/Tx fine loop

Locking information is stored as a digital code which controls the phase mixer.

Major locking information is stored as a digital code and thus fast standby-mode exit.

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Rx Clock Generation in RDRAM

CTM is used as the clock source because it is closer to the external clock source than CFM.

RAMBUS Proprietary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Tx Clock Generation in RDRAM

Compensation delay

RAMBUS Proprietary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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90 Phase Generation

RAMBUS Proprietary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Phase Mixing

Similar to variable delay element. Mixes two 45o spaced signals. Mixing weight is controlled by IK1 and IK2.

RAMBUS Proprietary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Duty Cycle Correction

For maximum valid data window DCC information is stored in a loop capacitor.

If tHigh = tLow, control voltage is stabilized.

RAMBUS Proprietary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Agenda
Introduction Building blocks of DLL Design issues of DLL DLL examples Design examples
DLL for DDR SDRAM DLL for direct RDRAM

Summary

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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Summary
DLL should be designed considering the system requirement.
Locking time Power consumption Standby-mode exit Area

Changsik Yoo @ DRAM Design 4, Samsung Electronics

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