A High-Speed, Low-Power Phase Frequency Detector and Charge-Pump Circuits for High Frequency Phase-Locked Loops∗

In this paper, we introduce a high-speed and low-power Phase-Frequency Detector (PFD) that is designed using a modified TSPC (True Single-Phase Clock) positive edge triggered D flip-flop . The proposed PFD has a simple structure with using only 19 transistors. The operation range of this PFD is over 1.4GHz without using additional prescaler circuits. Furthermore, the PFD has a dead zone less than 0.01ns in the phase characteristics and has low phase sensitivity errors. The phase and frequency error detection range is not limited as in the case of the pt-type and nc-type PFDs [3]. Also, the PFD is independent of the duty cycle of input signals. Also, a new charge-pump circuit is presented that is based on a charge-amplifier. A stand-by current of the proposed charge-pump circuit enhances the speed of charge-pump and removes the charge sharing which causes a phase noise in the charge pump PLL. Furthermore, the effect of clock feedthrough is reduced by separating the output stage from up and down signal. The simulation results base on a third order PLL are presented to verify the lock in process with the proposed PFD and charge pump circuits. The proposed PFD and chargepump circuits are designed using 0.8μm CMOS technology with 5V supply voltage. key words: PFD, charge-pump, low-power, PLL, high-speed, D flip-flop, error detection range