A high-speed high-resolution low-phase noise oscillator using self-timed rings

A high-speed multi-phase oscillator based on self-timed ring is proposed. Self-timed rings (STR) are promising approach for designing high-speed serial links and clock generators. Indeed, the architecture of STR allows us to achieve high frequencies with multiphase outputs and their oscillation frequency is not only depending on the number of stages but also on the initial state of the ring. Moreover, this architecture allows us 3 dB phase noise reduction when, while keeping the same frequency, when the stage number is doubled. In this paper, we propose a method to design STR able to generate high-speed multi-phase outputs and we suggest a design flow for designing low-phase noise self-timed ring oscillators. All the electrical simulations and results have been performed using a CMOS 65nm technology from STMicroelectronics.