A Spread Spectrum Clock Generator (SSCG) using Digital Tracking scheme (DT-SSCG) is described. Using digital tracking control outside a PLL, DT-SSCG can realize stable modulation characteristic independent of the PLL constants. Moreover, DT-SSCG can apply to various modulation profiles easily by brief change of the digital tracking parameters. A test chip has realized the fitting of 5000 ppm downspread with 6.02 dB and 8.02 dB spectrum peak reduction for triangle and Non-Linear modulation.

A transceiver macro for high-speed data transmission via cable in vehicles is proposed. The transceiver uses ac coupling and bi-directional interface topology for protecting LSIs against unexpected short of cable and harness/chassis and has a spread-spectrum-clocking (SSC) generator that reduces noise due to electromagnetic interference. A driver current control has been used for fast switching of data direction on ac-coupled interfaces. An adaptive bandwidth control has been used in a Δ ∑ PLL to improve SCC significantly. A test chip has been fabricated and shows stable and bi-directional data communication with data rate of 162 to 972 Mbps through 20-m cable. Thanks to an optimum calibration of the SSC-PLL bandwidth, it reduces peak power at 33 kHz by -23 dB and provides 2% modulation at a data rate of 810 Mbps.

An effect of complex permeability of noise suppression sheets (NSS) on circuit parameters was investigated by a magnetic circuit analysis using cross-sectional size and material parameters. The series resistance and inductance of the coplanar waveguide (CPW) with a NSS considering the effect of the complex permeability of the NSS were quantitatively estimated. The result indicated that the imaginary and real part of the effective permeability affected the resistance and inductance, respectively. Furthermore, this analysis was applied to an 8-µm-wide CPW with a 0.5-µm-thick Co85Zr3Nb12 film for quantitative estimation of the resistance, the inductance and the characteristic impedance. The estimated parameters were almost similar to the measured values. These results showed that the frequency characteristics of the circuit parameters could be controlled by changing size and material parameters.

The novel low-power and low-EMI-noise current-mode data transceiver described here, which has a multilevel current driver in the transmitter (TX) and a low-input impedance I-V converter in the receiver (RX). No-feedback clock recovery in the RX is achieved by using multi-levels of a driving current from TX to specify a single bit boundary. The I-V converter suppresses voltage swing in the transmission line and generates a multi-level voltage signal according to the level of the submilliampere driving current it receives. Measurement shows a small voltage swing ( 20 mV) with 150-µA and 450-µA drive currents at 625 Mbps. The simple clock-recovery system and low driving current allow the transceiver to operate with a single 1.5-V power supply and use only 3.5 mW at 625 Mbps.