W134M/W134S
W134M/W134S
W133
W158
W159
W161
W167
Refclk
Phase
PLL
Busclk
Align
D
CY2210
RAC
RMC
Pclk
M
N
4
DLL
Synclk
Gear
Ratio
Logic
Figure 1. DDLL System Architecture
face of the RAC. The DDLL together with the Gear Ratio Logic
enables users to exchange data directly from the Pclk domain
to the Synclk domain without incurring additional latency for
synchronization. In general, Pclk and Synclk can be of different
frequencies, so the Gear Ratio Logic must select the appropri-
ate M and N dividers such that the frequencies of Pclk/M and
Synclk/N are equal. In one interesting example,
Pclk=133 MHz, Synclk=100 MHz, and M=4 while N=3, giving
Pclk/M=Synclk/N=33 MHz. This example of the clock wave-
forms with the Gear Ratio Logic is shown in Figure 2.
DDLL SystemArchitectureand GearRatio Logic
Figure 1 shows the Distributed Delay Lock Loop (DDLL) sys-
tem architecture, including the main system clock source, the
Direct Rambus clock generator (DRCG), and the core logic
that contains the Rambus Access Cell (RAC), the Rambus
Memory Controller (RMC), and the Gear Ratio Logic. (This
diagram abstractly represents the differential clocks as a sin-
gle Busclk wire.)
The purpose of the DDLL is to frequency-lock and phase-align
the core logic and Rambus clocks (Pclk and Synclk) at the
RMC/RAC boundary in order to allow data transfers without
incurring additional latency. In the DDLL architecture, a PLL is
used to generate the desired Busclk frequency, while a distrib-
uted loop forms a DLL to align the phase of Pclk and Synclk at
the RMC/RAC boundary.
The output clocks from the Gear Ratio Logic, Pclk/M, and
Synclk/N, are output from the core logic and routed to the
DRCG Phase Detector inputs. The routing of Pclk/M and Syn-
clk/N must be matched in the core logic as well as on the
board.
After comparing the phase of Pclk/M vs. Synclk/N, the DRCG
Phase Detector drives a phase aligner that adjusts the phase
of the DRCG output clock, Busclk. Since everything else in the
distributed loop is fixed delay, adjusting Busclk adjusts the
phase of Synclk and thus the phase of Synclk/N. In this man-
ner the distributed loop adjusts the phase of Synclk/N to match
that of Pclk/M, nulling the phase error at the input of the DRCG
Phase Detector. When the clocks are aligned, data can be
exchanged directly from the Pclk domain to the Synclk do-
main.
The main clock source drives the system clock (Pclk) to the
core logic, and also drives the reference clock (Refclk) to the
DRCG. For typical Intel architecture platforms, Refclk will be
half the CPU front side bus frequency. A PLL inside the DRCG
multiplies Refclk to generate the desired frequency for Busclk,
and Busclk is driven through a terminated transmission line
(Rambus Channel). At the mid-point of the channel, the RAC
senses Busclk using its own DLL for clock alignment, followed
by a fixed divide-by-4 that generates Synclk.
Pclk is the clock used in the memory controller (RMC) in the
core logic, and Synclk is the clock used at the core logic inter-
Table 1 shows the combinations of Pclk and Busclk frequen-
cies of greatest interest, organized by Gear Ratio.
Pclk
Synclk
Pclk/M =
Synclk/N
Figure 2. Gear Ratio Timing Diagram
3
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