A Fully Integrated Spread-Spectrum Clock Generator by Using Direct VCO Modulation

A compact architecture for a fully-integrated spread-spectrum clock generator (SSCG) using voltage-controlled oscillator direct modulation is presented in this paper. A dual-path loop filter in the phase-locked loop is employed to reduce the size of the capacitance in the filter with the aid of an extra charge pump and a unity gain amplifier. At the same time, a third-charge pump which generates triangular waves is used to perform the function of a spread-spectrum. The proposed circuit has been fabricated using a 0.35-$mu{hbox {m}}$ CMOS single-poly quadruple-metal process. The clock rate from 50 to 480 MHz with a center spread range of between 0.5% and 2% are verified and are close to the theoretical analyses. The size of the chip area is $0.82times 0.8 {hbox {mm}}^{2}$ (including the loop filter) and the power consumption was 27.5 mW at 400 MHz.