Phase Error Sensitivity to Injection Signals in Multi-Phase Injection-Locked Ring Oscillators

TL;DR

This paper provides a quantitative analysis of phase error sensitivity in multi-phase injection-locked ring oscillators, highlighting how injection strength and free-running frequency affect phase accuracy, supported by theoretical and simulation results.

Contribution

It introduces a phasor-based analytical method to evaluate phase error sensitivity in MP-ILROs, which was previously not well understood.

Findings

Phase error sensitivity depends on injection strength.

Free-running frequency influences phase accuracy.

Simulation results validate the theoretical analysis.

Abstract

Multi-phase injection-locked ring oscillators (MP-ILROs) are widely used for multi-phase clock generation, with their phase accuracy primarily determined by the inherent accuracy of the oscillator itself, due to the suppression of input signal errors. However, a quantitative analysis of the oscillator's sensitivity to input errors remains largely unexplored. This paper presents a phasor-based analysis of injection locking, revealing that the phase error sensitivity is influenced by factors such as injection strength and the free-running frequency of the oscillator. Simulation results align closely with theoretical calculations, validating the effectiveness of the proposed method.