Spartan-3E FPGA Family: Functional Description
DS312 (v4.1) July 19, 2013
Product Specification
48
Delay-Locked Loop (DLL)
The most basic function of the DLL component is to
eliminate clock skew. The main signal path of the DLL
consists of an input stage, followed by a series of discrete
delay elements or steps, which in turn leads to an output
stage. This path together with logic for phase detection and
control forms a system complete with feedback as shown in
Figure 41. In Spartan-3E FPGAs, the DLL is implemented
using a counter-based delay line.
The DLL component has two clock inputs, CLKIN and
CLKFB, as well as seven clock outputs, CLK0, CLK90,
CLK180, CLK270, CLK2X, CLK2X180, and CLKDV as
described in
Table 28. The clock outputs drive
simultaneously. Signals that initialize and report the state of
The clock signal supplied to the CLKIN input serves as a
reference waveform. The DLL seeks to align the rising-edge
of feedback signal at the CLKFB input with the rising-edge
of CLKIN input. When eliminating clock skew, the common
approach to using the DLL is as follows: The CLK0 signal is
passed through the clock distribution network that feeds all
the registers it synchronizes. These registers are either
internal or external to the FPGA. After passing through the
clock distribution network, the clock signal returns to the
DLL via a feedback line called CLKFB. The control block
inside the DLL measures the phase error between CLKFB
and CLKIN. This phase error is a measure of the clock skew
that the clock distribution network introduces. The control
block activates the appropriate number of delay steps to
X-Ref Target - Figure 41
Figure 41: Simplified Functional Diagram of DLL
Table 28: DLL Signals
Signal
Direction
Description
CLKIN
Input
inputs to a DCM.
CLKFB
Input
Accepts either CLK0 or CLK2X as the feedback signal. (Set the CLK_FEEDBACK attribute
accordingly).
CLK0
Output
Generates a clock signal with the same frequency and phase as CLKIN.
CLK90
Output
Generates a clock signal with the same frequency as CLKIN, phase-shifted by 90°.
CLK180
Output
Generates a clock signal with the same frequency as CLKIN, phase-shifted by 180°.
CLK270
Output
Generates a clock signal with the same frequency as CLKIN, phase-shifted by 270°.
CLK2X
Output
Generates a clock signal with the same phase as CLKIN, and twice the frequency.
CLK2X180
Output
Generates a clock signal with twice the frequency of CLKIN, and phase-shifted 180° with respect
to CLK2X.
CLKDV
Output
Divides the CLKIN frequency by CLKDV_DIVIDE value to generate lower frequency clock signal
that is phase-aligned to CLKIN.
DS099-2_08_041103
CLKIN
Delay
n
CLKFB
RST
CLK0
CLK90
CLK180
CLK270
CLK2X
CLK2X180
CLKDV
O
u
tp
u
tSection
Control
Delay
n-1
Phase
Detection
LOCKED
Delay
2
Delay
1