London-based anti-jitter company Toric is aiming at new markets for its analogue technology that is now reaching commercial use.
Toric has been working with Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe (FME) to integrate the ‘PhaseFilter’ Anti-Jitter Cell (AJC) technology into a 90nm chip. “This implementation of Toric’s AJC technology is a key milestone in FME’s plans to deliver real customer benefits through the integration of PhaseFilter in future mixed-signal products,” said Neil Amos, senior director of engineering at FME.
AJC allows cheaper voltage-controlled oscillators to replace noisy, large phase-locked loop designs in chips and can simplify designs by reducing the need for multiple clock domains. The company was formed in 2003 using ideas developed and patented by Professor Michael Underhill at the University of Surrey.
“Because it’s a circuit technique it could be used for other applications,” said Professor Underhill. “It could be a zero-IF stage in a demodulator or direct digital sampling with significantly reduced power and then you could do away with the analogue to digital converter.”
“We are working with Cadence to develop a design flow to ensure their tools will be compatible with the technology,” he said.
“We have developed four test chips [running up to 1GHz] and the core technology has been stable for a year and we have been proving it on an advanced node,” said Peter Hicks, the firm’s marketing director.
The technology comes as a design with a development pack. “We are licensing the development pack then hope to convert it into a production license, and we are concentrating on Europe, not the US or Asia,” added Hicks. The company is privately funded by business ‘angels’ in Cambridge.