US Patent 7567136 Ring oscillator circuit

A ring oscillator circuit includes a ring of cascade-coupled delay stages and is controlled by a plurality of multiplexers. A feedback circuit has an input terminal coupled to an output terminal of the ring oscillator circuit. The ring oscillator circuit receives a control word and provides a clock signal on the output terminal. The ring oscillator circuit includes a control architecture including a plurality of control blocks receiving respective bits of the control word and coupled to the delay stages of the ring. Each control block has at least a bistable element capable of receiving, storing and sending a bit of the control word to a multiplexer coupled to a respective delay stage in stable operating conditions of the ring.