In this paper we analyze jitter in a delay-locked loop (DLL) due to uncertainties in the voltage-controlled delay line (VCDL). To obtain a closed-form equation for jitter in the DLL, time-domain equations of the DLL are used. The jitter at the intermediate stages of the VCDL and the jitter of a conventional delay cell are analyzed. The simulation results show that the jitter of the DLL due to mismatch of the delay cells is zero at the beginning and end of the VCDL and is highest at the middle of the VCDL. Also, a DLL is designed in TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS technology to show the accuracy of the proposed analytical method.
