The following figure shows the eight VCO phase outputs and four different counter outputs. Each VCO phase is shown with the appropriate start-up sequence. The phase relationship and start-up sequence are guaranteed to ensure the correct phase is maintained. This means the rising edge of the 0° phase happens before the rising edge of the 45° phase. The O0 counter is programmed to do a simple divide-by-two with the 0° phase tap as the reference clock. The O1 counter is programmed to do a simple divide-by-two but uses the 180° phase tap from the VCO. This counter setting can be used to generate a clock for a DDR interface where the reference clock is edge aligned to the data transition. The O2 counter is programmed to do a divide-by-three. The O3 output has the same programming as the O2 output except the phase is set for a one cycle delay. Phase shifts greater than one VCO period are possible.
If the MMCM is configured to provide a certain phase relationship and the input frequency is changed, this phase relationship is also changed because the VCO frequency changes and therefore the absolute shift in picoseconds changes. This aspect must be considered when designing with the MMCM. When an important aspect of the design is to maintain a certain phase relationship among various clock outputs, (for example, CLK and CLK90), this relationship is maintained regardless of the input frequency.
All O counters can be equivalent; anything O0 can do, O1 can do. The MMCM outputs are flexible when connecting to the global clock network because they are identical. In most cases, this level of detail is imperceptible because the software and Clocking Wizard determine the proper settings through the MMCM attributes and Wizard inputs.