A variable delay circuit is formed by a fine delay circuit and a coarse delay
circuit.
The fine delay circuit adjusts the delay of a delayed clock signal in relatively
small phase increments with respect to an input clock signal. The coarse delay
circuit adjusts the timing of a digital signal in relatively large phase increments.
The delayed clock signal is used to clock a register to which the digital signal
is applied to control the timing a the digital signal clocked through the register
responsive to adjusting the timing of the fine delay circuit and the coarse delay
circuit. The timing relationship is initially adjusted by altering the delay of
the fine delay circuit. Whenever the maximum or minimum delay of the fine delay
circuit is reached, the coarse delay circuit is adjusted. The variable delay circuit
may be used in a memory device to control the timing at which read data is applied
to the data bus of the memory device. The fine delay circuit includes a multi—tapped
delay line coupled to a multiplexer that selects one of the taps for use in generating
the delayed clock. When the first or last tap is selected, the timing of the coarse
delay circuit is adjusted. The coarse delay circuit includes a counter that generates
the digital signal upon counting from an initial count to the terminal count. The
coarse delay circuit is adjusted by adjusting the initial count of the counter.