International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Lucent Technologies Inc.

Donald Joseph Schulte

Raymond Alan Richetta

Timothy Joseph Schmerbeck

Rick Allen Philpott

Robert Andrew Kertis

David Peter Swart

Christian J Goetschel

John J Price, Jr

Robert A Greene

Richard Leo Galbraith

James David Strom

Delbert Raymond Cecchi

Curtis Walter Preuss

Undershoot and overshoot control circuitry is provided in a write driver circuit to enhance its efficiency and ability to quickly change directions of write current through a write head. The undershoot and overshoot control circuitry includes: (1) an undershoot reduction circuit, which adds current to the write current when one head terminal has a voltage higher than the opposite head terminal and the input signals are in a certain state, indicating that the write current waveform is about to experience some level of undershoot; (2) an overshoot enhancement circuit, which adds current to the write current when one of the head terminals has a voltage lower than a predetermined threshold, indicating that the write current waveform is about to experience some level of overshoot; and (3) an overshoot reduction circuit, which provides a resistance between the head terminals in parallel with the write head to damp overshoot, when one of the head terminals has a voltage lower than a predetermined threshold, indicating that the write current waveform is about to experience some level of overshoot. The predetermined thresholds, the currents added to the write current, and the resistance provided are all programmable in one embodiment, so that the undershoot and overshoot of the write driver circuit may be precisely controlled for efficient operation.

Write driver circuit having programmable overshoot and undershoot

A simulation circuit has a simulation circuit path that simulates operation of the write current circuit path of a write current driver. A simulation transistor simulates operation of the driver transistor and a monitor circuit monitors current at the base of the simulation transistor to derive a compensation current based on variations in base current, including breakdown of the simulation transistor. The compensation current is combined with the driver current to derive the write driver current for the driver transistor of the write current driver. In another form, the simulation circuit path is a scaled-down electrical equivalency of the write current circuit path so that the simulation current is a scaled fraction of the write current and power requirements are reduced. In one form, current is added to the compensation current to accommodate unidirectional nature of current mirrors in the monitor circuit.

Breakdown voltage compensation circuit for write driver transistors

A low voltage differential signal detector capable of detecting low-voltage differential signals over a large common-mode voltage range. The signal detector uses two differential pairs of opposite conductivity type, coupled to each other in a self-biasing manner to detect low voltage swings in a signal over a large common-mode voltage range. Depending upon the common-mode voltage level of the signal, the low-voltage level swings will be detected by one of the differential pairs, the other of the differential pairs or both.

Self biased low-voltage differential signal detector

A full-duplex, differential, bi-directional communications link for simultaneously transmitting differential data between electronic devices is provided. Each transceiver coupled to the communications channel comprises a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) differential driver and receiver. The differential driver provides constant CMOS voltage sources for providing stable data signal transmission at reduced voltage levels. Voltage sources providing a data signal voltage different from the desired data signal voltage can be placed into a high impedance mode to allow the desired data signal voltage to be transmitted on the common line. The differential receiver includes self-biasing feedback circuitry to provide biasing voltages to the circuit while avoiding manufacturing difficulties associated with providing precise bias voltages. The complementary amplifier structure of the receiver provides an increased common mode noise tolerance. The receiver further includes signal separation circuitry to separate the desired recipient signals on the communications channel from those signals which are driven to another differential receiver.

CMOS bi-directional differential link

A method and apparatus are provided for translating small voltage continuous signals into large full supply signals to generate a clock signal. At least one oscillator input signal is applied to a first amplifier stage for generating an amplified voltage output signal. A first inverter is coupled to the first amplifier stage. A second inverter is coupled to the first inverter. An AC coupling capacitor couples the amplified voltage output signal to the first inverter input, and a feedback resistor is connected between the output and input of the first inverter.

Method and apparatus for generating a clock signal from a continuous

An integrated biquadratic, continuous-time filter section includes a plurality of operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs). Simutaneously changing a transconductance (GM) of each of the OTAs is provided by adjusting a differential voltage applied to a plurality of differential transistor pairs of each OTA. Each of the OTAs include a plurality of current sources and a common mode feedback circuit for controlling a common mode output voltage level. Changing the transconductance of the OTA is independent of the common mode voltage level control.

Operational transconductance amplifier with independent transconductance

A method and apparatus are provided for adaptive chip trim adjustment for an integrated circuit. A plurality of switching devices have an unswitched state and a switched state. The unswitched state corresponds to one binary value, and the switched state corresponds to another binary value. A first trim word is provided by sensing the switching devices. The switching devices are temporarily bypassed, and an override bit pattern is supplied to simulate any desired pattern of the switching device states. The override bit pattern is used for simulating a switched or unswitched state for each of the plurality of switching devices.

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Eagan, MN, United States of America

Donald Joseph Schulte