Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation

Nucore Technology, Inc.

Jonathan Adam Kleks

Ion E Opris

Justin Seng

Shingo Kokudo

An apparatus comprises a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) sensor including a first capacitive element and a second capacitive element and an integrated circuit (IC). The IC includes a switch network circuit and a capacitance measurement circuit. The switch network circuit is configured to electrically decouple the first capacitive element of the MEMS sensor from a first input of the IC and electrically couple the second capacitive element to a second input of the IC. The capacitance measurement circuit can be configured to measure capacitance of the second capacitive element of the MEMS sensor during application of a first electrical signal to the decoupled first capacitive element.

Self test of MEMS accelerometer with ASICS integrated capacitors

An apparatus includes a capacitance-to-voltage converter circuit configured to be electrically coupled to a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) sensor circuit. The capacitance-to-voltage converter circuit includes a differential chopping circuit path configured to receive a differential MEMS sensor output signal and invert a polarity of the differential chopping circuit path, and a differential sigma-delta analog to digital converter (ADC) circuit configured to sample the differential MEMS sensor output signal and provide a digital signal representative of a change in capacitance of the MEMS sensor.

Noise reduction method with chopping for a merged MEMS accelerometer sensor

In a digital image processing device such as a portable digital camera, an analog decimation circuit is provided as a front end for the digital video imaging circuit so that the data rate is reduced without substantial loss in fidelity so that the power dissipation is minimized. In a decimation circuit, the data rate is reduced by reducing only higher frequency spectral components of a captured image without substantial loss in fidelity of the remaining spectral components of the captured image. The required amount of digital data processing is so substantially reduced that considerable power savings result. A mixture of decimation modes may be effected using the same circuit.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Jonathan Adam Kleks