Analog Devices,inc.

Joseph Michael Hensley

Michael Ray Elliott

Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty Ali

Franklin Marshall Murden, Ii

Frank M Murden

Bryan Scott Puckett

John Kevin Behel

Disclosed herein are differential amplifiers for improved slew performance. In some embodiments, a differential amplifier may receive positive and negative input signals at first and second transistor branches, respectively; provide a dynamic bias current to the first and second transistor branches, responsive to the positive and negative input signals; and provide positive and negative output signals at the second and first transistor branches, respectively.

Differential amplifiers with improved slew performance

A circuit for sampling an analog input signal may include a transistor disposed on a substrate and a sampling capacitor coupled to one of the source and the drain of the transistor. The transistor may be disposed on a substrate that is coupled to ground. A source and a drain of the transistor may be disposed in a back gate of the transistor. The analog input may be supplied to one of the source and the drain of the transistor, and the back gate may receive a back gate voltage having a value that is lower than ground.

CMOS transistor linearization method

An analog-to-digital converter system that includes a pipeline including N successively-cascaded signal converters, each converting, according to a first clock signal, a respective portion of an input signal of the pipeline into digital codes, a code aligner for receiving and aligning the digital codes from the signal converters in the pipeline into a digital output of the system, an error extractor coupled to an amplifier input node of a selected one signal converter via a first switch for extracting an error signal, and a load system coupled to the amplifier input node of the selected one signal converter via a second switch.

System and method of analog-to-digital converters

Control structures are provided to accurately maintain amplifier common-mode levels at the predetermined level of a common-mode reference voltage V. The disclosed control structures provide amplifier feedback along a first feedback path that is configured to provide high gain and low bandwidth to closely maintain amplifier common-mode level at the predetermined level of a common-mode reference voltage V. They also provide amplifier feedback along a second feedback path that is configured to provide wide bandwidth to substantially reduce perturbations of the common-mode level that would have otherwise been induced by input signal transients. In an important amplifier feature, these controls are obtained without use of structures (e.g., capacitors and switching transistors) that use substantial current which reduces amplifier efficiency. Although the disclosed control structures may be used in a variety of systems, they are particularly suited for use in samplers and converter stages of pipelined analog-to-digital converters.

Common-mode control structures and signal converter systems for use therewith

Digitally-controlled, variable-gain mixers and amplifiers are provided which couple transconductance cells to receive respective tap signals from a fixed attenuator that receives a first input signal. A gain interpolator provides first and second control currents with amplitudes that correspond to a segment of a control word and a multiplexer responds to another control-word segment by routing the control currents to a selected pair of adjacent transconductance cells. In response, the transconductance cells provide amplifier current signals which can also be routed to a transistor switch that mixes them with a second input signal to generate a mixer output signal whose amplitude corresponds to the control word.

Digitally-controlled, variable-gain mixer and amplifier structures

Current-control reference systems are provided in which stabliity is realized with sensors that shift clamp windows in response to a reference's current-control signal to thereby maintain feedback control in the reference under steady-state and transient operating conditions.

Growing community of inventors

Lexington, NC, United States of America

Joseph Michael Hensley