Microchip Technology Inc.

Michael Charles

Keith Edwin Curtis

Sean Steedman

Vivien Neil Delport

Richard L Hull

Jerrold S Zdenek

Zacharias Marthinus Smit

Ruan Lourens

Miguel Moreno

An integrated circuit device provides a choice of external pins (connections) that may be user selectable for coupling an external filter/stabilization capacitor to an internal voltage regulator. However, connecting the output of a internal voltage regulator to an uncharged external filter/stabilization capacitor (or to a capacitor charged to a different voltage level than the internal regulation voltage) through a low impedance path can cause the regulator output voltage to sag/spike if the internal voltage regulator tries to charge/discharge the capacitor up/down to equilibrium with the regulator output voltage. To minimize this potential sag/spike, the voltage on the external filter/stabilization capacitor may be adjusted in a controlled manner to substantially the same voltage as the voltage on the output of the internal voltage regulator, and then the internal voltage regulator is operationally coupled through a low impedance to the external regulator filter/stabilization capacitor.

Connection of an internal regulator to an external filter/stabilization capacitor through a selectable external connection and prevention of a current surge therebetween

An amplifier may be configured as a general purpose operational amplifier having external gain determining components or as a programmable gain amplifier having self-contained gain determining components and fixed step amplification selection. Configuration and control of the operational amplifier may be performed with a digital processor such as a microcontroller. The configurable amplifier may be packaged in an integrated circuit package. The configurable amplifier and a processor may be fabricated on a single integrated circuit or in a multi-chip integrated circuit package.

Operational amplifier that is configurable as a progammable gain amplifier of a general purpose amplifier

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Gilbert, AZ, United States of America

Michael Charles