Hrl Laboratories, LLC

Linear Technology Corporation

Conductus, Inc.

Raytheon Company

The Aerospace Corporation

Hlr Laboratories

Todd S Kaplan

David Edward Bliss

Michael Keith Mayes

Vladimir Matijasevic

Peter Petre

George C Valley

Louis Luh

Shubha Kadambe

A method and a circuit take a measurement of a sensor having first, second and third lead wires by: (a) providing first, second and third terminals for voltage measurements; (b) connecting a current sensing device (e.g., a reference resistor) to provide a signal at the third terminal that is indicative of the current in the third lead wire of the sensor; (c) connecting a first protective device between the first lead wire of the sensor and the first terminal; (d) connecting a second protective device between the second lead wire of the sensor and the second terminal; (e) connecting a first current source to the first lead wire of the sensor; (f) connecting a second current source to the second lead wire of the sensor; and (g) measuring a first voltage across the first and second terminals and a second voltage across the third terminal and the voltage reference.

Circuit and arrangement for 3-wire measurements with input protection

An integrated circuit includes (a) an analog-to-digital converter operated according to a first clock signal; and (b) a charge pump circuit providing a negative power supply voltage to the integrated circuit, the charge pump circuit being operated according to a second clock signal having a frequency that is different from a frequency of the first clock signal, such that a noise level introduced by the charge pump into the analog-to-digital converter is less than the average noise level over a predetermined range of frequencies for the second clock signal. The integrated circuit may further include a clock divider circuit (e.g., a programmable clock divider) that generates both the first clock signal and the second clock signal.

Synchronized charge pump-driven input buffer and method

Methods and systems for analog to digital converter and systems incorporating the same are provided. Specifically, an analog sampler that has a reduced input current is disclosed. According to the present teaching, an apparatus for sampling an input voltage includes a first switch having its first terminal connected to an input voltage, and a first pre-charging circuit, coupled to a second terminal of the first switch, that provides a first pre-charged voltage that is substantially equal to the input voltage. The first pre-charged voltage is provided at the first terminal of the first switch before the first switch is turned on. The apparatus further includes a second pre-charging circuit coupled to both the first pre-charging circuit and the second terminal of the first switch, where the second pre-charging circuit charges the first pre-charged voltage prior to the first switch being turned on.

Analog sampler with reduced input current

A continuous time delta-sigma modulator having a sampling frequency includes a distributed resonator having a length about equal to a reciprocal of an integer times a velocity of a signal in the distributed resonator divided by twice the sampling frequency of the continuous time delta-sigma modulator.

Continuous-time delta-sigma modulator with small distributed resonators

A system for converting a continuous-time analog signal having a signal bandwidth to a discrete-time digital signal, the system includes a plurality of proportional filters configured to receive the continuous-time analog signal, each proportional filter having a different center frequency from all other proportional filters and each proportional filter having an operational bandwidth directly proportional to its center frequency, and a plurality of sample and hold circuits, each sample and hold circuit coupled to a respective one of the proportional filters.

Multi-rate analog to digital converter with proportional filter bank

The present invention comprises a method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for simulating a mixed-signal system. The invention comprises a first operation of generating a matrix-based wavelet operator representation of equations characterizing a system, with the matrix-based wavelet operator representation including wavelet connection coefficients. A second operation is performed by selecting a number of wavelets and a set of wavelet basis functions with which to represent a performance of the system, whereby the wavelet operator, the number of wavelets and the set of wavelet basis functions represent a wavelet model of the system. A third operation is performed by iteratively applying the wavelet model over a series of clock cycles to develop a behavioral model of the system. The invention has particular use in the area of computer-aided design and may be applied to any suitable system, whether electrical, mechanical, or other.

Method, apparatus, and computer program product for simulation of mixed-signal systems

An apparatus for forming a multicomponent thin film, such as a superconducting thin film, on a substrate includes a holder for holding at least one substrate and a deposition/reaction vessel. The deposition/reaction vessel has at least three zones, each zone being separated from adjacent zones by a wall. The zones include at least two deposition zones, where each deposition zone is configured and arranged to deposit a deposition material on the at least one substrate, and at least one reaction zone for reacting the deposition material with a reactant. The apparatus is configured and arranged to rotate the at least one substrate sequentially through the plurality of zones to form a thin film on the substrate. In some embodiments of the apparatus, the deposition/reaction vessel includes a same number of deposition zones and reaction zones which may be alternating deposition and reaction zones.

Apparatus and method for deposition of thin films

A distributed resonator or filter in a continuous-time delta-sigma modulator is disclosed, where the transfer function of the resonator or filter repeats every F, where Fis the sampling frequency of the modulator. On one side, like continuous-time delta-sigma modulators, the disclosed modulator does not require a high-precision track-and-hold, and additionally can take advantage of the high Q of distributed resonators. On the other side, like discrete-time delta-sigma modulators, the disclosed modulator is insensitive to feedback loop delays and can subsample.

Continuous-time delta-sigma modulators using distributed resonators

A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) error mismatch shaper. The shaper comprises a switching arrangement with a delta-sigma modulator having analog signal processing components. The analog signal processing components allow the spectral behavior of the shaper to be controlled. The switching arrangement comprises a control circuit. The control circuit is a tunable, pipelined control circuit.

Switching arrangement and DAC mismatch shaper using the same

A bandpass continuous-time delta-sigma modulator. The filters of the modulator are LC resonators directly connected in series. Direct connection of the resonators eliminates the need for active components in the modulator, increases linearity and decreases noise.

Delta-sigma modulator using LC resonators

A delta-sigma modulator. The novel delta-sigma modulator includes one or more filter stages arranged in cascade, wherein each filter stage includes a first circuit for generating a first output signal and second circuit for generating a second output signal; and a summing circuit for adding the first and second output signals from each of the filter stages. In an illustrative embodiment, the first circuit is a bandpass filter including an inductive-capacitive resonator and the second circuit is an integrator, which generates a second output signal that is orthogonal to the first output signal. The output of the summing circuit is digitized and then converted back to analog to provide a feedback signal. The feedback signal is subtracted from an input signal, and the resultant difference signal is input to a first filter stage.

Bandpass delta-sigma modulator with distributed feedforward paths

A digital-to-analog converter is disclosed, comprising an input/output circuit, a bistable circuit connected with the input/output circuit, a clock circuit connected with the input/output circuit and the bistable circuit, and a current generator circuit connected with the clock circuit. The clock circuit acts as a switch, providing current from the current generator either to the input/output circuit or to the bistable circuit. The digital input signal switches when the current generator provides current to the bistable circuit, and switching of the input signal is asserted at the output of the converter when the current generator provides current to the input/output circuit. Therefore, switching of a clock circuit signal, rather than switching of the digital input signal determines switching of the output signal, in order to reduce intersymbol interference of the converter associated with thermal hysteresis of some of the components of the converter.

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Los Angeles, CA, United States of America

Todd S Kaplan