The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Dec. 04, 1990

Filed:

Nov. 20, 1989
Applicant:
Inventors:

Joseph N Babanezhad, Campbell, CA (US);

Roubik Gregorian, San Jose, CA (US);

Assignee:

Sierra Semiconductor, San Jose, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H03M / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
341139 ; 341138 ; 341158 ;
Abstract

An exponential analog-to-digital converter comprises two gain stages, each of which includes a binary-weighted capacitor array. The capacitors are switched in succession to multiply the gain of a sampled analog input signal, while a counter counts down for each switching step from an initial setting of binary 111. When the gain signal has a value outside a predetermined reference voltage range, a 3-bit binary digital word representative of the analog input signal sample is registered in the counter. If the gain signal produced after all the capacitors have been switched in to provide the maximum gain does not fall outside the reference range, then the binary word stored in the counter for the sample of the analog signal is 000.


Find Patent Forward Citations

Loading…