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.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 15, 1992
Filed:
Jan. 17, 1992
Jimmy R Naylor, Tucson, AZ (US);
Mark A Shill, Tucson, AZ (US);
Burr-Brown Corporation, Tucson, AZ (US);
Abstract
In an analog-to-digital converter, a circuit for sampling an analog input signal that has a signal range above and below a ground reference voltage includes a divider circuit scaling the analog input signal down to a lower magnitude such that all values of the scaled analog input signal are above the ground reference voltage. The scaled down analog input signal is applied to a source electrode of a sampling MOSFET. A body-to-source voltage of the sampling MOSFET is maintained at approximately zero volts by applying the scaled down signal to a non-inverting input of a first operational amplifier and applying an output voltage produced by the first operational amplifier to its inverting input and a body electrode of the sampling MOSFET. A gate-to-source voltage of the sampling MOSFET is maintained at approximately 1.5 volts by applying the scaled down analog input signal to a non-inverting input of a second operational amplifier, an output of which is applied to a gate electrode of the sampling MOSFET and to a gate electrode of a first MOSFET. A constant current is forced through the first MOSFET, producing therein a constant gate-to-source voltage independent of variation in the analog input signal. The resulting voltage on the source of the first MOSFET is applied to an inverting input of the second operational amplifier, so the constant gate-to-source voltage of the first MOSFET is imposed between the gate and source of the sampling MOSFET.