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:
May. 03, 1994
Filed:
Nov. 06, 1992
Philip W Yee, Los Altos, CA (US);
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
An analog to digital converter (ADC) includes a primary folder circuit for mapping an analog input voltage to a folder output voltage, a voltage reference circuit for generating a plurality of reference voltages and a first array of comparators. Each of the comparators in the first comparator array includes a first input terminal to which is applied the ADC's analog input voltage and a second input terminal held at one of the reference voltages. The outputs of the comparators correspond to most significant bits of a digital representation of the analog input voltage. A plurality of reference folder circuits convert a plurality of the reference voltages into a corresponding plurality of comparison voltages. The ADC also includes a second array of comparators, each of which includes a first input terminal to which is applied the primary folder's output voltage and a second input terminal held at one of the plurality of comparison voltages. The outputs of the comparators of the second array of comparators correspond to the least significant bits of a digital representation of the analog input voltage.