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:
Oct. 11, 1994
Filed:
Jan. 30, 1989
Thomas P Redfern, San Jose, CA (US);
Linear Technology Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
Comparators for use in a semi-flash analog-to-digital converter utilize switched capacitor inputs for effecting a subtraction of charge corresponding to the subtraction of voltages to obtain the most significant bit comparisons and least significant bit comparisons. In a preferred embodiment, a 6-input switched-capacitor comparator is employed in which an analog input signal, a most significant reference TAP, and the output from a digital-to-analog converter are sequentially coupled through a first capacitor to the input of an inverting amplifier. A second plurality of input terminals sequentially connects one-half the least significant bit reference potential, 0 volts, and a least significant reference voltage TAP through second capacitive means to the input of the inverting amplifier. One comparator can thereby perform both a most significant bit comparison and a least significant bit comparison in a semi-flash mode of operation.