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. 19, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 19, 1996
Douglas L Smith, Tucson, AZ (US);
Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Gain Technology Corp., Tucson, AZ (US);
Abstract
The present invention teaches a variety of output stages, buffer circuits, and power amplifiers as well as methods for buffering electrical signals. According to one embodiment of the present invention, an output stage includes an input, an output, an error stage coupled between the input and the output and responsive to a difference between an input signal present on the input and an output signal present on the output, the error stage being operative to generate a current control signal related to the difference between the input signal and the output signal, a current mirror coupled to the error stage and responsive to the current control signal to generate a demand driven current signal related to a magnitude of the current control signal, and an amplification stage coupled between the input and the output. Furthermore, the amplification stage is responsive to the input signal and to the demand driven current signal to generate the output signal on the output such that a voltage of the output signal is substantially equal to a voltage of the input signal. Some embodiments provide a unipolar output signal while other embodiments provide a bipolar output signal. In addition, a number of embodiments utilizing bipolar transistor technology, FET technology, and having different configurations which vary the current gain are taught.