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:
Jun. 30, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 03, 1995
James B Nolan, Chandler, AZ (US);
Brian Dellacroce, Sedona, AZ (US);
Microchip Technology Incorporated, Chandler, AZ (US);
Abstract
A microcontroller for use in battery charging and monitoring applications is disclosed. The microcontroller includes a microprocessor and various front-end analog circuitry including a slope A/D converter and a multiplexer for allowing a plurality of analog input signals to be converted to corresponding digital counts indicative of signal level. The slope A/D converter includes a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for providing a programmable charging current to generate a voltage across a capacitor, a precision comparator having inputs for receiving a selected analog input and the capacitor voltage, a counter and a capture register. After a reset is performed, the capacitor is charged while the counter begins counting such that when the capacitor voltage exceeds the selected analog input voltage, the comparator switches logic states thereby causing the obtained count of the counter to be stored in the register. This stored count represents the time that it took for the capacitor to charge up and exceed the selected analog input voltage and corresponds to voltage measurement of the selected analog input.