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:
Nov. 24, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 13, 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 such as 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 microcontroller also includes an I.sup.2 C interface for supporting a bi-directional two wire bus and data transmission protocol that is useful for serially communicating with other peripheral or microcontroller devices. By making use of the I.sup.2 C interface, the microcontroller can be programmed while in the end application circuit. Such a feature allows customers to manufacture boards with unprogrammed devices and then program the microcontroller just before shipping the product. This allows the most recent firmware or a custom firmware to be programmed.