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:
Dec. 03, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 18, 2000
Ralph R. Boudreaux, Jr., Madison, AL (US);
Steven M. Robinson, Madison, AL (US);
John S. McGary, Petersburg, TN (US);
Adtran, Inc., Huntsville, AL (US);
Abstract
An active tracking filter reduces low frequency noise (such as a 20 Hz ringing signal) riding on a DC voltage (e.g., on the order of (−40 VDC) applied to a load such as a subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC). A controllable impedance device, such as a FET operating in its linear range, is coupled in circuit between a source of the DC voltage and the load. A low frequency voltage average detector circuit senses the average low frequency variation of the DC voltage. An output voltage sensor senses a DC output voltage at the output of the controllable impedance. A differential error amplifier circuit has a first input coupled to the low frequency voltage average detector circuit, a second input coupled to the output voltage sensor, and an output coupled to a control terminal of the controlled impedance device. The error amplifier controls the drive to the controllable impedance device such that the voltage drop thereacross reduces the low frequency variation of the DC voltage by an amount sufficient to accommodate the maximum amplitude of the noise, and thereby provide a DC output voltage to the load in which the unwanted low frequency noise has been effectively removed.