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. 14, 2004
Filed:
Oct. 10, 2003
Christer Jansson, Linköping, SE;
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, DE;
Abstract
A comparator for an analog-to-digital converter comprises an input stage (in , in , M , M ) for receiving an input signal; a bipolar latch stage (Q , Q ; Q , Q ) coupled to the input stage for performing a latch decision based on the input signal; means for amplifying the latch output (V , V ) to a level suitable for CMOS circuitry; and an output (out , out ). The means for amplifying includes at least one tapping transistor (Q , Q ) coupled to the latch stage for, depending on the latch decision, tapping a collector current (I ; I ) from the latch stage, while leaving the latch decision thereof unaffected, such that a current gain (&bgr;) of the latch stage can be used to amplify a latch bias current (I , I ) of the latch stage to thereby provide for the amplification.