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:
Jan. 18, 2005
Filed:
Sep. 15, 2003
David Alan Hood, Fort Collins, CO (US);
David Alan Hood, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Agilent Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
Apparatus for providing well-matched source and sink currents includes a number of parallel current paths, a first of which drives a first current mirror to mirror current to second and third of the current paths. The second current path provides well-matched source and sink currents as outputs, and the third current path is matched to the second. The fourth and fifth current paths each comprise a transistor of a current steering mechanism and a bias transistor. Using a reference voltage, and feedback from the circuit, the fourth and fifth current paths steer current between the first, second and third current paths. A second current mirror is driven by a bias current to mirror the bias current to each of the number of parallel current paths. Other methods and apparatus are also disclosed.