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:
Sep. 12, 2006
Filed:
Jun. 17, 2004
Lawrence J. Kushner, Andover, MA (US);
Michael P. Anthony, Andover, MA (US);
Lawrence J. Kushner, Andover, MA (US);
Michael P. Anthony, Andover, MA (US);
Kenet, Inc., Woburn, MA (US);
Abstract
A technique for dynamically calibrating a successive approximation charge to digital converter by toggling at least some portion of the converter between two predetermined states, with the design goal of balancing the voltage and/or charge that is output in the two states. The two states are chosen such that they are expected to generate the same output voltage when the converter is in normal operation mode. If there is an imbalance, switching between the two calibration states invariably generates a square wave signal that toggles between two distinct values. A synchronous demodulator having a bandwidth centered at the toggle frequency can then be used to accurately detect an amount of error, which is then feedback to generate correction signals. The detected value of the error signal can in turn can be further integrated over time, to provide a correction value. If there are undesirable static offsets introduced by the synchronous demodulator or by the signal and/or charge levels output by the two differential halves of the converter, a properly timed latch can be used to further stabilize the error signal.