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:
Jun. 04, 2013
Filed:
Jun. 03, 2011
Rahmi Hezar, Allen, TX (US);
Baher Haroun, Allen, TX (US);
Halil Kiper, Somerville, MA (US);
Mounir Fares, Murphy, TX (US);
Ajay Kumar, Dallas, TX (US);
Rahmi Hezar, Allen, TX (US);
Baher Haroun, Allen, TX (US);
Halil Kiper, Somerville, MA (US);
Mounir Fares, Murphy, TX (US);
Ajay Kumar, Dallas, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A system for processing a signal includes a detector configured to detect a two-level stream of bits; a converter configured to generate a three-level control signal based on two adjacent values within the two-level stream of bits; and a switch configured to determine which of three different paths to couple a current source to based on a value of the three-level control signal. Thus, based on adjacent values of the output stream a three-level control signal is generated which controls coupling of the current source to one of three different paths. This type of three-level digital-to-analog converter can be, for example, part of the feedback loop of an analog-to-digital converter. Similar techniques can also be utilized in a multi-segment digital-to-analog converter in which each segment of the DAC is controlled by a 3-level control signal and the DAC is implement using PMOS devices. The current source for each DAC segment is diverted to ground, the M-node, or the P-node depending on the value of the 3-level control signal.