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:
Feb. 18, 2014
Filed:
Jun. 06, 2011
Christopher G. Regier, Cedar Park, TX (US);
L. Rolando Ortega-pohlenz, Austin, TX (US);
Christopher G. Regier, Cedar Park, TX (US);
L. Rolando Ortega-Pohlenz, Austin, TX (US);
National Instruments Corporation, Austin, TX (US);
Abstract
A source-measure unit (SMU) may be implemented with respective digital control loops for output voltage and output current. The output voltage and output current may be measured with dedicated ADCs (analog-to-digital converters). The readings obtained by the ADCs may be compared to a setpoint, which may be set in a digital loop controller (DLC). The DLC may be used to produce an output to drive a DAC (digital-to-analog converter) until the output voltage and/or output current and/or a function thereof reach the respective desired levels. The DLC may perform a threshold check to determine if the output current is outside a specified measurable range, and generate an override signal to drive the DAC to rapidly return the output current to the measurable range. Once the current is within the measurable range, the DAC may once again be driven according to the respective digital control loops for the output voltage and the output current.