Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for self-tracking multiple analog to digital conversion

US5231398A · kind A · utility

17Cited by
3References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateApr 24, 1992
Grant dateJul 27, 1993
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 24, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03M1/188
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for non-linear quantization of a signal that utilizes two or more lowresolution analog to digital converters (ADCs) to allow selective increased quantization levels at desired portions of a signal. This is accomplished by using a primary ADC which provides digital output signals over a first predetermined range, and at least one secondary ADC which provides digital output signals over a smaller predetermined range for the same input values. Accordingly, any secondary ADCs have a smaller quantization step size than the first, and are utilized when finer resolution is desired. The ADCs are kept in alignment by periodically comparing the digital values produced by the ADCs for a known input analog value.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.