Patent · US Expired

Circuit and method for programmably changing the transconductance of a transconductor circuit

US5994926A · kind A · utility

9Cited by
5References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 16, 1997
Grant dateNov 30, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 16, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03F3/45076
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A programmably variable transconductance circuit (10) and method for varying its transconductance includes first and second current control input devices (16, 18), each having an input (17,19) to which a differential input voltage may be applied. A pair of current steering circuits (26, 28, 30, 32) are each connected in series with a respective one of the first and second current control devices (16, 18) for dividing respective currents in the first and second current control devices (16, 18) between a differential output current path (12, 14) and another current flow path, and a programmable voltage source (90) supplying V.sub.CONTROL is connected to control the current division by the current steering circuits (26, 28, 30, 32). The programmable voltage, V.sub.CONTROL, is provided by a programmable current control loop (90), which incorporates a master transconductance circuit, to establish a constant transconductance independently of temperature variations. A dynamically controllable resistance, such as an MOS transistor (24), or the like, is connected between the first and second current control input devices (16, 18), and a second voltage source (V.sub.GATE) is connected to the…

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