Patent · US Expired

Amplifier having a noise source for an analog-to-digital converter

US6411240B1 · kind B1 · utility

5Cited by
4References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJan 7, 2000
Grant dateJun 25, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 7, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03F3/72
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An amplifier has a first amplifier stage with a first input terminal to which an input signal is applied and with an output terminal that is connected to an input terminal of a second amplifier stage located downstream. The second amplifier stage provides an output signal that is fed back to a second input terminal of the first amplifier stage through a feedback path, which preferably contains a passive network. The amplification of this combination of the first and second amplifier stages with feedback depends essentially on the parameters of the network in the feedback path. The amplifier according to the invention also has a noise source that is connected in parallel with the first amplifier stage, and is also connected to the input terminal of the second amplifier stage. The level of a signal component at the output of the second amplifier stage depends on the parameters of the network in the feedback branch and the amplification of the first amplifier stage. These values are variable and can be adjusted such that the level of the signal component provided by the noise source is independent of the amplification of the amplifier. One embodiment of the passive network comprises a…

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