Patent · US Expired

Class B amplifier with process variation independent deadband

US7161431B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by
13References
28Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateNov 5, 2004
Grant dateJan 9, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 2, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03F3/45183
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A class B amplifier circuit produces a deadband that is independent of semiconductor process variations and creates a positive voltage when a differential input voltage is non-zero. A differential input amplifier couples differential currents representing the differential input voltage to a logarithmic compression circuit, which in turn creates an output voltage that is a function of the differential input voltage and is independent of semiconductor process variations. Transistor devices in the differential amplifier and the logarithmic compression circuit are biased in the non-saturated region of a transistor transfer curve in a weak inversion state. A combination of two comparator circuits compares the output voltage to a reference voltage to create a combined output voltage that is a positive when the input is non-zero.

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