Patent · US Active

Coarse digital-to-analog converter architecture for voltage interpolation DAC

US8274417B2 · kind B2 · utility

9Cited by
8References
29Claims
0Family size

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Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 10, 2010
Grant dateSep 25, 2012
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 16, 2031

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03M1/765
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

For coarse resistor string DACs, a resistor string is placed in an array of columns and rows, each resistor tap is connected to a switch network, and a decoder is used to select switches to be closed such that sub-DAC voltage comes from the resistor taps connected to the selected switches. The voltages from each row are fed into multiplexers, wherein the multiplexers produce output voltages. DAC circuit designs extend the resolution of the output voltages by feeding them into a voltage interpolation amplifier. A method and apparatus are disclosed for implementing Gray code to design coarse DAC architecture for voltage interpolation such that the number of switches required by the circuit is significantly reduced, thereby decreasing required surface area, and improving glitch performance without increasing design complexity.

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