High-speed high-resolution digital-to-analog converter
AssigneeKeithley Instruments, LLC
InventorsWilliam C. Weeman, Gregory Roberts, II
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A digital-to-analog converter, including an input to receive a digital signal; a first comparator configured to receive the digital signal and output a first signal based on the digital signal and a first threshold; a second comparator configured to receive the digital signal and output a second signal based on the digital signal and a second threshold, the second threshold different from the first threshold; and an integrator configured to receive the first signal and the second signal and integrate the first signal and the second signal into an analog signal that represents the digital signal.
Claims20
A digital-to-analog converter, comprising:
- an input to receive a digital signal;
- a first comparator configured to receive the digital signal and output a first signal based on the digital signal and a first threshold;
- a second comparator configured to receive the digital signal and output a second signal based on the digital signal and a second threshold, the second threshold different from the first threshold;
- an integrator configured to receive the first signal and the second signal and integrate the first signal and the second signal into an analog signal that represents the digital signal;
- a first resistor coupled between the first comparator and an input of the integrator;
- and
- a second resistor coupled between the second comparator and the input of the integrator.
A source measure unit including:
- a processor to generate a digital signal;
- a digital-to-analog converter configured to receive the digital signal and output an analog signal, the digital-to-analog converter including:
- a first comparator configured to receive the digital signal and output a first signal based on the digital signal and a first threshold,
- a second comparator configured to receive the digital signal and output a second signal based on the digital signal and a second threshold, the second threshold different from the first threshold,
- an integrator configured to receive the first signal and the second signal and integrate the first signal and the second signal into an analog signal that represents the digital signal,
- a first resistor coupled between the first comparator and an input of the integrator, and
- a second resistor coupled between the second comparator and the input of the integrator;
- an output to output the analog signal to a device under test;
- and
- a measurement unit configured to receive a signal from the device under test based on the analog signal.
A method for converting a digital signal to an analog signal, comprising:
- receiving the digital signal at an input;
- comparing the digital signal to a first threshold;
- based on the comparison to the first threshold, generating a first signal;
- comparing the digital signal to a second threshold, different from the first threshold;
- based on the comparison to the second threshold, generating a second signal;
- integrating the first signal and the second signal to generate an analog signal representing the digital signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.