BioFET system
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsYu-Jie Huang, Jui-Cheng Huang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bio-field effect transistor (bioFET) system includes a bioFET configured to receive to a first voltage signal and output a current signal, where the current signal varies exponentially with respect to the first voltage signal. A logarithmic current-to-time converter is connected to the bioFET and is configured to receive the current signal and convert the current signal to a time domain signal. The time domain signal varies logarithmically with respect to the current signal, such that the time domain signal varies linearly with respect to the first voltage signal.
Claims20
A bio-field effect transistor (bioFET) system, comprising:
- a bioFET configured to output a current signal;
- a current-to-time converter circuit connected to the bioFET and configured to receive the current signal and convert the current signal to a time domain signal, wherein the current-to-time converter circuit generates a voltage signal that increases during a charging phase and that decreases to provide a discharge time of the voltage signal during a discharging phase;
- and
- a time-to-digital converter that provides a count value for the discharge time of the voltage signal during the discharging phase.
A bio-field effect transistor (bioFET) system comprising:
- a bioFET configured to output a current signal;
- a current-to-time converter circuit connected to the bioFET and configured to receive the current signal and convert the current signal to a time domain signal, wherein the current-to-time converter circuit includes a conversion circuit having an input terminal to selectively receive the current signal from the bioFET and an output terminal to output a voltage signal that increases during a charging phase and that decreases through a resistor and a switch connected between the output terminal and the input terminal to provide a discharge time of the voltage signal during a discharging phase;
- and
- a time-to-digital converter that provides a count value for the discharge time of the voltage signal during the discharging phase.
A method for operating a bio-field effect transistor (bioFET) system, comprising:
- receiving a first voltage signal applied to a first input of a bioFET;
- outputting a current signal from the bioFET;
- receiving the current signal from the bioFET at a second input of a current-to-time converter circuit;
- converting the current signal to a time domain signal that is a pulse width signal that varies with respect to the current signal;
- outputting a second voltage signal based on the current signal, wherein the second voltage signal increases during a charging phase and decreases during a discharging phase;
- comparing the second voltage signal to a reference signal and providing a comparison output of the comparison of the second voltage signal and the reference signal;
- and
- receiving the comparison output at one input of an AND gate and a first switch signal that is used to enter the discharging phase at another input of the AND gate to provide the time domain signal as the pulse width signal having a pulse width based on the comparison output and the first switch signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.