# US 12,000,892 B2 · Device under test (DUT) measurement circuit having harmonic minimization

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- Number: US 12,000,892 B2
- Document ID: US12000892B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/589,779
- Filed: 2022-01-31
- Published: 2022-08-25
- Granted: 2024-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2021-02-25
- Assignees: Texas Instruments Incorporated
- Applicants: Texas Instruments Incorporated
- Inventors: Charles Kasimer Sestok, IV; David Patrick Magee
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12000892B2

## CPC

- G01R 31/31922: {Timing generation or clock distribution (G01R31/3191 takes precedence)}
- G01R 31/389: Measuring internal impedance, internal conductance or related variables
- G01R 31/3167: Testing of combined analog and digital circuits {(testing ADC's H03M1/1071)}
- G01R 31/31924: {Voltage or current aspects, e.g. driver, receiver}
- H03M 1/0629: {Anti-aliasing}
- H03M 1/1071: {Measuring or testing}
- G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12)
- H03M: CODING; DECODING; CODE CONVERSION IN GENERAL (using fluidic means F15C4/00; optical analogue/digital converters G02F7/00; coding, decoding or code conversion, specially adapted for particular applications, see the relevant subclasses, e.g. G01D, G01R, G06F, G06T, G09G, G10L, G11B, G11C, H04B, H04L, H04M, H04N; ciphering or deciphering for cryptography or other purposes involving the need for secrecy G09C)

## Abstract

A circuit configured to: generate a reference clock signal; generate an excitation signal at a target frequency having a period that is a first integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal; update a driver circuit at an update frequency having a period that is a second integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal; digitize sense signals resulting from the excitation signal at a frequency having a period that is a third integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal; identify a fourth integer number of sense signal samples; optionally utilize an excitation control signal having a period that is a fifth integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal; and minimize harmonics at the target frequency of the excitation signal based on the first integer number, the second integer number, the third integer number, the fourth integer number, and possibly the fifth integer number.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A circuit comprising:
a driver circuit having a clock input, a first frequency control input, and a driver output, the driver output coupled to a device under test (DUT) terminal;
a DUT parameter circuit having a processing input, a second frequency control input, and a DUT parameter output, the processing input coupled to the DUT terminal; and
a control circuit having a first frequency control output and a second frequency control output, the first frequency control output coupled to the first frequency control input, and the second frequency control output coupled to the second frequency control input.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The circuit of claim 1, wherein:
the driver circuit is configured to:
receive a reference clock signal at the clock input; and
responsive to a first control signal at the first frequency control input, generate an
excitation signal at a target frequency having a period that is a first integer
number of cycles of the reference clock signal;
the control circuit has a third frequency control output and a fourth frequency control output;
the circuit further comprises an update circuit having a third frequency control input coupled to the third frequency control output, the update circuit configured to, responsive to a second control signal at the third frequency control input, update the driver circuit at an update frequency having a period that is a second integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal; and
the DUT parameter circuit has a fourth frequency control input coupled to the fourth frequency control output and includes:
an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to:
receive sense signals at the DUT terminal; and
responsive to a third control signal at the second frequency control input, digitize the sense signals at a frequency having a period that is a third integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal to produce sense signal samples; and
a data selection circuit configured to, responsive to a fourth control signal at the fourth frequency control input, identify a set of sense signal samples, the set having a fourth integer number of samples; and
a parameter estimator circuit configured to provide a DUT parameter at the DUT parameter output based on the set of sense signal samples.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The circuit of claim 2, wherein:
the control circuit has a fifth frequency control output;
the driver circuit includes a pulse-width modulation (PWM) controller; and
the circuit further comprises an excitation signal generator having a fifth frequency control input and a generator output, the fifth frequency control input coupled to the fifth frequency control output, the PWM controller coupled to the driver circuit, and the excitation signal generator configured to, responsive to a fifth control signal at the fifth frequency control input, provide an excitation control signal to the PWM controller, the excitation control signal having a frequency having a period that is a fifth integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The circuit of claim 3, wherein the excitation signal generator is configured to generate the excitation control signal to provide single-tone excitations and multi-tone excitations.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The circuit of claim 3, wherein the control circuit is configured to minimize harmonics at the target frequency of the excitation signal based on a linear congruence of the form
n
⁢
k
=
(
k
-
p
⁢
S
⁢
N
T
-
m
⁢
S
⁢
N
P
)
⁢
(
mod
⁢
N
)
,
where k is the frequency index of the excitation signal, S is the third integer number, N is the fourth integer number of sense signal samples, S*N/k is the first integer number, T is the second integer number, P is the fifth integer number, p is an integer, m is an integer, and n is an integer.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The circuit of claim 3, wherein the first, second, third and fifth integers are selected to maximize an approximate Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) for the sense signals.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The circuit of claim 3, wherein a ratio of a product of a third and fourth integer numbers to the first integer number is an integer that is relatively prime to the fifth integer number; and the third integer number is relatively prime to the fifth integer number and relatively prime to the ratio of the product of the third and fourth integer numbers to the first integer number.

### Claim 8 (depends on 3)

The circuit of claim 3, wherein a ratio of a product of the third and fourth integer numbers to the first integer number is an integer that is relatively prime to the fifth integer number, and the third integer number is a prime number.

### Claim 9 (depends on 3)

The circuit of claim 3, wherein the sense signals indicate voltage across a battery unit and current through the battery unit, and the DUT parameter is impedance of the battery unit.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The circuit of claim 1, wherein the driver circuit includes a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) having an output coupled to the driver output.

### Claim 11 (depends on 3)

The circuit of claim 3, wherein the update circuit includes a switch coupled between the excitation signal generator and the PWM controller, the switch having a control terminal coupled to the fifth frequency control input.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The circuit of claim 10, further comprising a current source coupled to the DUT terminal, the current source having a control terminal coupled to the driver output.

### Claim 13

A system comprising:
a measurement circuit including:
a driver circuit having a clock input, a first frequency control input, and a driver output, the driver output coupled to a device under test (DUT) terminal;
a DUT parameter circuit having a processing input, a second frequency control input, and a DUT parameter output, the processing input coupled to the DUT terminal; and
a control circuit having a first frequency control output and a second frequency control output, the first frequency control output coupled to the first frequency control input, and the second frequency control output coupled to the second frequency control input.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The system of claim 13, wherein:
the driver circuit is configured to:
receive a reference clock signal at the clock input; and
responsive to a first control signal at the first frequency control input, generate an excitation signal at a target frequency having a period that is a first integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal;
the control circuit has a third frequency control output and a fourth frequency control output;
the measurement circuit further includes an update circuit having a third frequency control input coupled to the third frequency control output, the update circuit configured to, responsive to a second control signal at the third frequency control input, update the driver circuit at an update frequency having a period that is a second integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal; and
the DUT parameter circuit has a fourth frequency control input coupled to the fourth frequency control output and includes:
an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to:
receive sense signals at the DUT terminal; and
responsive to a third control signal at the second frequency control input, digitize the sense signals at a frequency having a period that is a third integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal to produce sense signal samples; and
a data selection circuit configured to, responsive to a fourth control signal at the fourth frequency control input, identify a set of sense signal samples, the set having a fourth integer number of samples; and
a parameter estimator circuit configured to provide a DUT parameter at the DUT parameter output based on the set of sense signal samples.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14, wherein:
the control circuit has a fifth frequency control output;
the driver circuit includes a pulse-width modulation (PWM) controller; and
the measurement circuit further includes an excitation signal generator having a fifth frequency control input and a generator output, the fifth frequency control input coupled to the fifth frequency control output, the PWM controller coupled to the driver circuit, and the excitation signal generator configured to, responsive to a fifth control signal at the fifth frequency control input, provide an excitation control signal to the PWM controller, the excitation control signal having a frequency having a period that is a fifth integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The system of claim 15, wherein the control circuit is configured to minimize harmonics at the target frequency of the excitation signal based on a linear congruence of the form
n
⁢
k
=
(
k
-
p
⁢
S
⁢
N
T
-
m
⁢
S
⁢
N
P
)
⁢
(
mod
⁢
N
)
,
where k is the frequency index of the excitation signal, S is the third integer number, N is the fourth integer number of sense signal samples, S*N/k is the first integer number, T is the second integer number, P is the fifth integer number, p is an integer, m is an integer, and n is an integer.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The system of claim 15, wherein the first, second, third and fifth integer numbers are selected to minimize an approximate Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) for the excitation signal.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

The system of claim 15, wherein a ratio of a product of a third and fourth integer numbers to the first integer number is an integer that is relatively prime to the fifth integer number; and the third integer number is relatively prime to the fifth integer number and relatively prime to a ratio of the product of the third and fourth integer numbers to the first integer number.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The system of claim 15, wherein a ratio of a product of a third and fourth integer numbers to the first integer number is an integer that is relatively prime to the fifth integer number, and the third integer is a prime number.

### Claim 20

A method for device under test (DUT) management, the method comprising:
providing, by a DUT management circuit, an excitation signal having a target frequency;
controlling, by the DUT management circuit, sampling control parameters based on harmonics at the target frequency;
obtaining, by the DUT management circuit, sense signal samples from sense signals related to the DUT responsive to the sampling control parameters and the excitation signal;
estimating, by the DUT management circuit, a parameter based on the sense signal samples; and
performing, by the DUT management circuit, DUT management operations based on the estimated parameter.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The method of claim 20, wherein the sampling control parameters include:
a first period for the excitation signal, the first period being a first integer number of cycles of a reference clock signal;
a second period for updating the excitation signal, the second period being a second integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal;
a third period for digitizing sense signals to produce the sense signal samples, the third period being a third integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal;
a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) block size having a fourth integer number of samples.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, wherein the sampling control parameters includes a fourth period for an excitation control signal used to generate the excitation signal, the fourth period being a fifth integer number of cycles of the reference clock signal, wherein the fifth integer number is a function of a product of the third and fourth integer numbers divided by a frequency index of the excitation signal.

### Claim 23 (depends on 20)

The method of claim 20, further comprising attenuating frequency content of the sense signals above half a frequency of sampling the sense signals to obtain the sense signal samples.