Circuit, method and system for generating a non-linear transfer characteristic
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
InventorsEric Yves Serge Cirot, Sze Kwang Tan, Mallikarjuna Rao
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A circuit, method and system for generating a non-linear transfer characteristic, including a plurality of current mirror circuits in parallel, each current mirror circuit having an offset current applied to an output terminal of an output-side transistor of the current mirror circuit for controlling an output current thereof, wherein the offset current of each current mirror circuit is set to a respective predetermined level, and the transfer characteristic is generated by summing the respective output currents of the current mirror circuits in a piece-wise manner.
Claims36
A circuit for generating a non-linear transfer characteristic, comprising:
- a plurality of current mirror sub-circuits operating in parallel within the circuit, each current mirror sub-circuit configured to have an offset current applied to an output terminal of an output-side transistor of the current mirror sub-circuit for determining an output current of the current mirror sub-circuit, the current mirror sub-circuit configured to have an offset current set at respective predetermined levels and summing the respective output currents of the current mirror sub-circuits to define a transfer characteristic.
A method for generating a non-linear transfer characteristic, including the steps of:
- providing a circuit having a plurality of current mirror sub-circuits operating in parallel within the circuit, and configuring each current mirror sub-circuit to have an offset current applied to an output terminal of an output-side transistor of the current mirror sub-circuit for determining an output current of the current mirror sub-circuit;
- and
- generating the transfer characteristic by setting the offset current of each current mirror sub-circuit at respective predetermined levels and summing the respective output currents of the current mirror sub-circuits.
A system for generating a non-linear transfer characteristic, comprising:
- a plurality of current mirror circuits in parallel, each current mirror circuit configured to have an offset current applied to an output terminal of an output-side transistor of the current mirror circuit for controlling an output current thereof, the offset current of each current mirror circuit is set to a respective predetermined level, whereby the transfer characteristic is generated by summing the respective output currents of the current mirror circuits.
A current mirror circuit for use in conjunction with a plurality of other current mirror circuits for generating a transfer characteristic, the current mirror circuit comprising:
- matched input and output transistors connected in current mirror configuration, the output transistor having an offset current applied to an emitter terminal thereof for controlling an output current of the current mirror circuit, whereby the output current can be summed with output currents of the other current mirror circuits to generate a piecewise linear transfer characteristic.
(Currently Amended) A current mirror circuit for use in conjunction with a plurality of other current mirror circuits to generate a transfer characteristic, the current mirror circuit comprising:
- a first transistor having a collector terminal coupled to a first current source, a control terminal coupled to the collector terminal, and an emitter terminal coupled to a first terminal of an input resistor;
- a second transistor having a collector terminal coupled to a second current source, a control terminal coupled to the control terminal of the first transistor, and an emitter terminal coupled to a first terminal of an output resistor, the output resistor having a second terminal coupled to a second terminal of the input resistor;
- and
- an offset current source having an output coupled to the emitter terminal of the second transistor, the current mirror circuit having a transfer characteristic that is modulated by the offset current from the offset current source.
(Currently Amended) A system for generating a non-linear transfer characteristic, the system comprising:
- a plurality of current mirror circuits coupled in parallel, each current mirror circuit comprising:
- a first transistor having a collector terminal coupled to a first current source, a control terminal coupled to the collector terminal, and an emitter terminal coupled to a first terminal of an input resistor;
- a second transistor having a collector terminal coupled to a second current source, a control terminal coupled to the control terminal of the first transistor, and an emitter terminal-coupled to a first terminal of an output resistor, the output resistor having a second terminal coupled to a second terminal of the input resistor;
- and
- an offset current source having an output coupled to the emitter terminal of the second transistor, the current mirror circuit having a transfer characteristic that is modulated by the offset current from the offset current source.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.