Modulation circuit with integrated microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS) components
AssigneeLexmark International, Inc.
InventorRobert Allan Menke
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Abstract
A modulation circuit includes a microelectronic electromechanical system (MEMS) based resonant structure having a resonant frequency, an excitation input and an output. A control module is coupled to the excitation input of the MEMS based resonant structure. The control module modifies resonant characteristics of the MEMS based resonant structure to modulate the resonant frequency of the MEMS based resonant structure to produce a modulated signal at the output.
Claims28
A modulation circuit, comprising:
- a microelectronic electromechanical system (MEMS) based resonant structure having a resonant frequency, an excitation input and an output;
- and
- a control module coupled to said excitation input of said MEMS based resonant structure, said control module modifying resonant characteristics of said MEMS based resonant structure to modulate said resonant frequency of said MEMS based resonant structure to produce a modulated signal at said output.
A modulation circuit, comprising:
- a microelectronic electromechanical system (MEMS) based resonant circuit having a resonant frequency and an output;
- and
- a signal source coupled to said MEMS based resonant circuit, said signal source applying an excitation signal to said MEMS based resonant circuit to modulate said resonant frequency of said MEMS based resonant circuit to produce a modulated signal at said output.
A spread spectrum clock generation (SSCG) circuit comprising a MEMS based circuit having an output for supplying a spread spectrum clocking signal.
A spread spectrum clock generation (SSCG) circuit, comprising:
- a resonant circuit having a resonant frequency and an output, said resonant circuit being formed using at least one microelectronic electromechanical system (MEMS) component;
- and
- a device coupled to said at least one MEMS component, said device applying an excitation signal to said at least one MEMS component to modulate said resonant frequency of said resonant circuit to produce a spread spectrum clocking signal at said output having a predetermined period and a predetermined frequency deviation profile.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.