Acoustic charge transport device buffered architecture

An acoustic charge transport device, comprising:

• a) a substrate;
• b) a layer disposed on said substrate;
• c) a channel disposed within said layer for providing a propagation path for a surface acoustic wave, said channel having first and second ends;
• d) an input contact operably connected and disposed at said first end of said channel for injecting an electronic signal into said channel;
• e) an output contact operably connected and disposed at said second end of said channel for extracting the electronic signal after it has traversed through said channel;
• f) a transducer disposed at said first end for generating and propagating the surface acoustic wave through said channel from said first end to said second end for thereby transporting the electronic signal through said channel;
• g) a plurality of sensing electrodes operably associated with said channel and disposed along the propagation path of the surface acoustic wave for non-destructively sensing the electronic signal;
• h) a plurality of integrated active buffer circuits disposed on said layer, each having an input operably connected to respective sensing electrode and an output operably connected to an output circuit;
• i) a plurality of guard electrodes;
• j) each of said sensing electrodes has associated with it a pair of said guard electrodes, each of which is disposed on each side of the respective sensing electrode in the propagation path of the surface acoustic wave;
• and
• k) said pairs of guard electrodes are connected to the output of respective buffer circuit.

A signal processing circuit, comprising:

• a) a substrate;
• b) a layer disposed on said substrate;
• c) a channel disposed within said layer for providing a propagation path for a surface acoustic wave, said channel having first and second ends;
• d) an input contact operably connected and disposed at said first end of said channel for injecting an electronic signal into said channel;
• e) an output contact operably connected and disposed at said second end of said channel for extracting the electronic signal after it has traversed through said channel;
• f) a transducer disposed at said first end for generating and propagating the surface acoustic wave through said channel from said first end to said second end for thereby transporting the electronic signal through said channel;
• g) a plurality of sensing electrodes operably associated with said channel and disposed along the propagation path of the surface acoustic wave for non-destructively sensing the electronic signal;
• h) an output circuit for processing the sensed electronic signal from said sensing electrodes;
• i) a plurality of active buffer circuits each having an input operably connected to respective sensing electrode and an output operably connected to said output circuit;
• j) said output circuit comprising a differential amplifier having input and output;
• k) a plurality of tap weight circuits each operably connected to respective buffer circuit and said differential amplifier input;
• and
• l) said tap weight circuits each including a pair of parallel capacitors.

A signal processing circuit, comprising:

• a) a substrate;
• b) a layer disposed on said substrate;
• c) a channel disposed within said layer for providing a propagation path for a surface acoustic wave, said channel having first and second ends;
• d) an input contact operably connected and disposed at said first end of said channel for injecting an electronic signal into said channel;
• e) an output contact operably connected and disposed at said second end of said channel for extracting the electronic signal after it has traversed through said channel;
• f) a transducer disposed at said first end for generating and propagating the surface acoustic wave through said channel from said first end to said second end for thereby transporting the electronic signal through said channel;
• g) a plurality of sensing electrodes operably associated with said channel and disposed along the propagation path of the surface acoustic wave for non-destructively sensing the electronic signal;
• h) an output circuit for processing the sensed electronic signal from said sensing electrodes, said output circuit comprising a differential amplifier having input and output;
• i) a plurality of active buffer circuits each having an input operably connected to respective sensing electrode and an output operably connected to said output circuit, said buffer circuits each comprising a first FET operated as a source follower;
• j) a plurality of programmable tap weight circuits each operably connected to respective buffer circuit and said differential amplifier input;
• k) each of said programmable tap weight circuits including a divider network and another network connected to the non-inverting and inverting inputs, respectively, of said differential amplifier;
• and
• l) said divider network including series and shunt portions, each of said shunt portions being switchable to respective buffer circuit or ground, and said another network being switchable to respective buffer circuit or ground.

A signal processing circuit, comprising:

• a) a substrate;
• b) a layer disposed on said substrate;
• c) a channel disposed within said layer for providing a propagation path for a surface acoustic wave, said channel having first and second ends;
• d) an input contact operably connected and disposed at said first end of said channel for injecting an electronic signal into said channel;
• e) an output contact operably connected and disposed at said second end of said channel for extracting the electronic signal after it has traversed through said channel;
• f) a transducer disposed at said first end for generating and propagating the surface acoustic wave through said channel from said first end to said second end for thereby transporting the electronic signal through said channel;
• g) a plurality of sensing electrodes operably associated with said channel and disposed along the propagation path of the surface acoustic wave for non-destructively sensing the electronic signal;
• h) an output circuit for processing the sensed electronic signal from said sensing electrodes;
• i) a plurality of active buffer circuits each having an input operably connected to respective sensing electrode and an output operably connected to said output circuit;
• j) said output circuit comprising a plurality of switches each connected to respective buffer circuit and a common output;
• and
• k) said switches are operable such that only one of said switches is in the open position at any one time.