Analog-to-digital converter and sensor device comprising such a converter
AssigneeForsvarets Forskningsanstalt
InventorsUlf Ringh, Christer Jansson
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Abstract
A periodically integrating analog-to-digital converter and a sensor device having such a converter. The analog-to-digital converter has a measured-value-to-pulse-amount converter, i.e., a sigma-delta converter of the first order that is reset to zero before each new period, and a digital counter for the number of feedback signals of known reference value in the measured-value-to-pulse-amount converter. This constitutes a rough measure of the input signal. The analog-to-digital converter also converts the residual value of the measured-value-to-pulse-amount converter at the end of the period to a digital value, and an adder which adds this value to the output signal from the digital counter, resulting in a more accurate measure of the input signal.
Claims7
A periodically integrating analog-to-digital converter comprising a measured-value-to-pulse-amount converter which includes a sigma-delta converter of a first order that is reset to zero before each new period and a digital counter for counting a number of feedback signals of known reference value in the measured-value-to-pulse-amount converter, which is a rough measure of its input signal, a residual-value converter that converts the residual value of the measured-value-to-pulse-amount converter at the end of the period to a digital value, and an adder which adds the digital value to the output signal from the digital counter, resulting in a more accurate measure of the input signal.
A sensor device having an array of detectors arranged in columns adapted to be read out by column in parallel, the device comprising a periodically integrating analog-to-digital converter having a measured-value-to-pulse-amount converter, including a sigma-delta converter of a first order that is reset to zero before each new period, which includes a digital counter for counting a number of feedback signals of a known reference value in the measured-value-to-pulse-amount converter, which in turn is a rough measure of its input signal, a residual-value converter that converts the residual value of the measured-value-to-pulse-amount converter at the end of the period to a digital value, and an adder which adds the digital value to the output signal from the digital counter, resulting in a more accurate measure of the input signal, wherein the residual-value converter and the measured-value-to-pulse-amount converter share at least one component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.