Method and system for adjusting a threshold control in an analog-to-digital converter
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorGary A. Frazier
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one aspect of the invention, a method for sampling an input signal includes offsetting the input signal with a reference signal. The reference signal represents an offset voltage in the analog-to-digital converter. The method also includes generating a digital output signal based on the offset input signal. The method further includes adjusting the reference signal based on the digital output signal. In addition, the method includes communicating the adjusted reference signal for further offsetting of the input signal.
Claims20
An analog-to-digital converter for sampling an input signal, comprising:
- a differential amplifier operable to receive the input signal and a reference signal and to offset the input signal with the reference signal, the reference signal representing an offset voltage in the analog-to-digital converter;
- a quantizer coupled to the differential amplifier, the quantizer operable to receive the offset input signal and to generate a digital output signal based on the offset input signal;
- and a feedback element coupled to the quantizer and to the differential amplifier, the feedback element operable to adjust the reference signal based on the digital output signal and to communicate the adjusted reference signal to the differential amplifier, the adjusted reference signal based at least partially on an average of digital values contained in the digital output signal.
An antenna, comprising:
- at least one receiver operable to receive an input signal;
- a plurality of analog-to-digital converters coupled to the at least one receiver, the analog-to-digital converters operable to convert the input signal into digital output signals, at least one of the analog-to-digital converters comprising a feedback element operable to adjust a reference signal based on the digital output signal, the reference signal representing an offset voltage in the analog-to-digital converter, the at least one analog-to-digital converter operable to convert the input signal into the digital output signal using the reference signal, the reference signal based at least partially on an average of digital values contained in the digital output signal;
- and
- a digital accumulator coupled to the analog-to-digital converters, the digital accumulator operable to receive the digital output signals from the analog-to-digital converters and to generate a net digital output signal comprising a sum of the digital output signals.
A method for sampling an input signal, comprising:
- offsetting the input signal with a reference signal, the reference signal representing an offset voltage in the analog-to-digital converter;
- generating a digital output signal based on the offset input signal;
- adjusting the reference signal based on the digital output signal, the adjusted reference signal based at least partially on an average of digital values contained in the digital output signal;
- and
- communicating the adjusted reference signal for further offsetting of the input signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.