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US 9,071,267 B1Granted
Multi-path analog front end and analog-to-digital converter for a signal processing system
AssigneeCirrus Logic, Inc.
InventorsEdmund Mark Schneider, Aniruddha Satoskar, Daniel J. Allen, Seyedeh Maryam Mortazavi Zanjani
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A processing system may include multiple selectable processing paths for processing an analog signal in order to reduce noise and increase dynamic range. Techniques are employed to transition between processing paths and calibrate operational parameters of the two paths in order to reduce or eliminate artifacts caused by switching between processing paths.
Claims24
A processing system comprising:
- a plurality of processing paths including a first processing path and a second processing path, wherein:
- the first processing path comprises a first analog front end and a first digital processing subsystem having a first analog-to-digital converter, wherein the first analog front end is configured to amplify an analog input signal in order to generate a first amplified analog signal and the first analog-to-digital converter is configured to convert the first amplified analog signal into a first digital signal;
- and
- the second processing path comprises a second analog front end and a second digital processing subsystem having a second analog-to-digital converter, wherein the second analog front end is configured to amplify the analog input signal to generate a second amplified analog signal and the second analog-to-digital converter is configured to convert the second amplified analog signal into a second digital signal, and further wherein a magnitude of the gain of the second analog front end is substantially larger than a magnitude of a gain of the first analog front end;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- select one of the first digital signal and the second digital signal as a digital output signal of the processing system based on a magnitude of the analog input signal;
- and
- when selecting the first digital signal as the digital output signal, transition continuously or in steps the digital output signal between the second digital signal and the first digital signal during a duration of time, such that during such transition, the digital output signal is a weighted average of the first digital signal and the second digital signal wherein a weight of the first digital signal relative to a weight of the second digital signal increases during such transition.
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A method comprising:
- processing an analog input signal with a first processing path, wherein the first processing path comprises a first analog front end and a first digital processing subsystem having a first analog-to-digital converter, wherein the first analog front end is configured to amplify the analog input signal in order to generate a first amplified analog signal and the first analog-to-digital converter is configured to convert the first amplified analog signal into a first digital signal;
- processing the analog input signal with a second processing path, wherein the second processing path comprises a second analog front end and a second digital processing subsystem having a second analog-to-digital converter, wherein the second analog front end is configured to amplify the analog input signal to generate a second amplified analog signal and the second analog-to-digital converter is configured to convert the second amplified analog signal into a second digital signal, and further wherein a magnitude of the gain of the second analog front end is substantially larger than a magnitude of a gain of the first analog front end;
- selecting one of the first digital signal and the second digital signal as a digital output signal of the processing system based on a magnitude of the analog input signal;
- and
- when selecting the first digital signal as the digital output signal, transitioning continuously or in steps the digital output signal between the second digital signal and the first digital signal during a duration of time, such that during such transition, the digital output signal is a weighted average of the first digital signal and the second digital signal, wherein a weight of the first digital signal relative to a weight of the second digital signal increases during such transition.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.