Patent US3436861A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3761916A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Analog to digital converter
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1972-02-28
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Granted: 1973-09-25
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Expires: 1992-02-28
Abstract
Abstract An analog to digital converter that is capable of megabit conversion rates operates in the phase domain. The analog voltage to be digitized is first transformed into a corresponding phase angle by angle modulating a high frequency carrier and the conversion is performed on this angle. The output of each stage of the converter is monitored and applied to the next higher order stage to control transitions in that stage. By this means, the conversion accuracy is made independent of the number of bits in the converted signal and is limited only by the accuracy of the stage generating the lowest order bit. Both binary and Gray code representations can be obtained simultaneously.
Inventors
- 👤 J Schenck
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 08:16
CPC Classifications
H; H03; H03M; H03M1/00; H03M1/12; H03M1/64
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
119 words
A voltage to digital converter comprising: A. means for modulating the relative phase angle of a carrier by an amount representative of the amplitude of the voltage to be digitized; B. means for repeatedly multiplying the modulated phase angle by the radix of the digital system in which said voltage is to be expressed; C. means for phase-demodulating the successive multiplied relative phase angles of said carrier to obtain, for each angle, at least one decision function indicative of the magnitude of each said angle; and D. means responsive to said decision functions to provide corresponding outputs indicative of the angular range within which the respective phase angles lie, said angular ranges corresponding to digits in said digital system.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
119 words
A voltage to digital converter comprising: A. means for modulating the relative phase angle of a carrier by an amount representative of the amplitude of the voltage to be digitized; B. means for repeatedly multiplying the modulated phase angle by the radix of the digital system in which said voltage is to be expressed; C. means for phase-demodulating the successive multiplied relative phase angles of said carrier to obtain, for each angle, at least one decision function indicative of the magnitude of each said angle; and D. means responsive to said decision functions to provide corresponding outputs indicative of the angular range within which the respective phase angles lie, said angular ranges corresponding to digits in said digital system.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
A voltage to digital converter according to claim 1 in which the means for multiplying the modulated phase angle comprises means for generating harmonics of said phase angle.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
each stage providing a first numeric output when said magnitude lies within a predetermined range and a second numeric output when it does not,
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
each stage providing a first numeric output when said magnitude lies within a predetermined range and a second numeric output when it does not,
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
13 words
filter means for selecting a desired harmonic of the multiplied input signal, and
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
13 words
filter means for selecting a desired harmonic of the multiplied input signal, and
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
120 words
means for measuring the relative phase angle of said input and providing a second output indicating in which of several ranges said phase angle lies, the number of such ranges being equal to the radix of the digital representation, D. means interconnecting said transfer units in series such that the first output of each but one of the transfer units is connected as an input to the next following transfer unit, E. means for combining the second output of each transfer unit with a corresponding output from an adjacent transfer unit to form a decision function, and F. means associated with each transfer unit and responsive to the decision function to provide a digital output corresponding to said decision function.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
120 words
means for measuring the relative phase angle of said input and providing a second output indicating in which of several ranges said phase angle lies, the number of such ranges being equal to the radix of the digital representation, D. means interconnecting said transfer units in series such that the first output of each but one of the transfer units is connected as an input to the next following transfer unit, E. means for combining the second output of each transfer unit with a corresponding output from an adjacent transfer unit to form a decision function, and F. means associated with each transfer unit and responsive to the decision function to provide a digital output corresponding to said decision function.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
21 words
means for translating the frequency of the multiplied signal to a selected reference frequency for application to the following transfer unit.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
21 words
means for translating the frequency of the multiplied signal to a selected reference frequency for application to the following transfer unit.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
48 words
the output of each stage undergoing a transition from one value to another as the input passes into or out of said range, and B. feedback means synchronizing transitions in the output of a higher order stage with transitions in the output of the adjacent lower order stage.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
48 words
the output of each stage undergoing a transition from one value to another as the input passes into or out of said range, and B. feedback means synchronizing transitions in the output of a higher order stage with transitions in the output of the adjacent lower order stage.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
66 words
A voltage to digital converter according to claim 2 which includes means for selecting the harmonic corresponding to the radix of the digital system into which the analog system is to be converted from the other harmonics generated during the phase multiplication and means for translating the selected harmonic downwardly in frequency to the frequency of the reference carrier prior to the next successive phase multiplication.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
50 words
A voltage to digital converter according to claim 3 which includes means for further downconverting each phase multiplied signal, as well as the original angle modulated carrier, to a zero frequency signal to thereby provide a decision function from which each of the digits of the digital representation is obtained.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
32 words
A voltage to digital converter according to claim 4 in which said further downconversion means provides the decision function as a combination of the sine and cosine of the corresponding phase angle.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
30 words
A voltage to digital converter according to claim 5 which includes means to apply to said further downconversion means a digital output from the next lower order digit conversion stage.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
42 words
A voltage to digital converter according to claim 1 comprising a binary converter in which the phase multiplying means multiplies the modulated phase by a factor of two at each multiplication, successive digital outputs being obtained from the successively multiplied phase angles.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
93 words
A voltage to digital converter according to claim 7 in which said phase multiplier comprises a modulator having the signal whose phase is to be multiplied applied as both first and second inputs thereto to thereby multiply said inputs, and which includes a high-pass filter for filtering the product to obtain a double frequency term, and a modulator for modulating the double frequency term by the third harmonic of the reference carrier to obtain an output having twice the relative phase angle of the input and the same frequency as the reference carrier.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
47 words
A voltage to digital converter according to claim 8 in which the means for demodulating the phase multiplied signal comprises a modulator having the phase multiplied signal applied as a first input thereto and having a signal synchronized with the carrier applied as a second input thereto.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
91 words
Apparatus for providing a digital representation of an analog signal, comprising: A. a sample and hold circuit for sampling an analog signal to be converted and providing an output indicative of the instantaneous magnitude of the sampled signal, B. means for modulating the relative phase angle of a carrier proportional to the amplitude of the output of the sample and hold circuit, C. a plurality of transfer units, equal in number to one less than the number of digits to be used in representing saiD analog signal, each transfer unit comprising:
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
91 words
Apparatus for providing a digital representation of an analog signal, comprising: A. a sample and hold circuit for sampling an analog signal to be converted and providing an output indicative of the instantaneous magnitude of the sampled signal, B. means for modulating the relative phase angle of a carrier proportional to the amplitude of the output of the sample and hold circuit, C. a plurality of transfer units, equal in number to one less than the number of digits to be used in representing saiD analog signal, each transfer unit comprising:
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
22 words
Apparatus according to claim 10 in which the means multiplying the relative phase angle of the input to each transfer unit comprises:
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
97 words
Apparatus according to claim 11 in which: A. the digital representation comprises a binary representation and in which B. the means for multiplying the frequency and phase of the input signal comprises a modulator for multiplying the input signal by itself to form a term of twice the frequency and twice the phase of the input, and C. the means for translating the multiplied signal to a selected reference frequency comprises a further modulator having said multiplied signal applied as one input thereto and having a harmonic of the selected frequency applied as a modulating input thereto.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
54 words
Apparatus according to claim 10 in which the means for measuring the relative phase angle of the transfer unit input includes a modulator having said input applied as one input thereto and a selected reference frequency of the same frequency as the frequency of the transfer unit input applied as a modulating input thereto.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
55 words
Apparatus according to claim 10 in which the digital representation comprises a binary representation and in which the means for combining the outputs of adjacent transfer units includes a modulator for combining a function of the second output of one transfer unit with a function of a second output of the next adjacent transfer unit.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
77 words
Apparatus according to claim 10 in which: A. the digital representation is a binary representation, B. each transfer unit contains a plurality of modulators for doubling the phase of the input to the transfer unit and for demodulating said input to provide an indication of the relative phase angle of the input associated with each transfer unit, and C. the inputs applied to each modulator in the transfer unit are harmonically related to each other in frequency.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
13 words
A binary analog to digital converter: A. having a plurality of conversion stages:
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
13 words
A binary analog to digital converter: A. having a plurality of conversion stages:
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
60 words
A converter according to claim 16 in which the feedback means comprises means for feeding back from each lOwer order stage to the adjacent higher order stage a signal indicative of the output of the lower order stage to enable transitions in the higher order stage to occur only on the occurrence of alternate transitions in the lower order stage.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
58 words
A converter according to claim 17 in which: A. each stage but one provides first and second intermediate outputs, each output being a different function of the input to said stage, and B. the feedback signal is combined with both said intermediate outputs to form a decision function from which the numeric output of each stage is determined.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
33 words
A converter according to claim 17 in which the decision function comprises the sum formed by adding the first intermediate output to the product of the second intermediate output and the feedback signal.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
65 words
A converter according to claim 18 in which the first intermediate output of each stage is a sinusoidal function of the input which is to be examined in that stage, the second output being a cosinusoidal function of said input, and in which the signal fed back to each stage from the adjacent lower order stage comprises the numeric output of the lower order stage.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3460122A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-09-24 | 1977-03-26 | 1977-09-25 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-09-24 | 1981-03-26 | 1981-09-25 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-09-24 | 1985-03-26 | 1985-09-25 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |