Charge transfer device transversal filter having electronically controllable weighting factors

Claim 1

A charge transfer device transversal filter having controllable weighting factors, comprising: first and second equivalent charge transfer device analog shift registers, each forming a corresponding plurality of successive charge transfer stages thereby defining a plurality of pairs of corresponding charge transfer stages, each charge transfer stage having a plurality of transfer electrodes insulatingly overlying a suitable substrate, one of said transfer electrodes of each stage being a sensing electrode, said sensing electrode having a floating electrode insulatingly sandwiched between said sensing electrode and said substrate; means for controllably charging said floating electrodes of each pair of charge transfer stages relative to each other so as to define a selected weighting factor, the weighting factors of all pairs of charge transfer stages in combination defining a selected impulse response for the filter; means for applying input signals to said first and second shift registers for storage as electrical charge signals in successive ones of said stages, the same electrical charge signals being simultaneously stored in both stages of each of said pairs; means for applying phase related voltages to said charge transfer stages to effect transfer of charge from stage to stage within both said registers simultaneously and synchronously, the same phase related voltage being applied to all of said sensing electrodes; and means for producing an output signal representing the difference between the total charge flowing to said sensing electrodes of said first register and the total charge flowing to said sensing electrodes of said second register as a result of said stored electrical charge signals being transferred either into or out of the depletion regions associated with said sensing electrodes, said output signal being a weighted summation of said stored electrical charge signals.