In a solid-state imaging element in which AD conversion using a reference signal is performed, power consumption of a circuit that generates the reference signal is reduced. A pixel section outputs a pixel signal based on the light amount of incident light. A reference signal supply section generates a first reference signal and a second reference signal. A comparison section includes a first differential pair transistor to which the pixel signal and a signal based on the first reference signal are inputted and a second differential pair transistor to which the second reference signal is inputted. A counter section performs counting on the basis of a signal from the comparison section.

A bidirectional bipolar transistor switch arrangement, including: a first bipolar transistor and a second bipolar transistor connected in anti-parallel between a first terminal and a second terminal, a resistor connected to the base of the first bipolar transistor and the second bipolar transistor and to a control terminal, a first diode connected with anode to the first terminal, and a second diode connected with anode to the second terminal, the first diode and the second diode being connected via respective cathodes to a supply terminal. The bidirectional bipolar transistor switch arrangement is able to control the power supply within a daisy chain with low drop voltage.

Transmitters and methods of transmitting a polar-modulated signal include a driver to output a polar-modulated signal according to a phase-modulation signal and an amplitude-modulation signal. A voltage regulator is connected to the driver, with the amplitude-modulation signal controlling an input of the voltage regulator and with the amplitude-modulation signal further being combined with an output of the voltage regulator to control an amplitude of the output of the driver to compensate for bandwidth cutoff noise in the voltage regulator.

A bidirectional bipolar transistor switch arrangement, including: a first bipolar transistor and a second bipolar transistor connected in anti-parallel between a first terminal and a second terminal, a resistor connected to the base of the first bipolar transistor and the second bipolar transistor and to a control terminal, a first diode connected with anode to the first terminal, a second diode connected with anode to the second terminal, the first diode and the second diode being connected via respective cathodes to a supply terminal.

The bidirectional bipolar transistor switch arrangement is able to control the power supply within a daisy chain with low drop voltage.

In a solid-state imaging element in which AD conversion using a reference signal is performed, power consumption of a circuit that generates the reference signal is reduced. A pixel section outputs a pixel signal based on the light amount of incident light. A reference signal supply section generates a first reference signal and a second reference signal. A comparison section includes a first differential pair transistor to which the pixel signal and a signal based on the first reference signal are inputted and a second differential pair transistor to which the second reference signal is inputted. A counter section performs counting on the basis of a signal from the comparison section.

In a solid-state imaging element in which AD conversion using a reference signal is performed, power consumption of a circuit that generates the reference signal is reduced. A pixel section outputs a pixel signal based on the light amount of incident light. A reference signal supply section generates a first reference signal and a second reference signal. A comparison section includes a first differential pair transistor to which the pixel signal and a signal based on the first reference signal are inputted and a second differential pair transistor to which the second reference signal is inputted. A counter section performs counting on the basis of a signal from the comparison section.

An example current mirror arrangement includes a current mirror circuit having an input transistor and an output transistor, where the base/gate terminal of the input transistor is coupled to its collector/drain terminal via a transistor matrix that includes a plurality of transistors. Transistors of the transistor matrix, together with the input transistor, form two parallel feedback loops, such that the input transistor is part of both loops. The first loop is a fast, low-gain loop, while the second loop is a slow, high-gain loop. At lower input frequencies, the high-gain loop may properly bias and accurately generate voltage at the base/gate terminal of the input transistor, while at higher input frequencies the fast loop may significantly extend the linear operating frequency band. Consequently, a current mirror arrangement with improvements in terms of linearity and signal bandwidth may be realized.

A microphone assembly includes a transducer element and a processing circuit. The processing circuit includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to receive, sample and quantize a microphone signal generated by the transducer element to generate a corresponding digital microphone signal. The processing circuit includes a feedback path including a digital loop filter configured to receive and filter the digital microphone signal to provide a first digital feedback signal and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) configured to convert the first digital feedback signal into a corresponding analog feedback signal. The processing circuit additionally includes a summing node at the transducer output configured to combine the microphone signal and the analog feedback signal.

A microphone assembly includes a transducer element and a processing circuit. The processing circuit includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to receive, sample and quantize a microphone signal generated by the transducer element to generate a corresponding digital microphone signal. The processing circuit includes a feedback path including a digital loop filter configured to receive and filter the digital microphone signal to provide a first digital feedback signal and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) configured to convert the first digital feedback signal into a corresponding analog feedback signal. The processing circuit additionally includes a summing node at the transducer output configured to combine the microphone signal and the analog feedback signal.

A microphone assembly includes a transducer element and a processing circuit. The processing circuit includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to receive, sample and quantize a microphone signal generated by the transducer element to generate a corresponding digital microphone signal. The processing circuit includes a feedback path including a digital loop filter configured to receive and filter the digital microphone signal to provide a first digital feedback signal and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) configured to convert the first digital feedback signal into a corresponding analog feedback signal. The processing circuit additionally includes a summing node at the transducer output configured to combine the microphone signal and the analog feedback signal.