A digitally controlled grounded capacitor multiplier includes: a single capacitor directly connected at one end to an input voltage and at another end to a negative input of an operational amplifier; the operational amplifier including a negative feedback loop; and a digitally controlled current amplifier (DCCA) connected to an output of the operational amplifier. The DCCA digitally controls the digitally controlled grounded capacitor multiplier. The digitally controlled grounded capacitor multiplier comprises only two active devices consisting of the operational amplifier and the DCCA.

A digitally controlled grounded capacitor multiplier includes: a single capacitor directly connected at one end to an input voltage and at another end to a negative input of an operational amplifier; the operational amplifier including a negative feedback loop; and a digitally controlled current amplifier (DCCA) connected to an output of the operational amplifier. The DCCA digitally controls the digitally controlled grounded capacitor multiplier. The digitally controlled grounded capacitor multiplier comprises only two active devices consisting of the operational amplifier and the DCCA.

An amplifier for converting a differential input signal to a single ended output signal. In particular, the amplifier including a converting circuit for converting a differential input signal into a single ended output signal, the converting circuit including an input section for receiving the differential input signal and an output section including an output port for providing the single ended output signal, where the output section includes a capacitive element configured to reduce an intrinsic time constant of the converting circuit.

A digitally controlled grounded capacitance multiplier circuit system and method is disclosed. The capacitance multiplier (CM) circuit comprises an op-amp, a digitally controlled current amplifier and two resistors in addition to a reference capacitor. The CM circuit is designed using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The value of the equivalent capacitance can be adjusted through digitally programming the gain of the current amplifier. The CM circuit provides a significant multiplication factor while using two active devices.

An ultrasonic imaging system is described in which a column-row-parallel architecture is provided at the circuit level of an ultrasonic transceiver. The ultrasonic imaging system can include a NM array of transducer elements and a plurality of transceiver circuits where each transceiver circuit is connected to a corresponding one transducer element of the NM array of transducer elements. A shared pulser gate driver and a shared VGA is provided for each row and column. Selection logic includes row select, column select, and per-element bit select. Through the column-row-parallel architecture, a variety of aperture configurations can be achieved.

A pseudo-resistor structure, comprises: a first and a second PMOS transistor or PN diode configured as two-terminal devices, wherein the positive terminal of the first PMOS transistor or PN diode is connected to the positive terminal of the second PMOS transistor or PN diode, and wherein the negative terminal of the first PMOS transistor or PN diode is connected to an input (A) of the pseudo-resistor structure and wherein the negative terminal of the second PMOS transistor or PN diode is connected to an output (C) of the pseudo-resistor structure, and a dummy transistor or dummy diode connected to the input (A), wherein the dummy transistor or dummy diode is further connected to a bias voltage for compensating a leakage current through the first and the second PMOS transistors or PN diodes. A closed-loop operational amplifier circuit comprising the pseudo-resistor structure is provided. Also, a bio-potential sensor comprising the closed-loop operational amplifier circuit is provided.

An impedance measurement circuit for determining a sense current of a guard-sense capacitive sensor operated in loading mode. The circuit includes a periodic signal voltage source for providing a periodic measurement voltage, a sense current measurement circuit, a differential amplifier that is configured to sense a complex voltage difference between the sense electrode and the guard electrode, a demodulator for obtaining, with reference to the periodic measurement voltage, an in-phase component and a quadrature component of the sensed complex voltage difference, and control loops for receiving the in-phase component and the quadrature component, respectively. An output signal of the first control loop and an output signal of the second control loop are usable to form a complex voltage that serves as a complex reference voltage for the sense current measurement circuit.

A power amplifier includes a two-dimensional matrix of NM active cells formed by stacking main terminals of multiple active cells in series. The stacks are coupled in parallel to form the two-dimensional matrix. The power amplifier includes a driver structure to coordinate the driving of the active cells so that the effective output power of the two-dimensional matrix is approximately NM the output power of each of the active cells.

A circuit system including an operational amplification circuit is disclosed. The operational amplification circuit includes N stages of operational amplification units that are cascaded, an input terminal of the 1.sup.st stage of operational amplification unit is an input terminal of the operational amplification circuit, and an output terminal of the N.sup.th stage of operational amplification unit is an output terminal of the operational amplification circuit; an output terminal of the i.sup.th stage of operational amplification unit is connected to an input terminal of the (i+1).sup.th stage of operational amplification unit, so as to provide an input signal for the (i+1).sup.th stage of operational amplification unit; and there is a feedback channel from the output terminal of the N.sup.th stage of operational amplification unit to an input terminal of each of the 1.sup.st stage of operational amplification unit to the N.sup.th stage of operational amplification unit.

A power amplifier includes a two-dimensional matrix of NM active cells formed by stacking main terminals of multiple active cells in series. The stacks are coupled in parallel to form the two-dimensional matrix. The power amplifier includes a driver structure to coordinate the driving of the active cells so that the effective output power of the two-dimensional matrix is approximately NM the output power of each of the active cells.