Reference voltage generating circuit
11226645 · 2022-01-18
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
G05F1/468
PHYSICS
International classification
Abstract
The present invention provides a reference voltage generating circuit. The reference voltage generating circuit includes a charge supply circuit providing a first reference voltage during a first period; and a voltage supply circuit providing a second reference voltage during a second period. The voltage supply circuit does not provide the second reference voltage during the first period.
Claims
1. A reference voltage generating circuit, comprising: a charge supply circuit, providing a first reference voltage during a first period; and a voltage supply circuit, providing a second reference voltage during a second period; wherein the voltage supply circuit does not provide the second reference voltage during the first period, the reference voltage generating circuit provides the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage to an analog to digital converter, the first period is a period during which the analog to digital converter converts at least one high significant bit of an input signal, and the second period is a period during which the analog to digital converter converts at least one low significant bit of the input signal.
2. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 1 further comprising: a power supply circuit, coupled to the charge supply circuit and charging the charge supply circuit.
3. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 2, wherein the power supply circuit charges the charge supply circuit before the first period, and is not coupled to the charge supply circuit during the first period.
4. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 1, wherein the voltage supply circuit is coupled to the charge supply circuit and charges the charge supply circuit.
5. The reference voltage generating circuit of 4, wherein the voltage supply circuit charges the charge supply circuit before the first period, and does not charge the charge supply circuit during the first period.
6. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 1, wherein the reference voltage generating circuit provides the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage to a functional circuit, and the charge supply circuit provides the first reference voltage according to an electrical energy consumption of the functional circuit during the first period.
7. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 6 further comprising: a detection circuit, coupled to the charge supply circuit, and detecting the electrical energy consumption of the functional circuit during the first period to control the charge supply circuit to provide the first reference voltage.
8. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 1, wherein the reference voltage generating circuit provides the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage to a functional circuit, the reference voltage generating circuit further comprises: a detection circuit, coupled to the charge supply circuit, and detecting the input signal of the functional circuit to control the charge supply circuit to provide the first reference voltage.
9. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 1 further comprising a capacitor providing the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage to a functional circuit, wherein the capacitor is coupled to the charge supply circuit, the voltage supply circuit and the functional circuit, and the charge supply circuit provides the first reference voltage to the capacitor during the first period to provide the first reference voltage to the functional circuit, and the voltage supply circuit provides the second reference voltage to the capacitor during the second period to provide the second reference voltage to the function circuit, and a power supply circuit is coupled to the charge supply circuit and the capacitor and charges the capacitor and the charge supply circuit before the first period, and the power supply circuit is not coupled to the capacitor during the first period and the second period, and the first period and the second period are operation periods of the functional circuit.
10. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 1 further comprising a capacitor providing the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage to a functional circuit, wherein the capacitor is coupled to the charge supply circuit, the voltage supply circuit and the functional circuit, and the charge supply circuit provides the first reference voltage to the capacitor during the first period to provide the first reference voltage to the functional circuit, and the voltage supply circuit provides the second reference voltage to the capacitor during the second period to provide the second reference voltage to the function circuit, and the voltage supply circuit is coupled to the charge supply circuit and charges the capacitor and the charge supply circuit before the first period, and the voltage supply circuit is not coupled to the capacitor during the first period, and the first period and the second period are operation periods of the functional circuit.
11. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 1, wherein a charge supply amount per unit time of the charge supply circuit is greater than a charge supply amount per unit time of the voltage supply circuit.
12. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 1, wherein a voltage level of the second reference voltage is different from a voltage level of the first reference voltage.
13. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 1, wherein the voltage supply circuit is a voltage regulator.
14. The reference voltage generating circuit of claim 1, wherein the first period is earlier than the second period, or the second period is earlier than the first period.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(6) Certain words are used in the specification and claims to refer to specific components. However, those skilled in the art of the technical field of the present invention should understand that the manufacturer may refer to the same component in different terms. Moreover, this specification and claims do not use the difference in the name as away to distinguish the components, but the difference in the overall technology of the components as the criterion for distinguishing. The “comprise” mentioned in the entire specification and claims is an open-ended term, so it should be interpreted as “include but not limited to”. Furthermore, the term “coupling” here includes any direct and indirect means of connection. Therefore, if a first device is coupled to a second device, it means that the first device may be directly connected to the second device, or may be indirectly connected to the second device through other devices or other connection means.
(7) Please refer to
(8) Please continue to refer to
(9) According to the above description, the charge supply circuit 202 and the voltage supply circuit 204 respectively provide the first reference voltage Vref.sub.1 and the second reference voltage Vref.sub.2 to the analog to digital converter ADC during different periods. The first period and the second period are operation periods of the functional circuit. In this embodiment, the first period and the second period are the operation periods of the analog to digital converter ADC. The first period and the second period are not limited to the first period before the second period, and the first period may be earlier than the second period, or the second period is earlier than the first period.
(10) In addition, a charge supply amount per unit time of the charge supply circuit 202 is different from a charge supply amount per unit time of the voltage supply circuit 204. In an embodiment of the present invention, the charge supply amount per unit time of the charge supply circuit 202 is greater than the charge supply amount per unit time of the voltage supply circuit 204, which means an ability of providing charges in a short time of the charge supply circuit 202 is better than an ability of providing charges in the short time of the voltage supply circuit 204. When the analog to digital converter ADC operates and draws a large current, that is, during the period when the analog to digital converter ADC consumes more charges/power, the charge supply circuit 202 may be utilized for providing the first reference voltage Vref.sub.1 to the analog to digital converter ADC. Thus, the present invention avoids great fluctuations of the reference voltage received by the analog to digital converter ADC caused by the operation of the analog to digital converter ADC. That is, the charge supply circuit 202 may provide the stable reference voltage Vref.sub.1 with small fluctuation, thereby maintaining conversion accuracy of the analog to digital converter ADC. In addition, when the analog to digital converter ADC operates and draws a small current, that is, during a period when the analog to digital converter ADC consumes less charges/power, the voltage supply circuit 204 may be utilized for providing the second reference voltage Vref.sub.2 to the analog to digital converter ADC. In the embodiment of the present invention, a voltage level of the second reference voltage Vref.sub.2 may be identical to or different from a voltage level of the first reference voltage Vref.sub.1, which is determined by practical needs of functional circuit.
(11) Please refer to
(12) Please continue to refer to
(13) In this case, the analog to digital converter ADC may generate the control signals CON.sub.1, CON.sub.2 according to whether the significant bit currently converted from the input signal Vin is the high significant bit or the low significant bit. During the period T.sub.1 that the analog to digital converter ADC converts the high significant bits, a level of the control signal CON.sub.1 may become a high level to enable the charge supply circuit 202 to provide the first reference voltage Vref.sub.1. When the analog to digital converter ADC converts the high significant bits, the analog to digital converter ADC draws a large current, that is, a large amount of charges, which may cause large fluctuations in the reference voltage provided to the analog to digital converter ADC. Since the charge supply circuit 202 may compensate charge/power consumption of the analog to digital converter ADC in a short time, by utilizing the charge supply circuit 202 to provide the first reference voltage Vref.sub.1 to the analog to digital converter ADC, the present invention prevents operation of the analog to digital converter ADC from greatly affecting the voltage level of the first reference voltage Vref.sub.1, that is, maintaining the voltage level of the first reference voltage Vref.sub.1 to provide the stable first reference voltage Vref.sub.1. In addition, during the period T.sub.1, the level of the control signal CON.sub.2 may become a low level to disable the voltage supply circuit 204 and thus the voltage supply circuit 204 does not provide the second reference voltage Vref.sub.2 to the analog to digital converter ADC for power saving. During the period T.sub.2 that the analog to digital converter ADC converts the low significant bits, since the analog to digital converter ADC draws less current, that is, less charge, when the analog to digital converter ADC converts the low significant bits, fluctuation of the reference voltage provided to the analog to digital converter ADC may be less. Thus, the level of the control signal CON.sub.2 may become a high level to enable the voltage supply circuit 204 to provide the second reference voltage Vref.sub.2 to the analog to digital converter ADC. The voltage supply circuit 204 may accurately maintain the voltage level of the second reference voltage Vref.sub.2, so that the conversion accuracy is ensured when the analog to digital converter ADC converts the low significant bits of the input signal Vin. Since the conversion accuracy of the low significant bits determines overall conversion accuracy of the analog to digital converter ADC, accurately maintaining the voltage level of the second reference voltage Vref.sub.2 may ensure detail (resolution) of the analog to digital conversion of the analog to digital converter ADC. In this way, the reference voltage generating circuit 20 may compensate the charge loss of the analog to digital converter ADC and may provide a stable reference voltage.
(14) In detail, please refer to
(15) In addition, the reference voltage generating circuit 20 may further include a detection circuit 302, and the detection circuit 302 is coupled to the analog to digital converter ADC and the charge supply circuit 202. The detection circuit 302 detects the electrical energy consumption of the analog to digital converter ADC performing the analog to digital conversion during the period T.sub.1 to control the charge supply circuit 202 to provide the corresponding amount of charge, so as to provide the stable first reference voltage Vref.sub.1. Specifically, the detection circuit 302 may predict the electrical energy consumption affecting the first reference voltage Vref.sub.1 during the period T.sub.1 before the analog to digital converter ADC performs the analog to digital conversion on the high significant bits, to dynamically control the charge supply circuit 202 to provide the corresponding amount of charge in real time. The analog to digital converter ADC of the embodiment of
(16) The embodiment of
(17) Please continue to refer to
(18) In other words, by controlling operations of the switches SW.sub.c, SW.sub.d, the power supply circuit or the voltage supply circuit 204 provides the supply voltage V.sub.DD2 to charge the capacitor C.sub.ADC and the charge supply circuit 202 before the analog to digital converter ADC performs the analog to digital conversion, and then the path between the supply voltage V.sub.DD2 and the capacitor C.sub.ADC is cut off when the analog to digital converter ADC performs the analog to digital conversion, wherein the capacitor C.sub.ADC, the charge supply circuit 202, and the voltage supply circuit 204 provide the reference voltage to the analog to digital converter ADC for the analog to digital conversion. As a result, the power supply circuit (e.g., system power supply) or the voltage supply circuit 204 may charge the charge supply circuit 202 before the analog to digital converter ADC performs the analog to digital conversion. Since charging time is more sufficient, power supply capacity of the power supply circuit or the voltage supply circuit 204 require less strong, thereby saving power and circuit area because if the power supply capacity of the power supply circuit is stronger, electronic components thereof must withstand large electrical energy and require large size and more area. Furthermore, the power supply circuit or the voltage supply circuit 204 does not charge the charge supply circuit 202 after the analog to digital converter ADC performs the analog to digital conversion, to save more power.
(19) Moreover, please continue to refer to
(20) Notably, the above-description is only embodiments of the present invention. The reference voltage generating circuit 20 of the present invention mainly utilizes the charge supply circuit 202 or the voltage supply circuit 204 to provide the reference voltage to the functional circuit according to the influence on the reference voltage caused by the electrical energy consumption of operation of the functional circuit. When the functional circuit consumes more electrical energy and has a greater influence on the reference voltage, the charge supply circuit 202 with the strong charge supply capability may be utilized for providing the reference voltage. On the contrary, when the functional circuit consumes less electrical energy and has a smaller influence on the reference voltage, the voltage supply circuit 204 with the weak charge supply capability but capable of accurately maintaining the voltage level may be utilized for providing the reference voltage. When the charge supply circuit 202 provides the reference voltage, the voltage supply circuit 204 does not provide the reference voltage to save power. In addition, the reference voltage generating circuit 20 may further predict the electrical energy consumption which affects the reference voltage before the functional circuit operates and consumes electrical energy to affect the reference voltage to dynamically compensate the electrical energy consumption in real time, thereby preventing the voltage level of the reference voltage from being influenced. For example, before the analog to digital converter ADC converts the high significant bits, the reference voltage generating circuit 20 predicts possible electrical energy consumption of the analog to digital converter ADC to dynamically compensate the electrical energy consumption in real time during the analog to digital conversion process. When the low significant bits are converted, the reference voltage generating circuit 20 generates the reference voltage via the close loop to accurately maintain the voltage level of the reference voltage. Those skilled in the art may make modification or alterations accordingly, which are not limited to this. Since the charge supply amount per unit time of the charge supply circuit 202 is greater than the charge supply amount per unit time of the voltage supply circuit 204, the voltage supply circuit 204 may have a smaller size, bandwidth or driving capacity to save circuit area and cost.
(21) On the other hand, as shown in
(22) Please refer to
(23) The reference voltage generating circuits 20 are coupled to the analog to digital converters ADC.sub.1-ADC.sub.N, respectively to provide reference voltages to the analog to digital converters ADC.sub.1-ADC.sub.N. A plurality of capacitors C.sub.ADC1-C.sub.ADCN are respectively coupled to the analog to digital converters ADC.sub.1-ADC.sub.N and the reference voltage generating circuits 20 to stabilize the reference voltages. In another embodiment of the present invention, these capacitors C.sub.ADC1-C.sub.ADCN may not be required. The power supply circuit 104 provides a supply voltage V.sub.DD_AD to the reference voltage generation circuits 20, and charges the charge supply circuits 202 of the reference voltage generation circuits 20 and the capacitors C.sub.ADC1-C.sub.ADCN. In an embodiment of the present invention, the supply voltage V.sub.DD_AD may be the same as the supply voltages V.sub.DD1 and V.sub.DD2 shown in
(24) A plurality of switches SW.sub.1-SW.sub.N are coupled between the power supply circuit 104 and the reference voltage generating circuits 20. Before the analog to digital converters ADC.sub.1-ADC.sub.N perform the analog to digital conversion, the switches SW.sub.1-SW.sub.N are conducted to charge the charge supply circuits 202 and the capacitors C.sub.ADC1-C.sub.ADCN. When the analog to digital converters ADC.sub.1-ADC.sub.N perform the analog to digital conversion, the switches SW.sub.1-SW.sub.N are cut off, and the power supply circuit 104 is not coupled to the capacitors C.sub.ADC1-C.sub.ADCN and the reference voltage generating circuits 20. In this way, the analog to digital converters ADC.sub.1-ADC.sub.N are independent of each other, so that when the analog to digital converters ADC.sub.1-ADC.sub.N operate and draw currents simultaneously, noise coupled between the analog to digital converters ADC.sub.1-ADC.sub.N may be avoided, and thus influence on operations of the analog to digital converters ADC.sub.1-ADC.sub.N may also be avoided, which may also reduce the power consumption of the power supply circuit 104.
(25) In addition, a capacitor C.sub.DC is coupled to the power supply circuit 104 to stabilize the supply voltage V.sub.DD_AD. Since the capacitors C.sub.ADC1-C.sub.ADCN with small capacitance are configured, capacitance of the capacitor C.sub.DC is small, too. In an embodiment of the present invention, except for the panel 12 and the power supply circuit 104, remaining circuits may be integrated into a chip. Because the capacitance of the capacitor C.sub.DC and the capacitors C.sub.ADC1-C.sub.ADCN is small, the capacitor C.sub.DC and the capacitors C.sub.ADC1-C.sub.ADCN may also be integrated in the chip without additionally configuring the capacitors outside of the chip. Thus, the component cost may be reduced, and time and cost of the procedure of configuring the capacitors outside of the chip may also be reduced, thereby reducing the failure rate and improving yield. Furthermore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the voltage supply circuit 204 may provide the supply voltage to the charge supply circuit 202, and thus the power supply circuit 104, the switches SW.sub.1-SW.sub.N, and the capacitor C.sub.DC may be not needed.
(26) In summary, the reference voltage generating circuit of the present invention may utilize the charge supply circuit with strong charge supply capacity or the voltage supply circuit with weak charge supply capacity to provide the reference voltage according to the influence on the reference voltage caused by the electrical energy consumption of operation of the functional circuit, so as to provide the stable reference voltage. When the charge supply circuit provides the reference voltage, the voltage supply circuit does not provide the reference voltage, which may save power. In addition, the reference voltage generating circuit may predict the electrical energy consumption of the function circuit which affects the reference voltage, and dynamically perform compensation via an open loop in real time when the function circuit consumes the electrical energy to quickly respond and reduce the fluctuation of the reference voltage.
(27) Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.