Single slope analogue to digital converter and operating method thereof
12294382 ยท 2025-05-06
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
H03M1/125
ELECTRICITY
International classification
Abstract
Disclosed herein is a method of operating a single slope analog-to-digital converter (ADC), which includes receiving an input signal from a sensor or a ramp signal from a ramp generator according to a state of a switch and sampling the received input or ramp signal, comparing, by a comparator, whether the sampled ramp signal is present in a predetermined input range in a state in which the ramp generator maintains an off state and outputting the comparison result, generating, by a logic part, a flag signal indicating a high or low according to the comparison result by the comparator and providing the flag signal to the ramp generator, and sampling, by the ramp generator, a reference voltage of the comparator according to the flag signal based on an off or on state.
Claims
1. A method of operating a single slope analog-to-digital converter (ADC), the method comprising: receiving an input signal from a sensor or a ramp signal from a ramp generator according to a state of a switch and sampling the received input or ramp signal; determining, by a comparator, whether the sampled ramp signal is present in a predetermined input range in a state in which the ramp generator maintains an off state and outputting a determination result; generating, by a logic part, a flag signal indicating a high or low according to the determination result by the comparator and providing the flag signal to the ramp generator; and sampling, by the ramp generator, a reference voltage of the comparator according to the flag signal based on an off or on state.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of, by the logic part, the flag signal indicating the high or low according to the determination result by the comparator and the providing of the flag signal to the ramp generator includes generating a flag signal indicating a high and providing the flag signal to the ramp generator when the sampled ramp signal is present in the predetermined input range on the basis of the determination result by the comparator.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein sampling, by the ramp generator, a reference voltage of the comparator according to the flag signal based on an off or on state includes maintaining the ramp generator in the on state when the flag signal indicates the high.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein sampling, by the ramp generator, a reference voltage of the comparator according to the flag signal based on an off or on state includes maintaining the ramp generator in the off state when the flag signal indicates the low.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of, by the logic part, the flag signal indicating the high or low according to the determination result by the comparator and the providing of the flag signal to the ramp generator includes generating a flag signal indicating a low and providing the flag signal to the ramp generator when the sampled ramp signal is present outside the predetermined input range on the basis of the determination result by the comparator.
6. A single slope analog-to-digital converter (ADC) comprising: a switch configured to provide a path for receiving an input signal from a sensor and a path for receiving a ramp signal from a ramp generator; a comparator configured to receive a sampled input signal or a sampled ramp signal according to a state of the switch, determine whether the sampled input signal is present in a predetermined input range in a state in which the ramp generator maintains an off state, and output a determination result; a logic part configured to generate a flag signal indicating a high or low according to the determination result by the comparator; and a ramp generator which maintains an off or on state according to the flag signal received from the logic part.
7. The single slope ADC of claim 6, wherein the logic part generates a flag signal indicating a high and provides the flag signal to the ramp generator when the sampled ramp signal is present in the predetermined input range on the basis of the determination result by the comparator.
8. The single slope ADC of claim 7, wherein the ramp generator maintains the on state when the flag signal indicates the high.
9. The single slope ADC of claim 6, wherein the logic part generates a flag signal indicating a low and provides the flag signal to the ramp generator when the sampled ramp signal is present outside the predetermined input range on the basis of the determination result by the comparator.
10. The single slope ADC of claim 9, wherein the ramp generator maintains the off state when the flag signal indicates the low.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent to those skilled in the art by describing exemplary embodiments thereof in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
(7) The above and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and accordingly, the technical spirit of the present disclosure can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. Also, in the following description of the present disclosure, when a detailed description of the known related art is determined to obscure the gist of the present disclosure, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawing, the same reference numeral refers to the same or similar component.
(8) The present disclosure was supported by Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) (2022RIS-005).
(9)
(10) Referring to
(11) By switching to an on or off state of the sensor input switch 10_1, an input signal V.sub.SIG is received.
(12) By switching to an on or off state of the reference voltage input switch 10_2 (.sub.SW_REF), a reference voltage signal V.sub.REF is received.
(13) At a positive (+) input terminal of the comparator 20, when the reference voltage input switch is switched to an on state to receive the reference voltage, the reference voltage signal is sampled at a positive (+) polarity of an AC coupling capacitor.
(14) In this case, an auto zero switch .sub.AZ of the comparator 20 is maintained in an on state, and finally, the reference voltage V.sub.REF of the signal is sampled at the positive (+) polarity of the AC coupling capacitor, and a reference voltage V.sub.CM of the comparator is sampled at a negative () polarity of the AC coupling capacitor.
(15) Then, when the auto zero switch .sub.AZ of the comparator 20 is turned off and a state of the sensor input switch 10_1 is switched to the on state to receive the input signal V.sub.SIG, the input signal V.sub.SIG is sampled at the positive (+) polarity of the AC coupling capacitor, and a voltage at the negative () polarity of the AC coupling capacitor becomes a floating state, and thus a voltage VIN+ drops as much as the amount of change in the input signal. That is, the voltage at the negative () polarity of the AC coupling capacitor drops as much as the amount of change in the input signal (V.sub.REF-V.sub.SIG) from the reference voltage V.sub.CM of the comparator.
(16) In addition, in the case of the positive input terminal of the comparator 20, a ramp generator initial voltage V.sub.RAMP_CM is sampled at a positive (+) terminal of the AC coupling capacitor, the reference voltage V.sub.CM of the comparator is sampled at a negative () terminal of the AC coupling capacitor, and the counter 40 operates until the comparator 20 simultaneously operates with the ramp generator 30.
(17) The ramp generator 30 may provide a ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_OUT that varies according to time during a specific time period. Here, the ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_OUT corresponds to a reference voltage for comparison with the input signal V.sub.SIG during an analog-to-digital conversion process.
(18) The counter 40 operates until the comparator 20 simultaneously operates with the ramp generator 30, and when operation of the comparator 20 proceeds, the comparator 20 compares the sampled input signal and the ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_OUT generated by the ramp generator 30 to generate a flag signal indicating a low or high according to a comparison result.
(19) As described above, in this case, when the sampled input signal is present in an input range of the comparator 20, the counter 40 operates to output a digital code until the comparator 20 latches.
(20) For example, assuming 10-bit code conversion, when the sampled input signal is present in the input range of comparator 20, the counter 40 may operate to output 2.sup.10 digital codes at most until the comparator 20 latches. In this case, the input range of comparator 20 means a biased input range allowing all transistors in the comparator 20 to operate normally.
(21) As described above, in the case of the conventional single slope ADC, a dynamic range of the input signal is limited according to the input range of the comparator 20.
(22) Then, when the auto zero switch .sub.AZ of the comparator 20 is turned off and a state of the sensor input switch 10_1 is switched to the on-state to receive the input signal V.sub.SIG, the input signal V.sub.SIG is sampled at the positive (+) polarity of the AC coupling capacitor, and a voltage at the negative () polarity of the AC coupling capacitor becomes a floating state, and thus a voltage drops as much as the amount of change in the input signal. That is, the voltage at the negative () polarity of the AC coupling capacitor drops as much as the amount of change in the input signal (V.sub.REF-V.sub.SIG) from the reference voltage V.sub.CM of the comparator.
(23) In addition, in the case of the positive input terminal of the comparator 20, a ramp generator initial voltage V.sub.RAMP_CM is sampled at a positive (+) terminal of the AC coupling capacitor, the reference voltage V.sub.CM of the comparator is sampled at a negative () terminal of the AC coupling capacitor, and the counter 40 operates until the comparator 20 simultaneously operates with the ramp generator 30.
(24)
(25) Referring to
(26) When the reference voltage input switch 10_2 (SW_REF) switches to an on state to receive the reference voltage, the reference voltage signal is sampled at a positive (+) polarity of an AC coupling capacitor.
(27) In this case, an auto zero switch .sub.AZ of the comparator 20 is maintained in an on state, and finally, the reference voltage V.sub.REF of the signal is sampled at the positive (+) polarity of the AC coupling capacitor, and a reference voltage V.sub.CM of the comparator is sampled at a negative () polarity of the AC coupling capacitor.
(28) In the case of conventional single slope analog-to-digital conversion, when the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present in the input range of the comparator 20, the counter 40 operates to output digital codes until the comparator 20 latches as shown in
(29) v On the other hand, in the case of conventional single slope analog-to-digital conversion, when the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present outside the input range of the comparator 20, the counter 40 operates to output 2.sup.10 digital codes at most as shown in
(30) For example, assuming 10-bit code conversion, when the sampled input signal is present in the input range of comparator 20, the counter 40 may operate to output 2.sup.10 digital codes at most until the comparator 20 latches. In this case, the input range of comparator 20 is an input range allowing all the transistors in the comparator to operate.
(31) As another example, assuming 10-bit code conversion, when the sampled input signal is present outside the input range of comparator 20, 2.sup.10 digital codes at most are output.
(32) That is, in the case of conventional single slope analog-to-digital conversion, when the sampled input signal is present in the input range of comparator 20, an analog code may be converted into a digital code as shown in the reference number 220 of
(33)
(34) Referring to
(35) The switch 110 provides a path for receiving an input signal V.sub.SIG from a sensor and a path for receiving a ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_SF_OUT from the ramp generator 140. The ramp generator 140 includes a P-type metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) source follower capable of adjusting a DC voltage range of a signal.
(36) When the switch 110 maintains an off state, the switch 110 provides a path for receiving the input signal V.sub.SIG from the sensor, and when the switch 110 maintains an on state, the switch 110 provides a path for receiving the ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_SF_OUT from the ramp generator 140.
(37) In one example, when a state of the switch 110 maintains an off state and the switch 110 provides a path for receiving the input signal V.sub.SIG from the sensor, a state of a sensor input switch 160 (.sub.SW_IN) is switched to an on state and thus the input signal V.sub.SIG is received from the sensor, and the received input signal V.sub.SIG is sampled and provided to the comparator 120.
(38) In another example, when a state of the switch 110 maintains an on state and the switch 110 provides a path for receiving the ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_SF_OUT from the ramp generator 140, the ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_SF_OUT received from the ramp generator 140 is provided to the comparator 120.
(39) The comparator 120 receives the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG or the ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_SF_OUT according to the state of the switch 110 and compares whether the sampled input signal is present in a predetermined input range in a state in which the ramp generator 140 maintains the off state to output the comparison result.
(40) Then, the comparator 120 compares whether the sampled input signal is present in the predetermined input range in the state in which the ramp generator 140 maintains the off state and provides the comparison result to the logic part 130. Accordingly, the logic part 130 may generate a flag signal indicating a high or low according to a comparison result by the comparator 120.
(41) The logic part 130 may generate the flag signal indicating a high or low according to the comparison result by the comparator 120.
(42) More specifically, the logic part 130 may generate the flag signal indicating a high or low according to an output voltage V.sub.COMP of the comparator 120.
(43) In one example, the logic part 130 may generate a flag signal indicating a high based on the output voltage V.sub.COMP of the comparator 120 when the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present in a predetermined input range.
(44) As in the above example, when the flag signal indicating the high is generated by the logic part 130, the ramp generator 140 may maintain an on state to generate a ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON indicating an on state.
(45) As described above, when the ramp generator 140 generates the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON indicating the on state, the input signal V.sub.SIG is received from the sensor and is AC-coupled based on the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON.
(46) Accordingly, an output voltage V.sub.SENSOR_OUT of the sensor becomes the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON, and a ramp signal of the ramp generator 140 becomes the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON indicating the on state.
(47) In another example, the logic part 130 may generate a flag signal indicating a low based on the output voltage V.sub.COMP of the comparator 120 when the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present outside the predetermined input range.
(48) As in the above example, when the flag signal indicating the low is generated by the logic part 130, the ramp generator 140 may maintain an off state to generate a ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF indicating an off state.
(49) As described above, when the ramp generator 140 generates the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF indicating the off state, the input signal V.sub.SIG is received from the sensor and is AC-coupled based on the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF.
(50) Accordingly, the output voltage V.sub.SENSOR_OUT of the sensor becomes the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF, and a ramp signal of the ramp generator 140 becomes the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF indicating the off state.
(51) The ramp generator 140 may provide a ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_SF_OUT. More specifically, the ramp generator 140 may provide the ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_SF_OUT that varies according to time during a specific time period. Here, the ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_SF_OUT corresponds to a reference voltage for comparison with the input signal V.sub.SIG during an analog-to-digital conversion process.
(52) For example, the ramp generator 140 may generate a ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_SF_OUT that decreases as much as a specific voltage interval (e.g., an interval of one mV) every specific period (e.g., a clock unit) based on a specific voltage (e.g., 2.2 V) during a predetermined specific time period and may provide the ramp signal V.sub.RAMP_SF_OUT forming a ramp over time.
(53) When the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present in the predetermined input range and the sensor input switch 160 (.sub.SW_IN) is switched to an on state, the input signal V.sub.SIG drops according to the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON at a switch .sub.RAMP_RST_OFF which switches the output voltage of the ramp generator 140 to an off state. That is, when the sensor input switch 160 (.sub.SW_IN) is switched to the on state, the input signal V.sub.SIG drops as much as the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPONthe input signal V.sub.SIG
(54) When the sampled input signal V.sub.SIGt is present outside the predetermined input range and the sensor input switch 160 (.sub.SW_IN) is switched to the on state, the input signal V.sub.SIG drops according to the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF at the switch .sub.RAMP_RST_OFF which switches the output voltage of the ramp generator 140 to an off state. That is, when the sensor input switch 160 (.sub.SW_IN) is switched to the on state, the input signal V.sub.SIG drops as much as the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFFthe input signal V.sub.SIG.
(55) The counter 150 counts signals of different magnitudes according to whether the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present in the predetermined input range.
(56) In one example, when the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present in the predetermined input range, the counter 150 counts as many signals as the difference between the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON with all current cells of the ramp generator 140 turned on and the input signal V.sub.SIG received from the sensor.
(57) The reason for this is that, when the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present in the predetermined input range, the state of the ramp generator 140 maintains the on state and the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON indicating the on state is output, and the auto zero switch .sub.AZ is turned on at the corresponding point of time. Therefore, an input at the negative () terminal of the comparator 120 varies as much as the difference between the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON and the input signal V.sub.SIG.
(58) In another example, when the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present outside the predetermined input range, the counter 150 counts as many signals as a difference between the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF with the lowest voltage generated by the ramp generator 140 and the input signal V.sub.SIG received from the sensor.
(59) The reason for this is that, when the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present outside the predetermined input range, the state of the ramp generator 140 maintains the off state and the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF indicating the off state is output, and the auto zero switch .sub.AZ is turned on at the corresponding point of time. Therefore, an input at the negative () terminal of the comparator 120 varies as much as the difference between the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF and the input signal V.sub.SIG.
(60)
(61) As shown in
(62) As shown in
(63) As shown in
(64) As shown in
(65) As shown in
(66) The logic part 130 may generate the flag signal indicating a high or low according to the output voltage V.sub.COMP of the comparator 120.
(67) In one example, as shown in
(68) As in the above example, when the flag signal indicating the high is generated by the logic part 130, the ramp generator 140 may maintain the on state to generate the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON indicating the on state.
(69) As described above, when the ramp generator 140 generates the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON indicating the on state, the input signal V.sub.SIG is received from the sensor and is AC-coupled based on the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON.
(70) Accordingly, an output voltage V.sub.SENSOR_OUT of the sensor becomes the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON, and a ramp signal of the ramp generator 140 becomes the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON indicating the on state.
(71) In another example, as shown in
(72) As in the above example, when the flag signal indicating the low is generated by the logic part 130, the ramp generator 140 may maintain the off state to generate the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF indicating the off state.
(73) As described above, when the ramp generator 140 generates the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF indicating the off state, the input signal V.sub.SIG is received from the sensor and is AC-coupled based on the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF.
(74) Accordingly, the output voltage V.sub.SENSOR_OUT of the sensor becomes the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF, and a ramp signal of the ramp generator 140 becomes the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF indicating the off state.
(75) As shown in
(76) As shown in
(77) In addition, the counter 150 counts signals of different magnitudes according to whether the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present in the predetermined input range.
(78) In one example, as shown in
(79) The reason for this is that, when the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present in the predetermined input range, the state of the ramp generator 140 maintains the on state and the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON indicating the on state is output, and the state of the auto zero switch .sub.AZ is turned on at the corresponding point of time. Therefore, an input at the negative () terminal of the comparator 120 varies as much as the difference between the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPON and the input signal V.sub.SIG.
(80) In another example, as shown in
(81) The reason for this is that, when the sampled input signal V.sub.SIG is present outside the predetermined input range, the state of the ramp generator 140 maintains the off state and the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF indicating the off state is output, and the state of the auto zero switch .sub.AZ is switched to the on state at the corresponding point of time. Therefore, an input at the negative () terminal of the comparator 120 varies as much as the difference between the ramp signal V.sub.RAMPOFF and the input signal V.sub.SIG.
(82) In accordance with the present disclosure as described above, a single slope ADC and an operating method thereof have advantages in that a range of an input signal can be twice as large and can be applied to actual products with simplified logic.
(83) In addition, in accordance with the present disclosure, the single slope ADC and the operating method thereof have advantage capable of being easily applied to a structure used in a commercial product without any significant changes and being used as a basic operation type structure used in the existing commercial product, as necessary.
(84) Although the present disclosure is described with reference to few exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and variations can be made by those skilled in the art from the above description. Accordingly, the spirit of the present disclosure should be determined by only the appended claims, and all equivalents or equivalent variations thereof will fall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.