U.S. patent application number 14/183159 was filed with the patent office on 2015-08-20 for protection for analog to digital converters.
This patent application is currently assigned to INTEGRATED DEVICVE TECHNOLOGY, INC.. The applicant listed for this patent is Stephane BOUVIER, Sylvain Dumont, Luis Rolindez. Invention is credited to Stephane BOUVIER, Sylvain Dumont, Luis Rolindez.
Application Number | 20150236709 14/183159 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53799053 |
Filed Date | 2015-08-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150236709 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
BOUVIER; Stephane ; et
al. |
August 20, 2015 |
PROTECTION FOR ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTERS
Abstract
Systems and methods for protecting an analog-to-digital
converter (ADC) are provided. The provided systems and methods
utilize comparators in a circuit of a stage of the ADC to compare a
reference signal to an input signal and output one or more maximum
signals when the input signal exceeds the reference signal. A
decoder in the stage of the ADC may output a reset signal to
another circuit in the stage of the ADC when a predetermined number
of the maximum signals are received. When the other circuit
receives the reset signal, the ADC may enter a protection mode to
protect the ADC by ensuring that the excessive input signal is not
propagated to subsequent stages.
Inventors: |
BOUVIER; Stephane; (Cairon,
FR) ; Dumont; Sylvain; (Langrune sur Mer, FR)
; Rolindez; Luis; (Caen, FR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
BOUVIER; Stephane
Dumont; Sylvain
Rolindez; Luis |
Cairon
Langrune sur Mer
Caen |
|
FR
FR
FR |
|
|
Assignee: |
INTEGRATED DEVICVE TECHNOLOGY,
INC.
San Jose
CA
|
Family ID: |
53799053 |
Appl. No.: |
14/183159 |
Filed: |
February 18, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
341/120 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H03M 1/365 20130101;
H03M 1/167 20130101; H03M 1/181 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H03M 1/10 20060101
H03M001/10; H03M 1/36 20060101 H03M001/36; H03M 1/46 20060101
H03M001/46; H03M 1/12 20060101 H03M001/12 |
Claims
1. A pipeline analog-to-digital converter, comprising: at least one
stage receiving an input voltage and producing outputs of a residue
voltage and a digital signal, the at least one stage comprising: a
first circuit receiving the input voltage and producing an output
of the digital signal and one or more maximum signal when the input
voltage exceeds a reference voltage; a decoder coupled to the first
circuit, the decoder configured to output a reset signal when a
predetermined number of maximum signals are received; and a second
circuit coupled to the decoder and the first circuit, the second
circuit receiving the input voltage, the digital signal, and the
reset signal when output, and configured to output the residue
voltage, wherein the second circuit is configured to not output the
residue voltage when the reset signal is output and received.
2. The pipeline analog-to-digital converter of claim 1, wherein the
first circuit comprises a flash analog-to-digital converter
circuit.
3. The pipeline analog-to-digital converter of claim 2, wherein the
flash analog-to-digital converter circuit comprises: a first sample
and hold circuit configured to receive the input voltage; and an
analog-to-digital converter circuit configured to receive an output
from the first sample and hold circuit and produce the digital
signal.
4. The pipeline analog-to-digital converter of claim 3, wherein the
analog-to-digital converter circuit comprises a plurality of
comparators configured to compare inputs of a reference voltage and
the input voltage, the comparators producing the one or more
maximum signals when the input voltage exceeds the reference
voltage.
5. The pipeline analog-to-digital converter of claim 4, wherein the
plurality of comparators comprises a first maximum comparator
configured to compare the input voltage to a positive component of
the reference voltage and a second maximum comparator configured to
compare the input voltage to a negative component of the reference
voltage.
6. The pipeline analog-to-digital converter of claim 5, wherein the
first maximum comparator is configured to produce a first maximum
signal when the input voltage exceeds the positive component of the
reference voltage and the second maximum comparator is configured
to produce a second maximum signal when the input voltage exceeds
the negative component of the reference voltage.
7. The pipeline analog-to-digital converter of claim 6, wherein the
decoder is configured to output the reset signal when first maximum
signal and the second maximum signal are received.
8. The pipeline analog-to-digital converter of claim 1, wherein the
second circuit comprises a multiplying digital-to-analog converter
circuit.
9. The pipeline analog-to-digital converter of claim 8, wherein the
multiplying digital-to-analog converter circuit comprises: a second
sample and hold circuit configured to receive the input voltage; a
digital-to-analog converter circuit configured to receive the
digital signal and output an analog input signal; a difference
circuit configured to determine a difference between the input
voltage from the second sample and hold circuit and the analog
input signal to output a difference signal; and an amplifier
coupled to the difference circuit and the decoder circuit, the
amplifier configured to amplify the difference signal by a
predetermined gain to produce the residue voltage, wherein the
predetermined gain is zero when the reset signal is received.
10. The pipeline analog-to-digital converter of claim 1, wherein
the decoder is configured to output the reset signal when two
maximum signals are received.
11. A method for protecting an analog-to-digital converter (ADC),
comprising: comparing, by one or more comparators of the ADC, an
input voltage to a reference voltage; outputting, by the one or
more comparators, at least one maximum signal when the input
voltage exceeds the reference voltage; outputting, by a decoder
coupled to the one or more comparators, a reset signal when a
predetermined number of maximum signals are received; and entering,
by the ADC, a protection mode when the reset signal is received,
wherein the ADC does not output a signal in the protection
mode.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein comparing the input voltage to
the reference voltage comprises comparing the input voltage to a
positive component of the reference voltage and comparing the input
voltage to a negative component of the reference voltage.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein outputting the at least one
maximum signal comprises outputting a first maximum signal when the
input voltage exceeds the positive component of the reference
voltage and outputting a second maximum signal when the input
voltage exceeds the negative component of the reference
voltage.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein outputting the reset signal
when at least one maximum signal is received comprises outputting
the reset signal when the first maximum signal and the second
maximum signal are received.
15. The method of claim 11, wherein entering a protection mode
comprises entering, by a multiplying digital-to-analog converter
circuit of the ADC, a reset mode when the reset signal is
received.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein comparing the input voltage to
the reference voltage comprises comparing the input voltage to the
reference voltage by one or more comparators of a flash
analog-to-digital converter circuit of the ADC.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein entering a protection mode
comprises setting a gain of an amplifier of the multiplying
digital-to-analog converter circuit of the ADC to zero when the
reset signal is received.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising not producing a
residue voltage from the amplifier when the gain is set to
zero.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising not producing the
residue voltage from a first stage of the ADC.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] Embodiments disclosed herein are related to protecting an
analog-to-digital converter from excessive signals.
[0003] 2. Related Art
[0004] Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are important in modern
electronics, as they may be used to convert a continuous physical
quantity represented by an analog signal to a digital
representation that may approximate the amplitude of the analog
signal. ADCs may typically convert the analog signal by
periodically sampling and quantizing the analog signal to produce a
sequence of digital values that correspond to a discrete-time and
discrete-amplitude digital signal. One type of ADC is a pipeline or
pipelined ADC, which uses multiple steps of conversion in
successive stages to produce a digital signal.
[0005] Most ADCs may be specified to work within a particular input
signal range, referred to as the full scale range, and a system
having an ADC may include automatic gain control (AGC) to control
the input signal to be within this range. Since the sensitivity of
the ADC may be closely related to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR),
the AGC may be typically set so that the input signal is very close
to the full scale range of the ADC to improve the SNR. However,
when the input signal increases suddenly, such as may occur when a
system including the ADC is first powered on, the AGC is typically
not fast enough to control the input signal such that the ADC
receives an input signal that exceeds the full scale range. For
applications where the ADC is used to convert an input voltage,
receiving an input signal that is an input voltage that exceeds the
full scale range can cause problems.
[0006] For example, when the input signal, which may be an input
voltage, exceeds the full scale range, the internal voltages of the
ADC may exceed the limits permitted by the manufacturing process
and may cause transistors of the ADC to experience a hot carrier
effect, which may damage and eventually destroy the transistors of
the ADC. For most modern submicron manufacturing processes, this is
particularly problematic because robustness and protection is
sacrificed for increased speed. Moreover, for pipeline or pipelined
ADCs, the high input voltage may be propagated to subsequent
stages, and can damage more than just the first or initial stage.
As another example, when an ADC recovers from a saturation state,
calibration information used to calibrate the ADC during the
saturation state is skewed such that the ADC is improperly
calibrated after the recovery as long as the skewed calibration
information determined during the saturation state are propagated.
For pipeline or pipelined ADCs, errors due to skewed calibration
information may be further propagated to other stages of the ADC,
resulting in further errors.
[0007] Conventional ADCs may use an external input clamping buffer
to limit or "clamp" the input signal to be close to the maximum
full scale signal. However, such external clamping buffers have
some drawbacks. For example, extra cost and die space is required
to add the extra integrated circuit required for the external
clamping buffer. The external clamping buffer may also add in
additional noise or additional distortion to the input signal,
resulting in noise or distortion propagating through the ADC. In
addition, because the full scale signal of the ADC will vary based
on such factors as temperature and component matching, the external
clamping buffer may have to adjust the clamping level, which may
lead to a reduced level of the input signal compared to the full
scale signal and, consequently, a reduced SNR.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an ADC, according to some
embodiments.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a conventional stage of a
pipeline ADC.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating a plot of a residue voltage
V.sub.RES produced based on a input voltage V.sub.IN for a
conventional stage of a pipeline ADC.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a stage of an ADC,
according to some embodiments.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an ADC circuit of a flash
ADC, consistent with some embodiments.
[0013] FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a plot of a residue voltage
V.sub.RES produced based on input voltage V.sub.IN for the stage of
an ADC shown in FIG. 4 having the ADC circuit shown in FIG. 5.
[0014] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an ADC circuit of a flash
ADC, consistent with some embodiments.
[0015] FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating a plot of a residue voltage
V.sub.RES produced based on input voltage V.sub.IN for the stage of
an ADC shown in FIG. 4 having the ADC circuit shown in FIG. 7.
[0016] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process for protecting
an ADC from excessive voltage, consistent with some
embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] In the following description specific details are set forth
describing certain embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to
one skilled in the art that the disclosed embodiments may be
practiced without some or all of these specific details. The
specific embodiments presented are meant to be illustrative, but
not limiting. One skilled in the art may realize other material
that, although not specifically described herein, is within the
scope and spirit of this disclosure.
[0018] There is a need for an ADC having improved protection from
input signals exceeding a full scale signal level that provides
improved SNR over the conventional external clamping buffer.
[0019] Consistent with some embodiments, there is provided a method
for protecting an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The method
includes steps of comparing an input voltage to a reference
voltage, outputting at least one maximum signal when the input
voltage exceeds the reference voltage, outputting a reset signal
when a predetermined number of maximum signals are received, and
entering a protection mode when the reset signal is received,
wherein the ADC does not output a signal in the protection
mode.
[0020] Consistent with some embodiments, there is also provided a
pipeline analog-to-digital converter. The pipeline
analog-to-digital converter includes at least one stage receiving
an input voltage and producing outputs of a residue voltage and a
digital signal. The at least one stage includes a first circuit
receiving the input voltage and producing an output of the digital
signal and one or more maximum signal when the input voltage
exceeds a reference voltage, a decoder coupled to the first
circuit, the decoder configured to output a reset signal when a
predetermined number of maximum signals are received, and a second
circuit coupled to the decoder and the first circuit, the second
circuit receiving the input voltage, the digital signal, and the
reset signal when output, and configured to output the residue
voltage, wherein the second circuit is configured to not output the
residue voltage when the reset signal is output and received.
[0021] Embodiments consistent with this disclosure may provide
improved protection for ADCs including pipeline ADCs. In
particular, embodiments consistent with this disclosure may provide
improved protection for ADCs by determining when an signal
exceeding a full scale signal level is being received at a first
stage of the ADC, and not propagating the excessive signal as well
as information corresponding to the excessive signal. Moreover,
embodiments consistent with this disclosure may provide protection
while continuing to allow ADC to operate at or near a full scale
voltage level, thereby providing improved SNR.
[0022] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an ADC 100 according to
some embodiments. ADC 100 may include a first stage 102, an nth
stage 104, and an ith stage 106, wherein nth stage 104 may be any
intermediate stage and ith stage 106 may be the final stage of ADC
100. In some embodiments, ADC 100 may be a pipeline ADC. As shown
in FIG. 1, first stage 102 may receive an input voltage V.sub.IN
and output a digital signal N.sub.1 and an output voltage
V.sub.OUT1 which may be a first residue voltage V.sub.RES1. In some
embodiments, digital signal N.sub.1 may have a predetermined amount
of bits, such as m bits. Intermediate nth stage 104 may receive an
input voltage that is a residue voltage from a previous stage, such
as V.sub.RESn-1 and output a digital signal N.sub.n and an output
voltage V.sub.OUTn which may be an nth residue voltage V.sub.RESn.
Final ith stage 106 may receive an input voltage that is a residue
voltage from a previous stage, such as V.sub.RESn and output a
digital signal N.sub.i, which is the final digital signal produced
by ADC 100.
[0023] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a conventional stage 200 of
ADC 100. Stage 200 may correspond to first stage 102 or
intermediate nth stage 104. Stage 200 may also correspond to final
ith stage 106 but would not include an output voltage. As shown in
FIG. 2, stage 200 may include a flash ADC 202 and a multiplying
digital-to-analog converter (MDAC) 204. Flash ADC 202 may measure
input voltage V.sub.IN to produce an output digital signal NBITS
OUT and to configure MDAC 204 to generate a residue voltage
V.sub.RES that will be propagated to a subsequent stage. Flash ADC
202 may include a sample and hold circuit 206 capable of sampling
and holding input voltage V.sub.IN and then periodically passing
input voltage V.sub.IN to an ADC circuit 208. ADC circuit 208 may
be capable of converting input voltage V.sub.IN into output digital
signal NBITS OUT.
[0024] MDAC 204 may include a DAC circuit 210 capable of converting
output digital signal NBITS OUT to an analog signal which is passed
to difference circuit 212. MDAC 204 may also include a sample and
hold circuit 214 capable of sampling and holding input voltage
V.sub.IN and periodically passing input voltage V.sub.IN to
difference circuit 212. Difference circuit 212 may be capable of
determining a difference between voltage input V.sub.IN to the
analog signal output by DAC circuit 210. The determined difference
may then be input into an amplifier 216 which may amplify the
difference by a predetermined gain to produce an output voltage
V.sub.OUT corresponding to residue voltage V.sub.RES.
[0025] FIG. 3 is a graph 300 illustrating a plot of residue voltage
V.sub.RES produced based on input voltage V.sub.IN for stage 200 of
ADC 100. For the example graph shown in FIG. 3, ADC 100 may be a
4-bit ADC. As shown in FIG. 3, for an input range of input voltage
V.sub.IN that is within the full scale (FS) voltage range of ADC
100 including stage 200, the produced residue voltage V.sub.RES is
within a maximum output. However, when input voltage V.sub.IN
exceeds the full scale voltage range, the produced residue voltage
V.sub.RES may exceed a maximum output and produce output stresses
302 and 304, which may be propagated to subsequent stages and cause
transistors of the circuits in the subsequent stages to experience
a hot carrier effect, which may damage and eventually destroy the
transistors of the circuits of those stages.
[0026] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a stage 400 of ADC 100,
according to some embodiment. In some embodiments, stage 400 may
correspond to first stage 102, but in other embodiments, stage 400
may correspond to intermediate nth stage 104 or final ith stage
106. As shown in FIG. 4, stage 400 may include a flash ADC 402 and
a multiplying digital-to-analog converter (MDAC) 404. Flash ADC 402
may measure input voltage V.sub.IN to produce an output digital
signal NBITS OUT and to configure MDAC 404 to generate a residue
voltage V.sub.RES that will be propagated to a subsequent stage.
Flash ADC 402 may include a sample and hold circuit 406 capable of
sampling and holding input voltage V.sub.IN and then periodically
passing input voltage V.sub.IN to an ADC circuit 408. ADC circuit
208 may be capable of converting input voltage V.sub.IN into output
digital signal NBITS OUT that is passed to DAC circuit 410 of MDAC
404 and decoder 411. In some embodiments, decoder 411 may be
capable of receiving one or more maximum signals from flash ADC 402
and, when a predetermined number of maximum signals are received
from flash ADC 402, produce a reset signal RESET that is sent to
MDAC 404. In some embodiments, when reset signal RESET is sent to
MDAC 404, flash ADC may also produce a protection but that may be
indicative that ADC is in a protection mode that may be used to
inform a user that ADC is in a protection mode. The one or more
maximum signals may be digital signals and may be 1-bits signals.
The one or more maximum signals may be generated by Flash ADC 402
when input voltage V.sub.IN is greater than a predetermined
reference voltage, such as a full scale voltage for ADC 100.
[0027] MDAC 404 may include a DAC circuit 410 capable of converting
output digital signal NBITS OUT to an analog signal which is passed
to difference circuit 412. MDAC 404 may also include a sample and
hold circuit 414 capable of sampling and holding input voltage
V.sub.IN and periodically passing input voltage V.sub.IN to
difference circuit 412. Difference circuit 412 may be capable of
determining a difference between voltage input V.sub.IN and the
analog signal output by DAC circuit 410. The determined difference
may then be input into an amplifier 416 which may amplify the
difference by a predetermined gain to produce an output voltage
V.sub.OUT corresponding to residue voltage V.sub.RES.
[0028] Amplifier 416 may also be capable of receiving reset signal
RESET from decoder 411 when produced by decoder 411 in response to
decoder 411 receiving a predetermined number of maximum signals. In
some embodiments, when amplifier 416 receives reset signal RESET
may amplifier will not produce output voltage V.sub.OUT which may
correspond to residue voltage V.sub.RES. Consequently, when input
voltage V.sub.IN exceeds a full scale voltage range, flash ADC 402
may generate the predetermined amount of maximum signals which,
when received by decoder 411, trigger decoder 411 to produce reset
signal RESET and send it to amplifier 416 which will not produce
residue voltage V.sub.RES and propagate a residue voltage V.sub.RES
that may exceed a full scale voltage range and potentially damage
circuits in subsequent stages. In some embodiments, reset signal
RESET may effectively place MDAC in a reset mode, that enables ADC
100 to be in a protection mode or clamping mode. In some
embodiments, reset signal RESET may trigger amplifier to amplify a
signal input from difference circuit 412 at a gain of zero such
that no residue voltage V.sub.RES is output from amplifier 416.
[0029] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating ADC circuit 408 of flash
ADC 402, consistent with some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 5, ADC
circuit 408 may include a series of n resistors 502-1-502-n
(referred to collectively as resistors 502) having a resistance R
or R/2 receiving a positive component of a reference voltage
+V.sub.REF and a negative component of a reference voltage
-V.sub.REF from a reference voltage generator (not shown). In some
embodiments, a first resistor 502-1 and a last resistor 502-n may
have a resistance of R/2. ADC circuit 408 also includes m
comparators 504-1-504-m (referred to collectively as comparators
504) capable of receiving a reference voltage, which may be
positive component of reference voltage +V.sub.REF and negative
component of reference voltage -V.sub.REF through one or more
resistors 502 and receiving input voltage V.sub.IN. In some
embodiments, ADC circuit 408 may have m comparators, wherein m is
the number of bits ADC circuit 408 produces based on the received
analog signal. In some embodiments, comparators 504 may be capable
of comparing the received input voltage V.sub.IN to the received
reference voltage and outputting a maximum signal when the received
input voltage V.sub.IN exceeds the received reference voltage.
Otherwise, comparators may output digital output signal NBITS OUT.
The maximum signal may then be transmitted to decoder 411 which,
when a predetermined number of maximum signals are received, will
produce reset signal RESET to place ADC 100 in a protection mode.
In some embodiments, ADC 100 may still output digital signal NBITS
OUT when ADC 100 is in a protection mode as well as one or more
bits protection bit indicative that ADC is in a protection mode
that may be used to inform a user that ADC is in a protection mode.
In some embodiments, first comparator 504-1 and last comparator
504-m may be configured to produce a maximum signal when the
received input voltage V.sub.IN exceeds a received reference
voltage. In such embodiments, decoder 411 may produce reset signal
RESET when a maximum signal is received from first comparator 504-1
and last comparator 504-m. Consequently, ADC 100 having stage 400
may improve the internal robustness of ADC 100. Further, by not
propagating excessive voltages, ADC 100 having stage 400 may be
capable of maintaining at or near full scale voltage range of
operation during and after an excessive voltage event. In addition,
ADC 100 may continue to be calibrated by background calibrations
during and after an excessive voltage event because the calibration
data will not be skewed by the propagation of the excessive
voltage.
[0030] FIG. 6 is a graph 600 illustrating a plot of residue voltage
V.sub.RES produced based on input voltage V.sub.IN for stage 400 of
ADC 100. For the example graph shown in FIG. 6, ADC 100 may be a 4
bit ADC. As shown in FIG. 6, for an input range of input voltage
V.sub.IN the produced residue voltage V.sub.RES is within a maximum
output. However, when input voltage V.sub.IN exceeds a full scale
voltage, ADC circuit 408 shown in FIG. 5 may produce one or more
maximum signals that will be sent to decoder 411 and, if enough
maximum signals are received by decoder 411, decoder 411 may
produce a reset signal RESET that will be sent to amplifier 416 of
DAC 404 to place DAC 404 in a reset mode corresponding to a
protection mode for ADC 100 such that a residue voltage V.sub.RES
is not produced or propagated from stage 400. As shown in FIG. 6,
ADC 100 enters a protection mode at the beginning and end of the
input range of input voltage V.sub.IN, such that no residue voltage
V.sub.RES is produced.
[0031] However, as also shown in FIG. 6, when ADC 100 enters a
protection mode, the input range of input voltage V.sub.IN is
effectively reduced from the full scale voltage. The input range of
input voltage V.sub.IN may be reduced by 20
log 2 Nbits - 1 2 Nbits . ##EQU00001##
For a 4-bit ADC, the full range of the input range will be 2.sup.4
(16), such that the full range includes 16 sawtooth patterns, which
may be considered to be subranges of the full range. The full range
is shown in FIG. 3, which includes 16 subranges. However, as shown
in FIG. 6, the input range has been reduced to having only 15
(2.sup.4-1) subranges due to the loss of half of a subrange at
either end. Consequently, the reduction of the input range for ADC
100 having flash ADC 408 may be 20
log 2 4 - 1 2 4 , ##EQU00002##
which is a reduction of about 0.56 dB from the full scale voltage
range. While such a reduction may be fine for most applications,
certain applications that require resolution may require the input
range of input voltage V.sub.IN to be as close to the full scale
voltage range as possible.
[0032] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating ADC circuit 700, consistent
with some embodiments. ADC circuit 700 may be used in ADC 100 as a
replacement for ADC circuit 408. As shown in FIG. 7, ADC circuit
700 may include a series of n resistors 702-1-702-n (referred to
collectively as resistors 702) having a resistance R or R/2
receiving a positive component of a reference voltage +V.sub.REF
and a negative component of a reference voltage -V.sub.RES. In some
embodiments, a first resistor 702-1 and a last resistor 702-n may
have a resistance of R/2. ADC circuit 700 also includes m
comparators 704-1-704-m (referred to collectively as comparators
704) capable of receiving a reference voltage, which may be
positive component of reference voltage +V.sub.REF and negative
component of reference voltage -V.sub.REF through one or more
resistors 702 and receiving input voltage V.sub.IN. ADC circuit 700
may be similar to ADC circuit 408 shown in FIG. 5 except that ADC
circuit 700 includes comparators 706 and 708 which respectively
receive the positive and negative components of the reference
voltage that have not been through resistors 702 as well as input
voltage V.sub.IN.
[0033] In some embodiments, comparators 706 and 708 may be capable
of comparing the received input voltage V.sub.IN to the received
reference voltage and outputting a maximum signal when the received
input voltage V.sub.IN exceeds the received reference voltage. The
maximum signal may then be transmitted to decoder 411 which, when
maximum signals are received from comparators 706 and 708 are
received, will produce reset signal RESET to place ADC 100 in a
protection mode. Since the extra two comparators 706 and 708 are
not receiving a reference voltage attenuated by a resistance, the
reference voltage may be set to the maximum permitted input and
full scale voltage range for ADC 100 and provide a better and
improved comparison.
[0034] FIG. 8 is a graph 800 illustrating a plot of residue voltage
V.sub.RES produced based on input voltage V.sub.IN for stage 400 of
ADC 100 having ADC circuit 808 in flash ADC 402. For the example
graph shown in FIG. 8, ADC 100 may be a 4 bit ADC. As shown in FIG.
8, for an input range of input voltage V.sub.IN the produced
residue voltage V.sub.RES is within a maximum output. However, when
input voltage V.sub.IN exceeds a full scale voltage, comparators
706 and 708 of ADC circuit 700 shown in FIG. 7 may produce maximum
signals that will be sent to decoder 411 and, when maximum signals
are received from comparator 706 and 708 by decoder 411, decoder
411 may produce a reset signal RESET that will be sent to amplifier
416 of DAC 404 to place DAC 404 in a reset mode corresponding to a
protection mode for ADC 100 such that a residue voltage V.sub.RES
is not produced or propagated from stage 400. As shown in FIG. 8,
ADC 100 enters a protection mode at the beginning and end of the
input range of input voltage V.sub.IN, such that no residue voltage
V.sub.RES is produced, and no voltages outside of the maximum
permitted input are produced outside of the full scale voltage
range. However, as also shown in FIG. 8, by adding extra
comparators 706 and 708 to ADC circuit 700 of flash ADC 402, the
reference voltage may be set to more closely match, if not exactly
match, the full scale voltage permitted by ADC 100 such that ADC
100 may still operate near or at the full scale voltage range.
[0035] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process 900 for
protecting an ADC from excessive voltage, consistent with some
embodiments. For the purpose of illustration, process 900 may be
described with reference to one or more of FIGS. 1 and 4-8. As
shown in FIG. 9, process 900 may include comparing an input voltage
to a reference voltage (902). In some embodiments step 902 may be
performed by one or more comparators 504 of ADC circuit 408 of ADC
100. In other embodiments, step 902 may be performed by comparators
704-708 of ADC circuit 700 of ADC 100. Moreover, in some
embodiments, the input voltage may correspond to V.sub.IN and the
reference voltage may correspond to the positive component of
reference voltage +V.sub.REF and the negative component of
reference voltage -V.sub.REF through one or more resistances R or
R/2 such as shown in FIG. 5, or unattenuated such as shown in FIG.
7.
[0036] When the input voltage exceeds the reference voltage (904) a
maximum signal may be output by comparators 504 or 704-708 (906).
When decoder 411 of stage 400 of ADC 100 receives a predetermined
number of maximum signals (908), decoder 411 may produce and output
a reset signal (910). In some embodiments, the predetermined number
of maximum signals may correspond to two maximum signals, and may
further correspond to maximum signals received from first
comparator 504-1 and last comparator 504-m in ADC circuit 408 or
from comparators 706 and 708 in ADC circuit 700. Moreover, the
reset signal may be reset signal RESET and may be provided to
amplifier 416 of MDAC 404. When MDAC 404 receives the reset signal,
ADC 100 may enter a protection mode (912). In some embodiments,
entering a protection mode may correspond to amplifier 416 entering
a reset mode such that amplifier 416 and, as a result, stage 400
does not produce or propagate a residue voltage V.sub.RES.
Moreover, when amplifier 416 enters a reset mode, a gain of
amplifier 416 may be set to zero. When ADC 100 enters a protection
mode, stage 400, which may correspond to first stage 102 of ADC,
will not propagate an input voltage that may exceed a full scale
voltage to prevent the excessive voltage from damaging intermediate
ith stage 104 and final nth stage 106. Consequently, ADC 100
performing process 900 may improve the internal robustness of ADC
100. Further, by not propagating excessive voltages, ADC 100
performing process 900 may be capable of maintaining at or near
full scale voltage range of operation during and after an excessive
voltage event. In addition, ADC 100 may continue to be calibrated
by background calibrations during and after an excessive voltage
event because the calibration data will not be skewed by the
propagation of the excessive voltage.
[0037] Embodiments consistent with this disclosure may provide
improved protection for ADCs including pipeline ADCs. In
particular, embodiments consistent with this disclosure may provide
improved protection for ADCs by determining when an signal
exceeding a full scale signal level is being received at a first
stage of the ADC, and not propagating the excessive signal as well
as information corresponding to the excessive signal. Moreover,
embodiments consistent with this disclosure may provide protection
while continuing to allow ADC to operate at or near a full scale
voltage level, thereby providing improved SNR. The examples
provided above are exemplary only and are not intended to be
limiting. One skilled in the art may readily devise other systems
consistent with the disclosed embodiments which are intended to be
within the scope of this disclosure. As such, the application is
limited only by the following claims.
* * * * *