Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Apparatus and method for current measurement
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Application No.: US16285046Application Date: 2019-02-25
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Publication No.: US11150280B2Publication Date: 2021-10-19
- Inventor: Junhua Shen
- Applicant: Analog Devices, Inc.
- Applicant Address: US MA Norwood
- Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
- Current Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
- Current Assignee Address: US MA Norwood
- Agency: Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, P.A.
- Main IPC: G01R19/00
- IPC: G01R19/00 ; G01R19/25 ; H03K5/24 ; G01R31/50

Abstract:
A current measurement circuit may use a probabilistic technique to determine a current from a circuit block. In one embodiment, the circuit includes a comparator circuit, a first current sensing element (such as a first resistor), and a control circuit. The first current sensing element is coupled to the comparator circuit to establish a first comparator input signal representative of the current at an input of the comparator circuit. The control circuit is coupled to the comparator circuit to obtain a first plurality of comparator output decisions corresponding to the first current sensing element for a specified count, determine a first proportion of comparator output decisions meeting a specified criterion, and determine a voltage value of the first comparator input signal from the first proportion. The control circuit is configured to determine a current value using the voltage value of the first comparator input signal and an impedance value of the first current sensing element. The current measurement circuit is relatively low-cost and easy to implement, without requiring a precision reference voltage, current, and/or high-cost analog-to-digital converters (ADCs).
Public/Granted literature
- US20200271701A1 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CURRENT MEASUREMENT Public/Granted day:2020-08-27
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