Patent ID: 11967968
Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
Field: Basic communication processes (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 16:
17. A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) comprising:
DAC channels each having an output, and each DAC channel comprising:
a current control circuit having an input, the current control circuit configured to change an output current limit, for the DAC channel, from a higher current limit to a lower current limit responsive to the start limit signal and to change the output current limit from the lower current limit to the higher current limit responsive to the end limit signal; and
a current sensor circuit coupled to the output of the DAC channel and having an output, the current sensor circuit configured to provide an alert signal responsive to an output current of the DAC channel exceeding the higher current limit;

a summer circuit coupled to the outputs of the current sensor circuits and having an output, the summer circuit configured to provide a summation signal indicating the number of DAC channels exceeding the higher current limit; and
a controller coupled having an input coupled to the output of the summer circuit and having one or more outputs to the inputs of the current control circuits, the controller configured to provide the start limit signal responsive to the summation signal exceeding a threshold and to provide the end limit signal responsive to the summation signal falling below the threshold minus a hysteresis value.