Patent ID: 8044837
Filing Date: 2011-10-25
Classification: H03M

Abstract:
1. An analogue to digital converter (ADC) comprising; a signal sampling device; a signal comparison device; and a digital signal generator; wherein an analogue signal to be converted to a digital signal is input into the ADC, the signal sampling device produces samples of the analogue signal, the signal comparison device receives the analogue signal and the analogue signal samples, performs a comparison between them and outputs comparison signals, and the digital signal generator receives the comparison signals and uses them to generate a digital signal; wherein the signal comparison device compares the analogue signal with the samples of the analogue signal, by determining the difference between the analogue signal and a previously-taken sample of the analogue signal, and the digital signal generator receives a comparison signal comprising the difference between the analogue signal and the previously-taken sample of the analogue signal, and generates a digital signal if the comparison signal exceeds a pre-determined non-zero threshold value; and the signal sampling device to record a sample of the analogue signal in response to the comparison signal indicating the difference between the analogue signal and the previously taken sample of the analogue signal is equivalent to at least one least significant bit of a digital value generated by the analogue to digital converter.