Patent ID: 6466149
Filing Date: 2002-10-15
Classification: H03M

Abstract:
A segmented digital-to-analog converter for processing an N-Bit input digital signal comprising:a decoder for decoding an input N-bit digital signal into a most-significant-bits set and a least-significant-bits set; a first digital-to-analog segment converter including a first set of series resistors, a plurality of ballast resistors, a first set of switching networks for activating the appropriate switches corresponding to the value of the most-significant-bits set, and a first voltage output high and a first voltage output low; a second digital-to-analog segment converter including a second set of series resistors, a second set of switching networks for activating the appropriate switches corresponding to the value of the least-significant-bits set, a second input high reference voltage and a second input low reference voltage, and a second voltage output; and a high reference voltage source and a low reference voltage source; wherein the first high voltage output and the first low voltage output of the first digital-to-analog segment converter connect to the second input high reference voltage and the second input low reference voltage respectively of the second digital-to-analog segment converter, each ballast resistor of the plurality of ballast resistors of the first digital-to-analog segment converter having a resistance value equal to the sum of the resistance values of the second set of series resistors of the second digital-to-analog segment converter, the input N-Bit digital signal is a 10-bit digital signal, the first digital-to-analog segment converter is a 2-Bit digital-to-analog converter and the second digital-to-analog segment converter is an 8-Bit digital-to-analog converter.