Patent ID: 6297758
Filing Date: 2001-10-02
Classification: H03M

Abstract:
An electrooptical scanning analog-to-digital converter for converting a voltage signal from a source to its corresponding digital equivalent, the apparatus comprising:a laser providing a beam having a plurality of positions including an initial position and a plurality of deflected positions, wherein the voltage signal forms a deflection input to the laser, wherein in response to a first voltage of the voltage signal the laser provides the beam at the initial position, and where in response to each of a plurality of other voltages of the voltage signal the laser provides the beam at corresponding ones of the plurality of deflected positions;a phototarget array positioned in a path of the beam and having a plurality of phototargets, the plurality of phototargets including a first phototarget positioned in the path of the beam at the initial position and mapped to the first voltage of the voltage signal, the plurality of phototargets also including incrementally spaced phototargets each positioned in the path of the beam at ones of the plurality of deflected positions and mapped to the corresponding ones of the plurality of other voltages of the voltage signal, wherein at least one of the plurality of phototargets currently in the path of the beam provides an output indicative of a current voltage of the voltage signal;a priority encoder operably coupled to an output of the phototarget array to convert the output to a binary coded output.