Abstract:
An apparatus is described comprising a noise source coupled to an input of a gain stage. The apparatus also includes a noise shaping stage that forms a shaped noise signal by reducing 1/f noise introduced by the gain stage. The noise shaping stage has an input coupled to an output of the gain stage. The apparatus also has a decision circuit that decides whether the shaped noise signal, or a signal derived from the shaped noise signal corresponds to a 1 or a 0. A method is described that amplifies a first noise signal to produce a second noise signal. A shaped noise signal is formed by reducing 1/f noise introduced to the second noise signal by the amplifying. A random sequence is generated by comparing, against a reference, the shaped noise signal or a signal derived from the shaped noise signal.

Description:
This application is a continuation of, and claims the benefit of the filing date of, U.S. application No. 09/356,108, filed on Jul. 16, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 6,188,294, which further claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. provisional application No. 60/133,787, filed on May 12, 1999. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     The field of invention relates to encryption technology, generally. More specifically, the field of invention relates to random sequence generator technology. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Numerous applications such as on-line banking, on-line commerce, etc. involve sending sensitive information over a network. Some form of cryptography is typically employed in order to enhance the security of the sensitive information as it traverses the network. One type of encryption, referred to as keyed encryption, passes a key to the receiver of sensitive information. The key helps reverse the cryptography process such that an encoded or encrypted message is correctly decoded. 
     In many keyed encryption applications, the sensitive message is scrambled with random data. For example, the Vernam cypher method uses a random numeric key (i.e., a stream or sequence of random numbers) that is added to a stream of sensitive data to generate encrypted data. If the numbers of the key are truly random it is theoretically impossible to decode the encrypted data without the key. Thus, generally, as random number generators become less pseudo-random and more truly random, the probability that a “hacker” will be able to break the code (i.e., produce the random sequence) declines. 
     As such, a figure of merit of keyed encryption technology focuses on the randomness of the key sequence (also referred to as a “sequence”)—with perfect randomness being the ultimate desired goal of the signal used to generate the sequence. A perfectly random signal is typically referred to as theoretically perfect “white noise”. FIG. 1 a , shows the magnitude of theoretically perfect white noise  100  in the frequency spectrum. Theoretically perfect white noise  100  is primarily characterized by two features:  1 ) infinite bandwidth  101 ; and  2 ) identical noise power amplitude  102  across all frequencies. 
     Although theoretically perfect white noise is difficult or perhaps impossible to achieve, signals that begin to approach the characteristics shown in FIG. 1 a  may be referred to as white noise. Thus white noise refers to signals that, although less then theoretically perfect, still resemble such a signal. Indicia include an approximately even amplitude across a wide bandwidth. The inverse Fourier transform of white noise is a random signal  201  such as that seen in FIG.  2 . By definition, a perfectly random stream will flip up 50% of the time and flip down 50% of the time. 
     Random number generators are typically designed to sample a white noise signal  201  at a plurality of successive sample times  202   a,b,c,d,e . Each successive sample time corresponds to a new value  203   a,b,c,d,e  in the random sequence  204 . Generally, flips up  205   a,b,c  are “1s”  203   a,b,c  while flips down  206   a,b  are “0s”  203   c,e . That is, the white noise is typically fed to a zero cross detector, threshold detector or other decision device. 
     As the channel bandwidth falls short of infinity the noise spikes seen in the random signal  201 , widen. This results in less noise spike flips between sampling times as compared to perfect white noise. If fewer noise spike flips occur between sampling times, the sampled value may be viewed as being more dependent on the previous sample value. Better said, as the number of flips occurring between sampling times approach infinity, the probability that 50% are up and 50% are down approaches 1.00. Thus wider noise spikes correspond to less than perfect randomness. 
     Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1 b , any periodic activity associated with the channel that processes the white noise may introduce strong signal power  106  at the frequency  107  (or multiple thereof) of the periodic activity. These features are generally referred to as harmonics or tones. The presence of harmonics diminish the randomness of the sequence. That is, the sequence may have a predictable pattern of 1s or 0s corresponding to the frequency of the tone. 
     Therefore, channels designed to process white noise for use in random number generators should emphasize high bandwidth as well as the suppression of tones (regardless of tone source). Such a design is difficult to achieve in practice with semiconductor amplifiers. Many amplifiers posses 1/f noise which increases the noise voltage at low frequencies. This may be viewed as the presence of a continuous spectrum of tones, in the lower frequency portion of the channel. Furthermore, amplifiers having high enough gain bandwidth product to successfully amplify noise to a level where a decision device can make a decision yet still have enough bandwidth to introduce enough flips between sampling times are difficult to design. Also, amplifiers possess voltage offsets that bias the noise signal resulting in decision rates other than 50% 1 and 50% 0. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An apparatus is described comprising a noise source coupled to an input of a gain stage. The apparatus also includes a noise shaping stage that forms a shaped noise signal by reducing 1/f noise introduced by the gain stage. The noise shaping stage has an input coupled to an output of the gain stage. The apparatus also has a decision circuit that decides whether the shaped noise signal, or a signal derived from the shaped noise signal corresponds to a 1 or a 0. 
     A method is described that amplifies a first noise signal to produce a second noise signal. A shaped noise signal is formed by reducing 1/f noise introduced to the second noise signal by the amplifying. A random sequence is generated by comparing, against a reference, the shaped noise signal or a signal derived from the shaped noise signal. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements, and in which: 
     FIG. 1 a  shows theoretically perfect white noise. 
     FIG. 1 b  shows less than theoretically perfect white noise. 
     FIG. 2 shows a random sequence generated from white noise. 
     FIG. 3 a  shows one embodiment of a random sequence generator. 
     FIG. 3 b  shows a method of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 a.    
     FIG. 4 a  shows one embodiment of the gain stage of FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 4 b  shows one embodiment of the amplifier of FIG. 4 a.    
     FIG. 5 a  shows one embodiment of the noise shaping stage of FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 5 b  shows timing signals associated with the noise shaping stage embodiment shown in FIG. 5 a.    
     FIG. 5 c  shows one embodiment of a chopper switch used in the noise shaping stage embodiment shown in FIG. 5 a.    
     FIG. 6 shows one embodiment of the decision circuit of FIG.  3 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An apparatus is described as comprising a white noise source that is coupled to a gain stage having an amplifier. The gain stage is coupled to a noise shaping stage that is also coupled to a decision circuit. 
     Another apparatus is described having a white noise source which is differentially coupled to a gain stage that has a cascade of open loop amplifiers. The gain stage is differentially coupled to a noise shaping stage which is also differentially coupled to a decision circuit. 
     A method is described that involves differentially coupling white noise into a gain stage. The white noise is differentially amplified with an amplifier that produces a first white noise signal. 1/f noise and offset voltage is substantially removed from said first white noise signal to produce a second white noise signal. A random sequence signal is produced by deciding whether the second white noise signal is a 1 or 0. 
     These and other embodiments of the present invention may be realized in accordance with the following teachings and it should be evident that various modifications and changes may be made in the following teachings without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense and the invention measured only in terms of the claims. 
     FIG. 3 a  shows an embodiment of a circuit  300  used for generating a random sequence of binary numbers. A corresponding embodiment of a method is shown in FIG. 3 b . The gain stage  301  amplifies random noise. Noise shaping stage  302  eliminates or reduces undesirable amplifier characteristics such as 1/f noise and/or offset voltage. Decision device  303  “decides” whether the random noise value is a 1 or 0. Following is a discussion of each stage. For each stage, a specific embodiment is referred to as an example. Also, some discussion of alternate embodiments is provided. 
     FIG. 4 a  shows an embodiment  401  of the gain stage  301  of FIG.  3 . The gain stage  401  amplifies random noise. In this embodiment, the gain stage  401  amplifies white noise produced by resistors R 1  and R 2 . Resistors R 1  and R 2  each produce independent, random noise due to thermally induced variations in carrier concentrations through the resistors R 1 , R 2 . The general equation for the noise power amplitude (e.g., level  102  of FIG. 1 a ) is: 
     
       
         4 kTR  Eqn. 1 
       
     
     where k is Boltzman&#39;s constant, T is the temperature, and R is the resistance value. Thus resistors R 1  and R 2  may be viewed as two independent white noise sources. White noise sources produce signals that may be characterized similar to those shown back in FIG. 1 a.    
     In this embodiment, a differential approach is employed. That is, two signal paths  402   a,b  (“+” and “−”) are entertained such that the amplifiers  403   a,b,c  amplify the voltage difference between the two signal paths  402   a,b . The signal paths start at the input of gain stage  401  (as indicated at  402   a,b ) and continue forward to the output of gain stage  401 . A differential design inherently reduces or eliminates common voltages. For example, if an extrinsic source generates electromagnetic interference which reproduces as an unwanted voltage within gain stage  401 , the unwanted voltage is likely to appear on both signal paths. That is, the unwanted voltage is common to both signal paths. Since amplifiers  403   a,b,c  are designed to amplify the difference between the two signal paths (i.e., subtract the voltages between the two signal paths and then amplify the result of the subtraction) the unwanted common voltage is rejected by the amplifiers  403   a,b,c.    
     As the two white noise sources associated with resistors R 1  and R 2  are independent, there exists little common mode between them. That is, since two purely random signals have no commonality between them, the inherent common mode rejection of gain stage  401  has no appreciable effect on the randomness of the signal produced. The difference of two random voltage signals produces a random signal. Similarly, common mode bias circuit  404  (used to set the DC operating point of the input to each amplifier  403   a,b,c ) has no appreciable effect on random performance. 
     Alternate embodiments may employ a single ended approach (i.e., a differential approach is not employed). However, these approaches may be more susceptible to extrinsic, unwanted signal sources and as such may be limited in application (e.g., used only in clean electromagnetic environments). 
     Next amplifiers  403   a,b,c  are discussed. For typical applications, the white noise voltage from resistors R 1  and R 2  are in the 100 μV range while the signal used for decision making is in the 100 μV range. This corresponds to an approximate gain of 50 dB (i.e., a linear gain of approximately  316 ) for the gain stage  401 . Other applications may design for an order of magnitude less or more for either the white noise voltage and decision making voltage ranges. For example, any gain between 40 dB and 60 dB (i.e., linear gain from 100-10000) may be useful. 
     Cascades of low gain, wide band gain stages generally have greater gain-bandwidth product than closed loop operational amplifier circuits. As such, in the embodiment of FIG. 4 a , three amplifiers  403   a,b,c  are shown. Each amplifier  403   a,b,c  may be designed according to the amplifier design  408  shown in FIG. 4 b . The amplifier design  408  of FIG. 4 b  shows a differential amplifier  405  followed by a differential follower stage  406 . The differential follower stage  406  allows for large small-signal output current regardless of the magnitude of the small-signal output voltage. Thus, follower stage  406  gives amplifier design  408  a low output impedance. 
     The magnitude of the gain of amplifier design  408  is largely determined by the magnitude of the gain of differential amplifier  405  which may be expressed as: 
     
       
         g m R 3   Eqn. 2 
       
     
     where g m  is the transconductance of device M 1  (which is approximately the same as the transconductance of device M 2 ) and R 3  is a load resistance of differential amplifier  405  (which is approximately the same as load resistance R 4 ). Typical embodiments use device dimensions that correspond to device transconductances in the 100s of μV/V 2 . For example, one embodiment employing 0.5 μm technology uses a device transconductance of 350 μV/V 2 . In this same embodiment, in order to produce a gain of approximately 50 db, the three amplifiers  403   a,b,c  of FIG. 4 a  are each given a gain of approximately 7.0 (7.0 3 =342=50.7 dB). This corresponds to a load resistance R 3  of 20 k. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various combinations of: 1) the number of amplification stages, 2) the gain of each amplification stage  403  and 3) the combination of device transconductance and load resistance R 3  may be used to employ the needed gain of the gain stage of FIG. 4 a . Thus the invention should not be construed to be limited to the above values. Furthermore, these concepts may be extended to other technologies besides field effect transistor technology (such as Si bipolar or GaAs MESFETS) as shown in FIG. 4 b . For example, bipolar devices can almost directly replace the MOSFETS in FIG.  4 B. Also, designs other than design  408  are available to those skilled in the art and may be used within the amplifiers  403   a,b,c.    
     As discussed, the bandwidth of the signal paths should be maximized along with the gain. The bandwidth of amplifier design  408  is determined mostly by a pole occurring at: 
     
       
         1/(2πR 3 Cl)  Eqn. 3 
       
     
     where Cl is the load capacitance observed at the output of differential amplifier  405 . Cl is typically a combination of: 1) the drain capacitance associated with devices M 1  and M 2 ; 2) the gate capacitance of M 3  and M 4  and 3) the capacitance associated with R 3  and R 4 . For 0.5 μm technologies, Cl is in the range of a 100 fF. Thus, using, Equation  3 , a pole appears at 159 MHz for the above described design  408 . Again, if three amplification stages  403   a,b,c  are used, the channel begins to drop at 60dB/decade after 159 MHz. This also corresponds to a unity gain of approximately 1.1 Ghz. Hence, the cascade of three amplifiers  403   a,b,c  implemented with three amplifier designs  408  offers suitable gain (approximately 50 dB in this example while offering large bandwidth). 
     Various device dimensions may be employed which may produce various pole values. Nevertheless, one of ordinary skill may readily determine a suitable pole frequency for the particular application. Again, note that feedback is not used in the embodiment shown in FIG.  4 . This is consistent with the perspective that a cascade of low gain (e.g., 20 dB or less), high bandwidth (e.g., 100 MHz or higher) open loop amplifiers (e.g., amplifiers  403   a,b,c ) may be used to implement the gain stage  301  of FIG.  3 . Other embodiments may use feedback, however, large gain-bandwidth product amplifiers are recommended. 
     Referring back to FIG. 4 a , note that gain stage  401  also shows a buffer circuit  409  and interface circuits  410   a,b . The buffer circuit  409  provides a smaller capacitance load for the white noise produced by resistors R 1 , R 2  than the input of amplifier  403   a . That is, resistors R 1 , R 2  may be viewed as passive voltage sources incapable of producing current needed to drive certain capacitive loads. Buffer circuit  409  is designed to have small input capacitance while having sufficient current drive capability to drive the input of amplifier  403   a . Typically, this manifests itself by using smaller transistors in buffer circuit  409  than in the front end of amplifier  403   a . The specific embodiment of FIG. 4 a  shows a follower design for buffer circuit  409 , however, this is not necessarily required. 
     Interface circuits  410   a,b  are used to remove DC offsets in the channel while simultaneously providing the common mode bias  404  voltage. Decoupling capacitors C 1 -C 4  remove DC offset associated with the preceding amplification stage while the precharge switches S 1 -S 4  couple the common mode bias  404  to the following amplification stage. The switches may be closed either at the start of production of a random sequence (which permanently couples the common mode bias  404  to the amplification stage front end) or periodically open and close during the production of a random sequence with the use of a clock. This helps maintain the common mode reference voltage. 
     Alternatively, the interface circuits  410   a,b  may be removed from gain stage  401 , opting instead to remove DC offsets downstream in noise shaping stage  302  (referring briefly back to FIG.  3 ). The interface circuits  410   a,b  help avoid supply rail clamping of any of the output stages of the amplifiers (e.g., amplification stage  403   c ) due to the amplification of the preceding offsets. 
     Moving on to a description of the noise shaping stage  302  of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 a  shows an embodiment  500  of a circuit that may be used for this function. Capacitors C 5 , C 6  remove the DC component of the amplified white noise from gain stage  301  (referring briefly back to FIG.  3 ). However, as discussed in the background, amplifier circuits typically contain 1/f noise. Since the 1/f noise may be viewed as a continuous collection of unwanted tones in the lower end of the passband spectrum, they pass through the capacitors C 5 , C 6 . As such, to preserve the white noise portion of the signal, the 1/f noise should be removed. 
     Thus, in the embodiment of FIG. 5 a , noise shaping stage  302  employs a filtering technique to remove the 1/f noise. In this embodiment of the noise shaping stage, a Correlated Double Sampling Technique is used. Correlated Double Sampling (CDS) subtracts a past signal (i.e., a signal that occurred at some point in the past, also referred to as an instantaneous signal) with a present signal (i.e., a signal that is occurring presently). The subtractions are typically made periodically; that is, each subtraction is made at fixed intervals after previous subtractions. 
     FIG. 5 b , shows the timing associated with the CDS technique of the embodiment of FIG. 5 a . In this embodiment as discussed ahead, the periodic subtraction itself is made in the decision device  303  (referring briefly back to FIG.  3 ). The noise shaping stage  302  sets up the signal so the subtraction can be made. That is, in this embodiment, the noise shaping stage  302  continuously presents the decision device  303  with the subtraction of the present noise signal and a past signal; however, the subtraction is only accounted for in periodic increments due to the periodic operation of the decision device  303 . 
     The past signal is formed by: 1) the activity of switches S 5 , S 6  coupled with 2) the effects of this activity on the voltage across capacitors C 5 , C 6  and 3) the amplification stage  503  which has a unity gain in this embodiment. Referring to the embodiment of FIG. 5 a  in conjunction with FIG. 5 b , during the high time of the serial clock Sclk, switches S 5 , S 6  are closed. The input nodes N 1 , N 2  to amplification stage  503  are respectively driven to the output voltages associated with nodes N 3 , N 4  of amplification stage  503 . Thus, each output of amplification stage  503  charges one plate of C 5  or C 6 . That is, the voltage at node N 3  charges a plate on C 5  while the voltage at node N 4  charges a plate on C 6 . Meanwhile, the output voltages of gain stage  301  (appearing at nodes N 5 , N 6 ) are respectively charging the opposite plates of C 5  and C 6 . That is, the voltage at node N 5  charges a plate on C 5  and the voltage at node N 6  charges a plate on C 6 . 
     At the falling edge of Sclk, switches S 5  and S 6  are opened. Since the charge in the capacitor is constant, the difference between the voltages at nodes N 5  and N 3  at the instant Sclk falls is stored on capacitor C 5  (refer to this voltage as Np 0 ). Similarly, the difference between the voltages at nodes N 6  and N 4  at the instant Sclk falls is stored on capacitor C 6  (refer to this voltage as Nm 0 ). Thus voltages Np 0  and Nm 0  represent the instantaneous voltages across capacitors C 5 , C 6  when Sclk falls. These voltages are the starting points for a sample period and are now referred to as past voltages. 
     Furthermore, since the current through a capacitor can change abruptly, capacitors C 5 , C 6  act as short circuits for the time varying white noise emerging from gain stage  301  (i.e., nodes N 5 , N 6 ). Thus, after a time ΔT (i.e., time T 1  as shown in FIG. 5 b ), the voltages of nodes N 5 , N 6  at time T 1  also respectively appear on nodes N 1 , N 2  at time T 1 . Refer to these voltages as Np and Nm, respectively. Since they represent voltages presently at the gain stage  301  output, they are referred to as present voltages. 
     The differential output voltage of amplification stage  503  (i.e., the difference between voltages at nodes N 3  and N 4 ) is given by: 
      Vout=((Np−Np 0 )−(Nm−Nm 0 ))=((Np−Nm)−(Np 0 −Nm 0 )) Eqn. 4 
     Substituting Nt for Np−Nm (the differential present voltage) and N 0  for Np 0 −Nm 0  (the differential past voltage), Eqn. 4 may be rewritten as 
     
       
         Vout=(Nt−N 0 )  Eqn. 5 
       
     
     Thus noise shaping stage  500  presents the decision device  303  (referring briefly back to FIG. 3) with the difference between the differential present and differential past voltages. This technique, referred to as Correlated Double Sampling (CDS), eliminates low frequencies. Thus any circuit that takes the difference between a present signal and a past signal may be referred to as a correlated double sampling circuit. Many different CDS embodiments are available or may be designed by those skilled in the art. 
     The CDS circuit of FIG. 5 operates as follows: within time ΔT low frequency signals hardly change amplitude and are therefore subtracted to zero by the operation represented by Equation 5. Meanwhile, high frequency signals may change significantly within time ΔT resulting in significant voltage magnitude from the operation represented by Equation 5. 
     In the embodiment associated with FIGS. 5 a  and  5   b , the decision is made at the falling edge of P 1 . One such embodiment has values of 100 Khz for Sclk and 1 μs for ΔT. This corresponds to subtracting the past and present voltages according to nT−T/10 where T is 10 μs (which corresponds to 1/Sclk) and n is an integer. That is, the present voltage occurs every nT with the past voltage occurring T/10 before every present voltage. The transfer function of this activity eliminates low frequencies which in turn helps diminish 1/f noise. 
     Another feature of the amplification stage  503  embodiment shown in FIG. 5 a  is the removal of offset voltage associated with amplification stage  503  by chopper switches  504   a,b . Offsets bias the randomness of downstream decision making. For example, a positive offset voltage will result in more “1s” than “0s” over a period of time. A more detailed depiction  504   c  of each of the chopper switches  504   a,b  is shown in FIG. 5 c . When the chop signal  505   c  is high, node “ a ” is coupled to node “ c ” and node “b” is coupled to node “ d ”. When the chop signal  505   c  is low, node “ a ” is coupled to node “ d ” and node “ b ” is coupled to node “ c ”. Note the chopper switches  504   a,b  for the “ d ” embodiment of FIG. 5 a,c  are differential in nature. 
     Referring back to FIG. 5 a , in this embodiment, amplification stage  503  has a unity gain. Thus its offset voltage appears as a difference between the voltages at nodes N 3  and N 4 . The chopper switches  504   a,b  alternate the feedback of the output nodes. Specifically, output node N 3  is alternatively feedback into the “+” and “−” input nodes of amplification stage  503 . Similarly, output node N 4  is alternatively feedback into the “+” and “−” input nodes of amplification stage  503 . Any offset voltage is therefore continually reversed which results in an average offset of zero offset over an extended period of time. The chop signal is therefore a signal that controls the timing associated with alternating the feedback between input nodes of an amplifier from an output node of an amplifier. Furthermore, as many different chopper approaches may be used by those skilled in the art, the invention extends to chopper circuits generally. Chopper circuits are any circuits that alternate feedback between input nodes of an amplifier from an output node of an amplifier. Other embodiments may use a non-unity gain approach. 
     The chop signal may be periodic. However, unwanted tones (typically at the chop signal frequency or harmonics thereof) have been observed for such embodiments. Thus, embodiments where the chop signal changes state (i.e., low to high or high to low) pseudo-randomly or randomly improves the randomness of the numeric sequence. 
     As such, FIG. 5 a  shows chopper switches  504   a,b  driven by a pseudo random or random number generator  506 . These approaches essentially spread the tone power from a fixed frequency (for periodic chopping) across a wider bandwidth. For pseudo random approaches, the fixed tone frequency (associated with fixed frequency chopping) is converted into smaller tones spread periodically across the frequency spectrum. 
     For truly (or near truly) random chopping interval approaches, the fixed tone frequency is evenly spread in a continuum across frequency space. By converting the amplitude of a large tone (for periodic chopping) into many smaller tones (for pseudo random chopping) or white noise (for random chopping) the channel looks more like white noise and the randomness of the numeric sequence is improved. 
     A pseudo random approach is any approach that produces a repetitive bit stream having a module of 2 n −1 (where n is an integer) to produce the chop signal, while a truly (or near truly) random approach uses white noise or nearly white noise (usually instead of a clock such as Sclk) to generate the chop signal. For example, a random sequence generator such as that shown in FIG. 3 may be used for random number generator  506 . 
     The following discussion concerns the decision device  303  of FIG. 3. A decision device  303  is any device that decides whether or not an analog input signal is a logic high (i.e., a “1”) or a logic low (i.e., a “0”). As discussed with reference to the CDS techniques and FIGS. 5 a,b  a decision is made according to Equation 5 at T 1  of FIG. 5 b . That is, the decision is made at the rising and falling edges of P 2  and P 1 , respectively. 
     FIG. 6 shows an embodiment  600  of the decision device  303  of FIG. 3 which effectively operates as a zero crossing detector. That is, when the voltage difference between nodes N 4  and N 3  is positive (and the chopper switches are connected as “straight through”) the decision circuit  600  produces a logic high. Similarly when the voltage difference between nodes N 4  and N 3  is negative the decision circuit  600  produces a logic low. 
     Edge phase circuit  610  of FIG. 6 is responsible for delaying the falling edge of Sclk by the amount ΔT in order to produce signal P 1  (as shown in FIG. 5 b ). Similarly, the edge phase circuit  610  is responsible for creating P 2 , an inverted form of P 1 . The decision device  600  uses P 1  and P 2  to trigger its decision as described below. 
     When chop switches S 7 , S 8  are “straight through”: 1) N 4  is coupled to M 5 ; 2) N 3  is coupled to M 6 ; 3) M 7  is coupled to M 12 ; and 4) M 8  is coupled to M 13 . When P 1  is high, M 9  is on and devices M 12 , M 13  are off. M 5  and M 6  operate as a differential pair responding to the voltage difference between N 4  and N 3 . Regenerative devices M 7 , M 8  are coupled together since M 9  is on. This has the effect of limiting the gain of the differential amplification by M 5  and M 6  as observed at M 12  and M 13 . However, once P 1  goes low, M 9  is off and the gain observed by M 12  and M 13  (which are now on) exponentially grows. 
     Since P 2  is then high, M 14  and M 15  are now on. Devices, M 14 -M 17  form a latch that drives node pair ND 1 , ND 2  to [ground, Vdd] or [Vdd, ground] respectively depending on the amplified difference value at M 12 , M 13 . In this embodiment, Nodes ND 1  and ND 2  are further latched by latch  604  which provides the final output signal. As many other decision circuit embodiments are available within the art or may be readily designed by those within the art, the invention should not be construed as limited to the embodiment  600  of FIG.  6 .