Abstract:
Systems and methods for generating reference voltages are provided. A representative system comprises a resistor circuit; a first switch coupled between a first end of the resistor circuit and a first power source; a second switch coupled between the first end of the resistor circuit and a second power source; a third switch coupled to a second end of the resistor circuit; a fourth switch coupled to the second end of the resistor circuit; a first resistor coupled between the first end of the resistor circuit and the first switch; a second resistor coupled between the first end of the resistor circuit and the second switch; a third resistor coupled between the second end of the resistor circuit and the third switch; a fourth resistor coupled between the second end of the resistor circuit and the fourth switch; and a control circuit for controlling the switches.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to electrical circuitry and, in particular, to systems and methods for generating reference voltages. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs) are currently the leading flat-panel display technology. An AMLCD comprises a grid (or matrix) of picture elements (pixels) Thousands or millions of these pixels are used together to create an image on such a display. In a thin film transistor (TFT) panel design, TFT technology is used to build a tiny transistor switch and capacitor for each pixel in the AMLCD panel. TFTs act as switches to individually turn each pixel “on” (light) or “off” (dark). Besides the normal display mode in which an image is represented with full gradation, a display usually has several power-saving modes. For example, a display can have an n-gradation mode (where n is an integer smaller than the number of levels in full gradation) in which an image is represented with fewer gradations, a partial display mode in which only a portion of the display is used to represent an image, and/or a standby mode in which the display is turned off temporarily until being activated again. 
     Integrating driving (reference voltage generating) circuits into display panels using TFT technology can largely reduce display module cost. In order to have precise analog voltage control and to simplify circuit structures in the integrated reference voltage generating circuits, a conventional resistor string (R-string) approach is adopted for providing different voltages.  FIG. 1  shows a prior art reference voltage generating circuit  10  disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,043 to Nakajima, which is incorporated herein by reference. The reference voltage generating circuit  10  includes switch circuits  41  and  42 , dividing resistors R 1 -R 7 , and switches SW 15  and SW 16 . The switch circuits  41  and  42  include switches SW 11 , SW 12  and switches SW 13 , SW 14 , respectively. The switches SW 11 -SW 14  couple output terminals A and B of the R-string to a positive power supply Vcc and a power supply Vss, which has a lower voltage level with respect to the positive power supply Vcc. The power supplies Vcc and Vss operate at fixed periods in opposite phases for row inversion driving methodology. The dividing resistors R 1  to R 7  are connected in series between output terminals A and B of the R-string, with switches SW 15  and SW 16  interposed therebetween, respectively. Voltages V 0 , V 7 , and V 1 -V 6  obtained by voltage division by the R-string are outputted to a digital-analog-converter (DAC). 
     Reference is made to  FIG. 2  for a timing chart illustrating the operation of the reference voltage generating circuit  10 . In the reference voltage generating circuit  10  of  FIG. 1 , the reference voltages V 0  and V 7  are both produced by connecting node A to the positive power supply Vcc and node B to the power supply Vss in a first driving period, and by connecting node B to the positive power supply Vcc and node A to the power supply Vss in a second driving period. Each such driving period alternates in a fixed interval based on control pulses φ 1  and φ 2 , as shown in the timing chart of  FIG. 2 . Meanwhile, the reference voltages V 1 -V 6  for intermediate gradations are produced by voltage division through the dividing resistors R 1  to R 7 . During power-saving modes, the switches SW 15  and SW 16  are opened (switched off) to stop the supply of current to the dividing resistors R 1 -R 7  based on control pulse φ 3 . As a result, since no current flows through the dividing resistors R 1 -R 7  and power consumption by the dividing resistors R 1  to R 7  is eliminated, a reduction of the power consumption can be anticipated. Although the voltage levels of V 1  and V 6  are represented with flat lines of zero voltage in  FIG. 2  during power saving modes, the prior art reference voltage generating circuit  10  actually produces floating voltages when the R-string is disconnected from power supplies Vcc and Vss. 
     The prior art reference voltage generating circuit  10  has two perceived major drawbacks. First, the switches SW 15  and SW 16  are used to disconnect the R-string from the power sources Vcc and Vss during power-saving modes. In contrast to metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), which are made on silicon wafers and use bulk-silicon as an active layer, a TFT is a transistor the active, current-carrying layer of which is a thin film (usually a film of polysilicon). Thus, the resistance of a TFT is usually much larger than that of a MOSFET. In order to achieve fast turn-on time and small voltage drop across switches for the reference voltage generating circuit  10 , the switches SW 15  and SW 16  typically are large enough to exhibit low turn-on resistance. As a result, the reference voltage generating circuit  10  occupies a large amount of space. Second, since the R-string is disconnected from the power sources Vcc and Vss, the release voltage generating circuit  10  exhibits floating voltage levels that are outputted to the DAC during power-saving modes This tends to result in the DAC operation being non-stable and can result in more power consumption. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Systems and methods for generating reference voltages are provided. 
     An embodiment of such a system comprises an integrated reference voltage generating circuit comprising a resistor circuit comprising a plurality of resistors coupled in series, a first switch coupled between a first end of the resistor circuit and a first power source, a second switch coupled between the first end of the resistor circuit and a second power source, a third switch coupled to a second end of the resistor circuit, a fourth switch coupled to the second end of the resistor circuit, a first resistor coupled between the first end of the resistor circuit and the first switch, a second resistor coupled between the first end of the resistor circuit and the second switch, a third resistor coupled between the second end of the resistor circuit and the third switch, a fourth resistor coupled between the second end of the resistor circuit and the fourth switch, and a control circuit for controlling the first, second, third, and fourth switches. 
     Another embodiment of a system comprises an integrated reference voltage generating circuit, a multiplexer for selecting from input data obtained in different operating modes as output data of the system, a digital-to-analog controller coupled to the multiplexer and the integrated reference voltage generating circuit for processing input data of an image displayed with full gradation, and a control circuit for sending signals to the integrated reference voltage generating circuit and the multiplexer based on an operating mode of the system. 
     An embodiment of a method for generating reference voltages comprises providing a resistor circuit comprising a plurality of resistors coupled in series, coupling first and second ends of the resistor circuit to a same power source when displaying an image with reduced power, and coupling the first end of the resistor circuit to a first power source and the second end of the resistor circuit to a second power source when displaying an image with full gradation. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a prior art reference voltage generating circuit. 
         FIG. 2  is a timing chart illustrating the operation of the reference voltage generating circuit in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  shows an embodiment of an integrated reference voltage generating circuit. 
         FIG. 4  is a timing chart illustrating the operation of the integrated reference voltage generating circuit in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  shows an equivalent circuit of a prior art pixel. 
         FIG. 6  shows a graph illustrating the charge-injection effect. 
         FIG. 7  shows an integrated reference voltage generating circuit according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a display system incorporating an embodiment of an integrated reference voltage generating circuit. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Systems and methods for generating reference voltages are provided. Some embodiments can potentially reduce power consumption and/or compensate for charge injection effect. As such, some embodiments may be well suited for use in display systems, such as panel displays. 
     In this regard, reference is made to  FIG. 3  which depicts an embodiment of an integrated reference voltage generating circuit  30 . The integrated reference voltage generating circuit  30  includes a resistor circuit  32 , switches SW 1 -SW 4 , resistors R 1 -R 4 , voltage sources Vcc and Vss, and a control circuit  34 . The power sources Vcc provide higher voltages then the power sources Vss. The resistor circuit  32  includes a plurality of dividing resistors Rd 1 -Rd 63  coupled in series. The switch SW 1  is coupled between node C of the resistor circuit  32  and the power source Vss, the switch SW 2  is coupled between node C of the resistor circuit  32  and the power source Vcc, the switch SW 3  is coupled between node D of the resistor circuit  32  and the power source Vss, and the switch SW 4  is coupled between node D of the resistor circuit  32  and the power source Vcc. The resistor R 1  is coupled between node C of the resistor circuit  32  and the switch SW 1 , the resistor R 2  is coupled between node C of the resistor circuit  32  and the switch SW 2 , the resistor R 3  is coupled between node D of the resistor circuit  32  and the switch SW 3 , and the resistor R 4  is coupled between node D of the resistor circuit  32  and the switch SW 4 . The integrated reference voltage generating circuit  30  provides reference voltages by voltage division of the resistor circuit  32 . 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 , the integrated reference voltage generating circuit  30  provides reference voltages V 0 -V 63  between two adjacent dividing resistors of the resistor circuit  32  The switches SW 1 -SW 4  are turned on or off based on signals generated by the control circuit  34 . The switches SW 1 -SW 4  can be made of transistors of different doping types. For example, the switches SW 1  and SW 3  can be N-type transistors, and the switches SW 2  and SW 4  can be P-type transistors, or vice versa. If the switches SW 1  and SW 3  are N-type transistors and the switches SW 2  and SW 4  are P-type transistors, the switches SW 1  and SW 3  are turned on (closed circuit) and the switches SW 2  and SW 4  are turned off (open circuit) when receiving a control signal of “1” (high voltage level), and the switches SW 1  and SW 3  are turned off and the switches SW 2  and SW 4  are turned on when receiving a control signal of “0” (low voltage level). 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , the operation of the integrated reference voltage generating circuit  30  will be described. In  FIG. 4 , φ 1 -φ 4  represent control pulses, each with two states: high and low. For ease of explanation, only reference voltages V 0 , V 1 , V 62  and V 63  are shown for illustrating the operation of the integrated reference voltage generating circuit  30  during the normal mode and the power saving modes. To prevent electroplating of ion impurity and image retention of the liquid crystal (LC) material, the polarity of the LC cell voltage is reversed on alternative intervals. The reference voltage V 0  and V 63  are both produced by coupling node C of the resistor circuit  32  to the power supply Vcc and node D of the resistor circuit  32  to the power supply Vss in a first driving period, and by coupling node C of the resistor circuit  32  to the power supply Vss and node D of the resistor circuit  32  to the power supply Vcc in a second driving period. Each such driving period alternates in a fixed interval based on control pulses φ 1  and φ 2 , as shown in a timing chart of  FIG. 4 . In the normal display mode, the control circuit  34  provides a control pulse φ 4  of alternating high and low levels at the fixed interval and a control pulse φ 3  of high level, and therefore generates control pulses φ 1  and φ 2  for the switches SW 1 -SW 4 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . In the first driving interval, the resistor circuit  32  is coupled to power sources Vcc and Vss through the switches SW 4  and SW 1 , respectively. In the second driving interval, the resistor circuit  32  is coupled to power sources Vcc and Vss through the switches SW 2  and SW 3 , respectively. Intermediate reference voltages V 1 -V 62  are generated by voltage division by the dividing resistors Rd 1 -Rd 63  of the resistor circuit  32 . 
     During the power-saving mode, the control pulse φ 3  switches to low level and the control pulse φ 4  remains unchanged as in the normal mode, thereby generating the control signals φ 1  and φ 2  each having a high level. Consequently, the switches SW 2  and SW 4  are turned off, disconnecting the resistor circuit  32  from the power source Vcc. At the same time, the switches SW 1  and SW 3  are turned on, coupling the resistor circuit  32  to the power source Vss. Therefore, during the power-saving mode, no current flows through the resistor circuit  32  and the power consumption from the diving resistors can be reduced. Although no current flows through the resistor circuit  32 , both ends of the resistor circuit  32  are still coupled to Vss during the power-saving mode. In contrast to floating voltages of the prior art reference voltage generating circuit  10 , the voltage of the entire resistor circuit  32  is fixed to Vss during the power saving mode thereby shutting down DAC operation in a stable way. Therefore, the integrated reference voltage generating circuit  30  can reduce power consumption without occupying large circuit space and without influencing the stability of the DAC during power-saving mode. 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit of a pixel  50 . The pixel  50  includes a TFT for turning on and off the pixel  50 , a storage capacitor Cst for data storage, and a liquid crystal capacitor Clc representing the capacitance of the liquid crystal material. Data sent to the pixel  50  is stored in the capacitors Cst and Clc. The parasitic capacitance of the pixel  50  is represented by a parasitic capacitor Cgd. A signal from a gate line turns on the TFT, allowing data sent from a data line to be stored in the capacitors Cst and Clc. Usually reference voltages generated by an integrated reference voltage generating circuit are sent to a DAC, which in turn selects a voltage from the reference voltages and sends the selected voltage to the data line. 
     The charge-injection effect is a phenomenon of level change caused by stray capacitance represented by the parasitic capacitor Cgd. In this regard,  FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating the charge-injection effect. In  FIG. 6 , Vgate represents the voltage sent to the gate line, Vpixel (dashed line) represents the ideal voltage obtained across the capacitors Cst and Clc if a voltage of Vp is sent to the data line and Vpixel′ represents the actual voltage obtained across the capacitors Cst and Clc if a voltage of Vp is sent to the data line. Due to charge-injection effect, Vpixel′ differs from Vpixel in that it suffers a voltage drop ΔVp, potentially causing loss of data stored in the capacitors Cst and Clc. The voltage drop ΔVp is represented as follows: 
     
       
         
           
             
               Δ 
               ⁢ 
               
                   
               
               ⁢ 
               Vp 
             
             = 
             
               Δ 
               ⁢ 
               
                   
               
               ⁢ 
               Vg 
               ⁢ 
               
                   
               
               × 
               
                 Cgd 
                 
                   Cgd 
                   + 
                   Clc 
                   + 
                   Cs 
                 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     Embodiments of an integrated reference voltage generating circuit, such as circuit  30 , can potentially compensate for the charge-injection effect using the resistors R 1 -R 4 . Based on capacitance of the capacitors Cst, Clc and Cgd, the voltage drop ΔVp can be calculated. Through the resistors R 1 -R 4 , different voltages can therefore be provided at both ends of the resistor circuit  32  for compensating for the voltage drop ΔVp. The resistance of the resistors R 1 -R 4  depends on the value of ΔVp. In the integrated reference voltage generating circuit  30  of the present invention, the resistors R 1  and R 4  have the same resistance, and the resistors R 2  and R 3  have the same resistance. 
       FIG. 7  is another embodiment of an integrated reference voltage generating circuit  70 . The integrated reference voltage generating circuit  70  includes a resistor circuit  32 , switches SW 1 -SW 4 , resistors R 1 -R 4 , voltage sources Vcc and Vss, and a control circuit  34 . The power sources Vcc provide higher voltages then the power sources Vss. The resistor circuit  32  includes a plurality of dividing resistors Rd 1 -Rd 63  coupled in series. Notably, the integrated reference voltage generating circuit  70  differs from the prior art voltage generating circuit  10 , at least in one respect, in that it includes resistors R 1 -R 4  for compensating for the charge-injection effect. 
       FIG. 8  is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a display system  80  incorporating embodiments of integrated reference voltage generating circuit. The display system  80  of  FIG. 8  includes MUX devices  81  and  82 , a buffer  83 , a control module  84 , a timing controller  85 , a DAC  87  and a reference generating circuit  89 . The reference generating circuit  89  could be configured as the integrated reference generating circuits  30  and  70  shown in  FIGS. 3 and 7 , for example, for providing reference voltages to the DAC  87 . Based on signals sent from the control module  84 , the MUX device  81  selects from partial display mode input data, 8-color mode input data or normal mode input data as output data. When operating in normal mode, the reference generating circuit  89  performs voltage division and provides the DAC  87  a plurality of reference voltages. The MUX device  81  then selects the normal mode input data having been processed by the DAC  87  and the buffer  83  as the output data. When operating in power-saving modes, such as partial display mode and 8-color mode, the resistor circuit adopted in the reference generating circuit  89  either has both ends coupled to a power source (such as when using the integrated reference generating circuits  30 ) or disconnected from a power source (such as when using the integrated reference generating circuits  70 ). The MUX device  81  then selects the partial display mode input data or the 8-color mode input data as the output data. 
     Integrated reference voltage generating circuits can potentially occupy less circuit space than prior art structures. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.