Patent ID: 7605653

Claim:
An amplifier capable of driving an analog load, the amplifier comprising: a sigma delta modulator (SDM) producing a plurality of noise-shaped output pulses based upon a digital input signal to the amplifier and an error signal; a pulse processing circuit, the pulse processing circuit processing at least a portion of the plurality of noise-shaped output pulses to ensure that each of the noise-shaped output pulses in the portion contains an amount of energy that is as close as possible to the amount of energy in the other noise-shaped output pulses; an output stage coupled to the pulse processing circuit, the output stage having a first state wherein the output stage provides analog noise-shaped output energy pulses to a load and a second state where an output energy delivered is essentially zero; and a feedback loop coupled between an output of the output stage and an input of the SDM, the feedback loop sampling the analog noise-shaped output energy pulses provided to the load during the first state by measuring the load during the second state, and generating an error signal based on the difference between the sampled analog noise-shaped output energy pulses and the input digital signal to the amplifier.