Patent ID: 7215272

Claim:
A system for generating an analog output from a digital input signal, comprising: a plurality of channels, each channel corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of multi-level electrical signals; a distributed PWM signal generator operative to generate a plurality of distributed PWM signals based on a first digital signal derived from the digital input signal, the first digital signal including first and second digital sub-signals carrying a predetermined number of least significant bits (LSBs) and a plurality of remaining most significant bits (MSBs), respectively, of a multi-bit value carried by the first digital signal, each distributed PWM signal being associated with a respective one of the plurality of channels; an encoder operative to generate a plurality of first sets of control signals based on the second digital sub-signal, each first set of control signals being associated with a respective one of the plurality of channels; a controller including a plurality of level selectors, each level selector being associated with a respective one of the plurality of channels and operative to assert each one of a second set of control signals of the respective channel in response to a respective set of the plurality of first sets of control signals and a respective one of the plurality of distributed PWM signals; and switching circuitry including a plurality of sets of switches, each set of switches being associated with a respective one of the plurality of channels; wherein each switch in the set of switches of a respective one of the plurality of channels is operative in response to an assertion of a respective one of the second set of control signals of the respective channel to enable the respective set of switches to provide one of a set of distinct levels of the respective multi-level electrical signal corresponding to the channel associated therewith at a given time interval, wherein each one of the plurality of multi-level electrical signals provided by the plurality of sets of switches corresponds to a respective one of a plurality of analog component outputs generated from the plurality of multi-level electrical signals, and wherein the analog output is formed by additively combining the plurality of analog component outputs.