Patent ID: 7193449

Claim:
An apparatus for generating a plurality of phase signals having different phases, said apparatus comprising: a memory that stores a plurality of data segments for defining a period of a single signal; a selector circuit that, in each of a plurality of segment intervals constituting a phase signal cycle for generating said phase signals, selects from a plurality of data segments defining a period of a single signal stored in said memory a segment for constituting each of said phase signals and delivers the selected segment, wherein: each of said segment intervals includes a plurality of segment subintervals corresponding to said plurality of phase signals, respectively, and said selector circuit includes: a timing circuit that defines said plurality of segment intervals and said plurality of segment subintervals; and a reading circuit that reads, for each of said phase signals, said selected segment from said memory during said segment subinterval corresponding to each of said phase signal in each of said segment intervals; and a generator circuit that generates each of said phase signals using a plurality of said selected segments for each of said phase signals during said plurality of segment intervals, said generator circuit including: an acquisition circuit that acquires and holds each of said selected segments for said plurality of phase signals from said memory; and an output circuit that simultaneously outputs from said acquisition circuit each of said selected segments for said plurality of phase signals at the end of each of said segment intervals.