Patent Document

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/226,018, filed on Aug. 23, 2002, (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,753,801, issued on Jun. 22, 2004) the disclosure of which is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to an analog to digital converter, and to a reference voltage source for a pipeline analog to digital converter. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Modern digital signal processing circuits are of central importance to recent advances in telecommunications, human/computer interface technology, image processing, and many other technologies. Analog to digital converters (ADC&#39;s) form an essential link in the signal processing pathway at the interface between the analog and digital domains. Advances in ADC technology have increased the speed, lowered the cost, and reduced the power requirements of analog to digital converters, and resulted in a proliferation of ADC applications. 
   Among existing ADC technologies are flash ADC, successive approximation ADC, Sigma-Delta ADC, and pipelined ADC. Flash ADC is performed by a highly parallel comparison of an input analog signal to each of a set of reference voltages. Flash ADC can provide very high speed and accuracy at the cost of high component count and high power consumption. 
   Successive approximation ADC uses one or a few comparators, operated iteratively, to yield high accuracy conversion with far fewer components than flash conversion. Successive approximation ADC, however, operates at much slower conversion rates than flash ADC. 
   Sigma-Delta converters provide high accuracy conversion by oversampling, but at conversion rates that are also significantly slower than flash conversion. 
   Pipeline ADC provides analog to digital conversion that, while slower than flash conversion, is faster than most other ADC architectures. Pipeline ADC&#39;s introduce a latency (delay) between analog signal input and digital signal output. Conversion throughputs of pipeline ADC&#39;s, however, approach those of flash converters. Unlike flash converters, for which component counts increase exponentially with converter resolution, the component counts of pipeline ADC converters increase linearly with resolution. Consequently, pipeline ADC converters are relatively compact, inexpensive, and power efficient. Accordingly, pipeline ADC&#39;s are widely used in portable signal processing apparatus. 
   Pipeline ADC&#39;s require stable, low noise, reference voltages for optimum operation. Preferably, these reference voltages are available at low cost in terms of chip real estate and power consumption. 
     FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary pipeline ADC in block diagram form. The  FIG. 1  circuit is shown as a single ended ADC. In common practice, however, many pipeline ADC&#39;s are implemented as fully differential circuits. Nevertheless, single ended representation has been chosen for  FIG. 1  so as to reduce the complexity of the diagram, and enhance clarity of the disclosure. The exemplary converter  FIG. 1  includes a 10-bit pipeline ADC such as might be integrated on a single substrate with a CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) array. 
   The pipelined ADC  100  includes a sample-and-hold stage  102  followed by 9 conversion stages  104 . Each conversion stage  104  includes a coarse ADC  106  for analog to digital conversion of a stage input signal received at a stage input  108 . The coarse ADC  106  produces a 1.5 bit digital output signal at an output  110 . A 1.5 bit output includes two output bits adapted to output only three possible states, rather than the four states available on a full 2 bit output. Each conversion stage  104  also includes a coarse digital to analog converter (DAC)  112  adapted to receive the 1.5 bit digital output signal of the coarse ADC  106  and produce a corresponding analog output voltage at an analog output  114 . The digital output of the ADC conversion stage is also coupled to a digital correction circuit  118  having a plurality of digital inputs  120  each coupled to a respective one of the 9 conversion stages  104 . Each conversion stage  104  further includes a subtracting node  122  with first  124  and second  126  analog inputs, and an analog output  128 . Also included in the ADC stage  104  is a high precision gain element (amplifier)  130  with a gain of two. 
   Operation of the above-described conversion stage  104  is as follows: an analog stage input signal is received at an input  107  of the coarse ADC  106  and at the first (positive) input  124  of the subtracting node  122 . The coarse ADC  106  produces a 1.5 bit output representing one of three possible values. This 1.5 bit output is applied to the digital input  113  of the coarse DAC  112  which, responsively, produces an analog output signal with a magnitude equal to one of three possible output signal values. As further discussed below, these three output signal values are +V R /4, 0, and −V R /4 where V R  is a reference voltage of particular magnitude. The output signal of the coarse DAC is applied to the second (negative) input  126  of the subtracting node  122 . The subtracting node  122  produces an output equal to an arithmetic difference between the magnitude of the analog inputs at its first and second input terminals. This difference, referred to as a residual, is then applied to an input  131  of the high-precision gain stage  130 . The precision gain stage  130  produces an amplified residual output signal at its output  134  having a magnitude equal to two times the magnitude of the residual signal. This amplified residual signal is passed on to the input  108  of the next successive ADC stage  104 . Meanwhile, the digital output of the coarse ADC is received by the digital correction circuit  118  and logically combined with the digital outputs of the other 8 conversion stages  104  to produce a 10 bit digital output for the pipeline ADC at the output  140  of the digital correction circuit  118 . 
     FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing additional detail of the ADC conversion stage  104  described above with respect to FIG.  1 . Note that as in  FIG. 1 , the  FIG. 2  circuit is a simplified (single ended) representation of a circuit more commonly implemented as a fully differential stage. Accordingly, one sees an input terminal  108 , a coarse ADC stage  106  including first  202  and second  204  comparators each having a respective first input  206  coupled to the input terminal  108  and a respective second input  208  coupled to a respective source  210 ,  212  of a respective reference voltage. The first  202  and second  204  comparators have respective first  214  and second  216  outputs coupled to respective first  218  and second  220  inputs of a digital latch circuit  224 . 
   The digital latch circuit  224  includes a control input  226  and a 2 bit wide digital output  228 . A coarse DAC  112  includes a multiplexer  240  with a 2-bit wide digital control input  242 , first  246 , second  248 , and third  250  analog inputs and an analog output  252 . The digital control input  242  of the DAC is coupled to the digital output  228  of the latch  224 . As is well known, the analog output  252  of the multiplexer is switchingly coupled to, and assumes the electrical potential of, one of the analog inputs  246 ,  248 ,  250  depending on a signal received at the digital input  242 . 
   The precision gain circuit  130  includes a high-gain differential amplifier  130  with a positive input  260 , a negative input  262 , and an output  264 . The positive input  260  of the amplifier  130  is coupled to a source of constant potential (e.g. ground potential  300 ). The negative input  262  of the amplifier is coupled to a first plate  270  of a first capacitor  272 , and a second plate of a second capacitor  276 . The negative input  262  of the amplifier is also switchingly coupled to source of ground potential  300  by means of a switching device  280 . The first capacitor  272  has a third plate  282  switchingly alternately coupled to the output  264  of the amplifier  130  and to the input terminal  108  of the ADC converter stage  104 . The second capacitor  276  has a fourth plate  284  switchingly alternately coupled to the input terminal  108  of the ADC converter stage  104 , and the analog output  252  of the multiplexer  240 . The first  272  and second  276  capacitors have equal capacitance. Accordingly, the gain of the gain stage is 2 when the first capacitor  272  is switched into the feedback circuit  290 . 
   Each conversion stage  104  of the pipeline ADC  100  requires respective sources of five electrical potentials: ground  300  (common node voltage in a fully differential system), +V R  applied at input  246 , −V R  applied at input  250 , +V R /4 210, and −V R /4 212. 
     FIG. 3  shows a conventional reference circuit  400  for generating the delta −Vref (=Vref_hi−Vref−lo) differential reference voltage required by a fully differential pipeline ADC. The differential reference voltage delta−Vref corresponds to the +V R  and −V R  reference voltages applied at the inputs  246  and  250  of the multiplexer  240  of the single-ended  FIG. 2  circuit. The +Vref/4 and −Vref/4 signals required at the respective second inputs  208  of the  FIG. 2  comparators  202 , 204  are readily derived by a capacitive voltage dividing circuit, as known in the art. The corresponding reference voltages (delta−Vref/4) required by a fully differential pipeline ADC are achieved in the same manner. 
   The  FIG. 3  circuit includes a fixed current source  404  coupled between a source of supply voltage  406  and one end  414  of a resistive ladder  408 . The current source  404  is adapted to drive a fixed current through the resistive ladder  408 . The resistive ladder includes a plurality of resistors  410  with a respective plurality of tap nodes  412  disposed therebetween. A second end  416  of the resistive ladder  408  is coupled to a source of ground potential  300 . A first amplifier circuit  440  having a first (positive)  442  and a second (negative)  444  input and a first output  446  is provided. Also provided is a second amplifier circuit  450  with third (positive)  452  and a fourth (negative)  454  input and a second output  456 . Both amplifier circuits  440 , 450  are single ended. 
   The output  446  of the first amplifier circuit  440  is directly coupled back to the second negative input  444 , yielding a gain of 1 for the first amplifier. The output  456  of the second amplifier circuit  450  is directly coupled back to the fourth negative input  454  yielding a gain of 1 for the second amplifier. The first  442  and third  452  inputs of the respective first  440  and second  450  amplifiers are coupled to respective output terminals  460 ,  462  of respective first  464  and second  466  switching devices. The first  464  and second  466  switching devices each has three inputs  480 , each input  480  being coupled to a respective tap node  412  of the plurality of tap nodes. 
   When electrical current is driven through the resistive ladder  408  by the current source  404 , each tap node  412  assumes a particular electrical potential. When a particular tap node  412  is switchingly coupled to the respective positive input  442 , 452  of the single ended amplifier  440 ,  450 , the output  446 ,  456  of the amplifier assumes the voltage of the tap node. By an appropriate choice of tap nodes, a desired delta−Vref can be established between the respective outputs  446 , 456  of the first and second amplifiers. Because the first and second amplifiers are independent single-ended amplifiers, however, the voltage delta−Vref between the output nodes  446 ,  456  is subject to common mode noise. Moreover, the current that flows through the current ladder dissipates substantial power. Reference circuit  400  is thus costly in terms of thermal budget and battery resources, particularly in the context of miniature equipment. 
   Accordingly there is a need for a voltage reference circuit capable of supplying a stable and precise reference voltage delta−Vref to an ADC circuit such as a fully differential pipeline ADC circuit. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention applies a fully differential amplifier operating with negative feedback in the charge domain to source a stable reference voltage to, for example, a pipeline analog to digital converter (ADC). In one aspect, a reference voltage value is established by applying a voltage dropped across a single resistor to differential inputs of the fully differential amplifier through a sample and hold circuit. 
   In a further aspect of the invention the sample and hold circuit is a crowbar network adapted to transfer electric potential across a pair of matched capacitors in response to the closing of a crowbar switch. In a further aspect of the invention a fully differential amplifier is configured with capacitive feedback connections so as to exhibit unity gain. 
   In yet another aspect of the invention a control circuit is adapted to couple ancillary capacitors into the feedback circuit so as to controllably vary the gain exhibited by the differential amplifier. 
   In a still further aspect of the invention the differential output voltage output by the fully differential amplifier is divided with a further switched capacitor network to produce a divided reference voltage. In other aspect of the invention, the reference voltage and divided reference voltage are applied at inputs to an ADC such as a pipeline ADC used in a CMOS active pixel sensor array (APS). 
   In an additional aspect of the invention, the voltage dropped across the single resistor is established by the action of a programmable current source. The programmable current source is adapted to receive a control input corresponding to a required output current. The control input may be a numerical (digital) value or may be an analog signal, one or the other being implemented according to the requirements of a particular system. The control input may be a value received from an external controller, and may include a value based on a feedback signal taken from an output of the fully differential amplifier. 
   These and other advantages and features of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description of the invention which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows a conventional 10-bit Analog to Digital converter device in block diagram form; 
       FIG. 2  shows an electrical schematic diagram of a portion the 10-bit pipeline analog to digital converter device of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  shows a conventional reference voltage source including two single ended amplifier circuits; 
       FIGS. 4   a - 4   d  shows a reference voltage source including a single differential amplifier circuit in various switching states according to one aspect of the invention; 
       FIG. 5  shows a show the graphical representation with respect to time of electrical signals according to one aspect of the invention; 
       FIG. 6  shows an aspect of one embodiment of the invention in which ancillary feedback capacitors are switchingly coupled in a feedback path; 
       FIG. 7  shows an aspect of one embodiment of the invention in which a feedback connection is coupled between an output of a differential amplifier and a control input of a programmable current source; 
       FIG. 8  shows an embodiment of the invention including a reference voltage supply coupled to a pipelined ADC; 
       FIG. 9  shows an embodiment of the invention including a reference voltage supply coupled to a pipelined ADC and a CMOS APS array; 
       FIG. 10  shows an embodiment of the invention including a reference voltage supply coupled to a pipelined ADC and an audio signal processing system. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 4   a  shows a fully differential reference circuit  500  for generation and amplification of a differential reference voltage delta−Vref. The differential reference voltage delta−Vref is used by a pipeline ADC according to one aspect of the invention. Note that delta−Vref is equal to Vref high−Vref low at the output of the amplifier. Note also that the absolute value of delta−Vref corresponds to V R  of the single ended circuit of FIG.  2 . The circuit of  FIG. 4   a  includes a programmable current source  502  including a digital control input  504  a first power input terminal  506  coupled to a source of supply voltage  406  and a second output terminal  508  coupled to a high tap node  510 . A programmable current source having an analog control input  504 , or a fixed-output current source, could alternately be employed depending on system requirements. A resistor  512  includes a first end coupled to the high tap node  510  and a second end coupled to a low tap node  514 . Also coupled to the low tap node  514  is a transistor  516  configured as an active load with a gate  518  directly coupled to a drain  520  of the transistor  516 . A source of the transistor  522  is coupled to a source of ground potential  300 . A first sampling capacitor  530  includes a first plate  532  and a second plate  534  and a second sampling capacitor  536  includes a third plate  538  and a fourth plate  540 . The first plate  532  of the first capacitor  530  is switchingly coupled through a first switching device  542  to the high tap node  510 . The third plate  538  of the second capacitor  536  is switchingly coupled through a second switching device  544  to the low tap node  514 . A third switching device  550  directly switchingly couples the first plate  532  and the third plate  538  of the first and second capacitors respectively. The second plate  534  of the first capacitor  530  is coupled to a positive input  552  of a differential amplifier circuit  554 . The fourth plate  540  of the second capacitor  536  is coupled to a negative input  556  of the differential amplifier circuit  554 . 
   The differential amplifier circuit  554  includes a first output  560 , a second output  562  and a common mode input  564 . A source of common mode voltage  570  is switchingly coupled through a fourth switching device  572  to the positive input  552  of the differential amplifier  554 . The source of common mode voltage  570  is also switchingly coupled through a fifth switching device  574  to the negative input  556  of the differential amplifier  554 . A third capacitor  580  is coupled between the first output  560  and the positive input  552  of the differential amplifier  554 . A fourth capacitor  582  is coupled between the second output  562  and the negative input  556  of the differential amplifier  554 . A sixth switching device  590  is coupled in parallel with the third capacitor  580  to switchingly shunt the third capacitor  580  and a seventh switching device  592  is coupled in parallel with the fourth capacitor  582  to switchingly shunt the fourth capacitor  582 . 
   In one embodiment of the invention, each of the switching devices  542 ,  544 ,  550 ,  572 ,  574 ,  590  and  592  is implemented as an n-type transistor. However, the invention can be fabricated with complementary technology as well. 
   Operation of the circuit of  FIG. 4  is now described with reference to  FIGS. 4   a - 4   d  and FIG.  5 .  FIG. 5  shows a timing diagram indicating the operation of the devices of  FIG. 4   a  with respect to time.  FIGS. 4   b - 4   d  show the various operational configurations of the circuit  500  of  FIG. 4   a , depending on the state of the  FIG. 4   a  switching devices. 
   Referring first to  FIG. 5 , one sees a line valid signal  600  indicating a first calibration time interval  602  during which the line valid signal is low and the circuit of  FIG. 4   a  is establishing its reference voltage output.  FIG. 5  also shows a second time interval  604  during which the line valid signal  600  is high and the circuit of  FIG. 4   a  supplies the reference voltage output it produces to, e.g., the pipeline ADC  100  for pixel conversion. 
   During the line valid low time interval  602 , initially, each of the  FIG. 4   a  switching devices  542 ,  544 ,  550 ,  572 ,  574 ,  590  and  592  is in a nonconductive state as shown in  FIG. 4   a.  Thereafter, the reset signal  606  transitions from low to high  608 . Correspondingly, as shown in  FIG. 4   b , switching devices  572 ,  574 ,  590  and  592  become conductive. Accordingly, the third capacitor  580  and the fourth capacitor  582  are each bypassed by respective switching devices  590  and  592 . At the same time, the positive  552  and negative  556  inputs of the amplifier  554  are switchingly coupled to the source of common mode voltage  570 , and each assume that voltage. The second  534  and fourth  540  plates of capacitors one  530  and two  536  respectively also assume the common mode voltage  570 . This provides a common reference for the high tap and low tap voltages to be applied to the other plates  532 ,  538  of capacitors one  530  and two  536  respectively. 
   Next, as seen in  FIG. 5 , the DAC load signal  610  transitions from low to high  612 . Responsively, an N-bit digital value is latched into to the digital input  504  of the programmable current source  502 . After a time interval  614 , the DAC load signal goes low  616 , and the programmable current source  502  outputs a reference current Iref  503  that passes through the resistor  512  and the active load  516  to ground  300 . Due to the resistance of the resistor  512  and the effective resistance of the active load  516  the presence of the current Iref  503  establishes a first reference voltage at the high tap node  510  and a second reference voltage at the low tap node  514  according to Ohm&#39;s law. 
   After the DAC load signal goes low  616 , the sample and hold signal (SH 1 /SH 2 )  620  goes high  622  for a time interval  624 . As shown in  FIG. 4   c , when the sample and hold signal  620  goes high, the two switching devices SH 1   542 , SH 2   544  both become conductive and the reference circuit  500  is configured for sampling. Accordingly, the first  532  and third  538  plates of the first  530  and second  536  capacitors respectively are charged to the respective voltages of the high tap node  510  and the low tap node  514 . After the time interval  624  the sample and hold signal  620  goes low  626  and the two switching devices SH 1   542 , SH 2   544  become nonconductive. The circuit  500  is thus, once again, in the state illustrated by  FIG. 4   b.    
   The reset signal  606  then goes low  630  and switching devices  572 ,  574 ,  590  and  592  become nonconductive. This state of circuit  500  is illustrated by  FIG. 4   a.  This state endures briefly until the crowbar signal  634  goes high  636 , and correspondingly, the crowbar switching device  550  becomes conductive. The reference circuit  500  is then configured as shown in  FIG. 4   d.  Responsively, stored charged flows between the first plate  532  of the first capacitor  530  and the third plate  538  of the second capacitor  536  to equalize the voltage on the first  532  and third  538  plates. Consequently, a voltage differential develops between the second  534  and fourth  540  plates of the first  530  and second  536  capacitors respectively. This differential voltage is applied to the positive  552  and negative  556  inputs of the amplifier  554 . 
   The characteristics of the differential amplifier  554  are chosen to match the requirements of a particular ADC circuit. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, the differential amplifier is designed to be capable of driving a capacitive load with a capacitance of from about 1 pF to about 10 pF. 
   In another embodiment of the invention, the differential amplifier circuit  500  includes a capacitor adapted to receive and maintain a common mode feedback voltage supplied at the common node feedback input  564 , during a preliminary initialization phase of operation. 
   The gain of the amplifier/feedback combination  702  defined in the following equation in which Vo is output voltage, Vi is input voltage, G is gain, Cf is feedback capacitor capacitance, and Cs is Sampling capacitor capacitance:
 
 V o= G*V i , where  (1)
         G=Cs/Cf       

   Because the feedback capacitors  590 ,  592  and the charge storage capacitors  530 ,  536  all have equal capacitance in the  FIG. 4   a  embodiment, the differential amplifier circuit has a gain of 1. Accordingly, the differential voltage across the second  534  and fourth  540  plates of the first  530  and second  536  capacitors respectively appears across the positive, 560  and negative  562  outputs of the differential amplifier  554 . This voltage differential (delta−Vref) is maintained by the feedback paths supplied by the third  580  and fourth  582  capacitors. Thus, after allowing time for the amplifier  554  to stabilize, the line valid signal  600  ( FIG. 5 ) goes high  640 , indicating that the reference voltages are available for analog to digital conversion. Thereafter, a pixel clock signal  642  which was low (inactive) during the time interval  602  that the line valid signal  600  was low becomes active, and oscillates  644  between high  646  and low  648  states to clock signals through the ADC pipeline. 
   Referring again to  FIG. 4   a , in a further embodiment of the invention, the values of the feedback capacitors  580 ,  582  are chosen to be different from the values of the sampling capacitors  542  and  544 . As a result, the gain produced by the differential amplifier with feedback  702  is not unity, but more generally G, as defined in equation (1) above. 
   The respective ratios between the capacitance values of the feedback capacitors,  580 ,  582  and the sampling capacitors  530 ,  536  may be fixed, or may be variable.  FIG. 6  shows one aspect of the invention in which a circuit providing variable values of feedback capacitance may be implemented by replacing each feedback capacitor  530 ,  536  with a switchable network  712  including plural feedback capacitors  714  and switching devices  716 . In one embodiment of the invention, the number of capacitors  714  connected in parallel in the feedback circuit at any one time is under the control of a control circuit  718 . By, for example, doubling feedback capacitor capacitance Cf without changing sampling capacitor capacitance, the gain of the differential amplifier is halved thereby, halving the range of a pipeline ADC coupled to the reference voltage circuit and providing digital gain. By properly controlling the control circuit  718 , e.g., with a digital processor, the ADC gain used in reading and exemplary CMOS active pixel sensor array may be adjusted on a frame-by-frame, or even line-by-line, basis. 
   It should be noted that this halving of delta−Vref could also be achieved by programming the programmable current supply  502  to produce a second reference current  503  half as large as the first reference current. However, halving of reference current implies sacrificing precision in operation of the programmable current supply. Accordingly, in some circumstances, doubling of feedback capacitor capacitance is preferable halving reference current. 
   Referring again to  FIG. 4   a , in a further embodiment of the invention, the resistor  512  may be implemented as one of a variety of impedance devices. For example, a variable resistor may be used to provide the resistance of  512 . Alternately, a multi-tap resistive ladder including a plurality of fixed resistors connected in series with one another with a respective plurality of tap nodes therebetween can be used to provide a discretely variable resistance. In another embodiment, an active device, such as a field effect transistor may be applied in the  FIG. 4   a  circuit in place of resistor  512 . The resistance of the active device may be held fixed, or may be variable under the control of a control input. Where a variable resistance device is used for resistance  512 , the ability to vary device resistance provides a further mode for controlling the magnitude of the voltage output by the reference voltage circuit. 
   Adjustment of the programmable current supply is also used in one embodiment of the invention to compensate for amplifier offset. Without compensation, a fully differential amplifier such as the amplifier  554  of  FIG. 4   a  typically exhibits a non-zero output voltage in response to a zero differential input voltage. This non-zero output voltage is referred to as an “offset” of the amplifier. In a typical amplifier, the value of the offset may range from about 0 millivolts (mV) to about 30 mV. It is known to use an auto-zeroing scheme to charge an internal capacitor of the amplifier  554  to a potential reflecting this offset. This stored potential is then used to compensate for the amplifier offset and produce a zero differential output voltage in response to a zero applied input voltage. Accordingly, in one aspect of the invention, an amplifier including such internal auto-zeroing circuitry is employed in combination with the circuit of  FIG. 4   a.    
     FIG. 7  shows a further embodiment of the invention  740  in which an external feedback circuit is employed to compensate for amplifier offset. As illustrated, the differential output terminals  560 ,  562  of the amplifier  554  of the  FIG. 4   a  circuit are coupled to respective input terminals  742 ,  744  of a differential input of a feedback control circuit  746 . The feedback control circuit  746  includes a reference input  748  coupled to a source of a reference potential such as ground potential  300 . A digital control input  750  of the feedback circuit  746  is adapted to receive a raw digital input value, and a digital output port  752  is coupled to the digital control input  504  of the programmable current source  502 . 
   During a calibration phase, a common voltage is mutually connected to both input terminals  552 ,  556  of the differential input of the amplifier  554  (i.e., a differential voltage of zero is applied). A resulting offset voltage at the output terminals  560 ,  562  of the differential amplifier  554  is received at the inputs  742 ,  744  of the feedback circuit  746 . The feedback circuit performs an analog to digital conversion of this offset value and the resulting digital value, corresponding to the offset, is summed with a raw digital input (setpoint) received at the digital input port  750  of the feedback circuit  746 . The result of this summation is a compensated digital value which is output from the digital output  752  of the feedback circuit  746  and received at the digital input  504  of the programmable current source  502 . The result is a digital domain compensation of the amplifier  554  to remove output offset. 
   In one aspect, the invention includes a manufacturing process adapted to manufacture a reference voltage supply  500  such as that shown in  FIG. 4   a.  The manufacturing process includes the steps of providing and preparing a semiconductor substrate. The substrate is covered with a photomask in a photolithographic process adapted to dispose various components on the semiconductor substrate. Ion implantation and/or vapor deposition and/or thermal diffusion are used to dope various regions of the substrate and to fabricate electrical connections. For example resistor  512  is fabricated in a particular region of the substrate. Transistors are fabricated on the substrate to implement switching devices  542 ,  544 ,  550 ,  572 ,  574 ,  590 , and  592 . A further transistor  516  is implemented with a gate  518  and drain  520  mutually coupled to one end of the resistor  512 . Coupled to the other end of the resistor  512  is a programmable current supply  502 . The capacitors  530 ,  536 ,  580  and  582  are also fabricated on the substrate, as are the components of the differential amplifier  560 . 
     FIG. 8  shows an exemplary system in which the reference voltage supply  500  of  FIG. 4   a  is operatively coupled to a switching circuit  802  and a dividing circuit  804  to form a power supply  806  capable of producing +V R , −V R , +V R /4 and −V R /4 voltage outputs (delta−Vref and delta−Vref/4 for a fully differential ADC). As shown, the +V R /4 and −V R /4 voltage outputs are coupled to the ADC portions  106  of each stage  104  of a pipelined ADC  100  and the +V R  and −V R  voltage outputs are coupled to the DAC portions  112  of each stage  104  of the pipelined ADC  100 . The switching circuit  802  and the dividing circuit  804  each includes a respective clock input  808 ,  810 . Input  808  receives a first phase of a two-phase non-overlapping clock signal, as is known in the art, and input  810  receives a second phase of the two-phase non-overlapping clock signal. Accordingly, during a first time interval, the voltages +V R  and −V R  are received by the ADC portions  106  of the pipelined ADC converter stages  104 , and during a second time interval, the voltages +V R /4 and −V R /4 are received by the DAC portions  112  of the pipelined ADC converter stages  104 . 
     FIG. 9  shows a further circuit  820  embodying the invention including an APS array  822  made up of a plurality of active pixel sensors cells  824 . Each APS cell includes a photoreceptor  826  and a switching transistor  828 . The APS cells are connected by means of a plurality of row lines  830  to a row decoder circuit  832 . A plurality of column lines  834  connect the outputs  836  of the APS cells to respective inputs of a respective plurality of buffers  838 . Respective outputs of the plurality of buffers are activated under the control of a column decoder  842  and switchingly coupled to an input  844  of an ADC  100  through a variable gain amplifier  839 . According to the invention, the ADC  100  receives reference voltages from a reference voltage supply  806  to which it is coupled. In one aspect of the invention, the reference voltage supply is internally configured according to the circuit of  FIG. 7  to include voltage switching  802  and voltage dividing  804  circuits. 
     FIG. 10  shows another embodiment of the invention including an audio processing system  900 . The audio processing system includes a microphone  902 , an amplifier  904 , and an analog to digital converter  906 . The analog to digital converter  906  is coupled to a digital data bus  908 . Also coupled to the digital data bus are an I/O device  910 , a memory device  912 , and a digital processing unit (computer processor)  914 . A reference voltage supply  806  is coupled to the ADC according to one aspect of the invention, and the ADC  100  receives reference voltages from the reference voltage supply  806 . In operation, the audio processing system  900  receives audio signals at an input to the microphone  902 . The audio signals are converted to analog electrical signals by the microphone, and the analog electrical signals are amplified by the amplifier  904 . Amplified analog electric signals output from the amplifier  904 , are received by the ADC  906 . The ADC  906  uses the reference voltages provided by reference voltage supply  806  to convert the analog electrical signals to digital signals. The digital signals are then passed over the digital data bus  908  for processing by the processor  914 . 
   The processing systems illustrated in  FIGS. 9 and 10  are only exemplary processing systems with which the invention may be used. It should be recognized that well known modifications can be made to configure the processing system of  FIGS. 9 and 10  to become more suitable for use in a variety of applications. For example, many electronic devices which require digital signal processing may be implemented which rely on an ADC coupled to a digital processor. These electronic devices may include, but are not limited to audio/video processors and recorders, gaming consoles, digital television sets, wired or wireless telephones, navigation devices (including system based on the global positioning system (GPS) and/or inertial navigation), and digital cameras and/or recorders. The modifications may include, for example, elimination of unnecessary components, addition of specialized devices or circuits, and/or integration of a plurality of devices. 
   While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in the illustrations above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions, deletions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Technology Category: 5