Digital Gain Control Using Sign-Bit Time Slot Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Integrated circuits without Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus or Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus face instability in gain value due to unstable voltage on specific pins, necessitating additional pins for gain control, which increases cost and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A gain control device that identifies the position of the most significant bit (sign bit) in the time slot of the input data to determine the gain value, eliminating the need for I2C/SPI bus and additional pins, using sign bit identification and gain determination devices within channel amplification modules.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If voltage is applied to a specific pin to control gain value, then gain control can be achieved, but output gain becomes unstable when voltage is disturbed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the voltage-based control mechanism with a digital signal-based mechanism. Instead of applying analog voltage to a specific pin to control gain, the invention uses a digital control signal where the position of the most significant bit (MSB) in a data sequence indicates the desired gain value. This substitution of mechanical/electrical control with digital logic control eliminates the instability caused by voltage disturbances on specific pins.
2Ease of operation
If communication interface such as I2C or SPI bus is provided, then gain control command can be transmitted, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the data input interface multi-functional by enabling it to serve both data transmission and gain control purposes. The existing parallel data input interface, originally designed only for data input, is enhanced to also carry gain control information through the position of the MSB in the data sequence. This eliminates the need for separate dedicated communication interfaces like I2C or SPI buses, thereby reducing device complexity and cost while maintaining gain control capability.
3Ease of operation
If additional specific pin is assigned for gain control, then gain control can be implemented, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the data input interface multi-functional by enabling it to serve both data transmission and gain control purposes. The existing parallel data input interface, originally designed only for data input, is enhanced to also carry gain control information through the position of the MSB in the data sequence. This eliminates the need for separate dedicated communication interfaces like I2C or SPI buses, thereby reducing device complexity and cost while maintaining gain control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the gain control function with the existing data input function. By encoding gain control information within the data sequence itself (using MSB position), the invention combines two separate functions (data input and gain control) into a single integrated mechanism, eliminating the need for additional pins and reducing overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A gain control device comprises a sign bit identification device and a gain determination device. The sign bit identification device is used to receive a data, identify a sign bit, and obtain a position of a time slot corresponding to the sign bit. Also, the data comprises a plurality of bits, wherein the most significant bit of the bits is designed to be a sign bit which is used to represent a positive or negative value of the data. The gain determination device is electrically connected to the sign bit identification device, and the gain determination device is used to determine a gain value for amplifying the data based on the position of the time slot corresponding to the sign bit identified through the sign bit identification device.