Shared Voltage Ladder PWM DACs for Matched Output Voltages
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital-to-analog converters (DACs) experience mismatched output voltages due to process, voltage, and temperature variations when using separate voltage ladders, leading to inconsistent reference voltages across multiple converters.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a common resistive voltage ladder shared among multiple pulse-width modulation (PWM) DACs, where a reference current source generates reference voltages used by each DAC, ensuring that the DACs select adjacent voltage levels and control their contribution through clock signals to produce matched digital-to-analog output voltages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If separate voltage ladders are used for each DAC, then device complexity is reduced and ease of manufacture is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to mismatched output voltages from process, voltage, and temperature variations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate voltage ladders into a single shared voltage ladder that serves all DACs. This consolidation ensures that all DACs reference the same voltage nodes, eliminating mismatches caused by independent ladder variations due to process, voltage, and temperature effects, while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The shared voltage ladder performs multiple functions by providing reference voltages to all DACs simultaneously. This universal structure ensures consistent reference voltages across all converters without requiring separate dedicated ladders for each DAC, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing ease and precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If a common voltage ladder is shared among multiple DACs, then manufacturing precision is improved through consistent reference voltages, but device complexity increases due to the shared structure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate voltage ladders into a single shared voltage ladder that serves all DACs. This consolidation ensures that all DACs reference the same voltage nodes, eliminating mismatches caused by independent ladder variations due to process, voltage, and temperature effects, while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
3Device complexity
If separate voltage ladders are used for each DAC, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to inconsistent reference voltages under process, voltage, and temperature variations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate voltage ladders into a single shared voltage ladder that serves all DACs. This consolidation ensures that all DACs reference the same voltage nodes, eliminating mismatches caused by independent ladder variations due to process, voltage, and temperature effects, while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The shared voltage ladder creates equipotential reference points that all DACs access simultaneously. This ensures that all DACs operate from the same voltage potential references, eliminating potential differences and mismatches that would otherwise arise from separate ladders experiencing different PVT conditions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution ensures that all DACs receive consistent reference voltages, reducing mismatches and maintaining accuracy across different operating conditions, thereby enhancing the reliability and precision of the output voltages generated by the DACs.
Implementation Method 1
a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage are selected from a plurality of reference voltages generated by a resistive ladder
Data Source
AI summary
A voltage ladder is used to generate reference voltages. The voltage ladder is used by multiple digital-to-analog converters (DACs). In particular, the voltage ladder is used by multiple pulse-width modulation (PWM) DACs. Having multiple DACs utilize a common voltage ladder for their reference voltages reduces mismatched output voltages between DACs. Having multiple DACs utilize the common voltage ladder helps ensure that the reference voltages used by different DACs are not affected by process, voltage, and/or temperature variations in the reference voltages that would occur when using different voltage ladders for each DAC.