Voltage-to-current circuit and voltage-controlled oscillator apparatus
First Claim
1. A voltage-to-current circuit for converting an input voltage signal to an output current signal in proportion and outputting the output current signal to a current control oscillator, the voltage-to-current circuit comprising:
- a switching transistor, being turned on when the voltage-to-current circuit is activated;
a working transistor, having a control terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal, the control terminal being coupled to the input voltage signal to receive the input voltage signal, the first terminal being coupled to a ground level, the second terminal being coupled to one terminal of the switching transistor, the input voltage signal determining a conductance of the working transistor and being used for generating an output at the second terminal of the working transistor;
a current mirror circuit, at least including a pair of transistors, coupled to a supply voltage level and another terminal of the switching transistor, configured for generating the output current signal according to the output at the second terminal of the working transistor; and
at least two low leakage manufacturing process transistors, coupled to the control terminal and the second terminal of the working transistor;
wherein, the working transistor and the current mirror circuit correspond to a first threshold voltage of a low power manufacturing process, the switching transistor and the at least two low leakage manufacturing process transistors correspond to a second threshold voltage of a low leakage manufacturing process, the second threshold voltage being higher than the first threshold voltage; and
, when the voltage-to-current circuit is disabled, the switching transistor is turned off to become open, and the at least two low leakage manufacturing process transistors are turned on, to make the control terminal and the second terminal of the working transistor be coupled to the ground level.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A voltage-to-current circuit employs low leakage manufacturing process transistor(s) to connect at least one non-controlled terminal (e.g. source, drain, or base of MOSFET) and/or control terminal (e.g. gate of MOSFET) of a low power manufacturing process transistor to a predetermined level such as ground level or power supply voltage level when turning off the low power manufacturing process transistor, so as to connect at least two terminals of the low power manufacturing process transistor to the same voltage level, for avoiding or reducing leakage current of the low power manufacturing process transistor when it is turned off.
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8 Claims
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1. A voltage-to-current circuit for converting an input voltage signal to an output current signal in proportion and outputting the output current signal to a current control oscillator, the voltage-to-current circuit comprising:
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a switching transistor, being turned on when the voltage-to-current circuit is activated; a working transistor, having a control terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal, the control terminal being coupled to the input voltage signal to receive the input voltage signal, the first terminal being coupled to a ground level, the second terminal being coupled to one terminal of the switching transistor, the input voltage signal determining a conductance of the working transistor and being used for generating an output at the second terminal of the working transistor; a current mirror circuit, at least including a pair of transistors, coupled to a supply voltage level and another terminal of the switching transistor, configured for generating the output current signal according to the output at the second terminal of the working transistor; and at least two low leakage manufacturing process transistors, coupled to the control terminal and the second terminal of the working transistor; wherein, the working transistor and the current mirror circuit correspond to a first threshold voltage of a low power manufacturing process, the switching transistor and the at least two low leakage manufacturing process transistors correspond to a second threshold voltage of a low leakage manufacturing process, the second threshold voltage being higher than the first threshold voltage; and
, when the voltage-to-current circuit is disabled, the switching transistor is turned off to become open, and the at least two low leakage manufacturing process transistors are turned on, to make the control terminal and the second terminal of the working transistor be coupled to the ground level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A voltage-to-current circuit, for converting an input voltage signal into an output current signal in proportion and outputting the output current signal to a current controlled oscillator, the voltage-to-current circuit comprising:
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a switching transistor, being turned on when the voltage-to-current circuit is activated; a working transistor, having a control terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal, the control terminal being coupled to the input voltage signal to receive the input voltage signal, the first terminal being coupled to a ground level, the second terminal being coupled to one terminal of the switching transistor, the input voltage signal determining a conductance of the working transistor and being used for generating an output at the second terminal of the working transistor; a current mirror circuit, at least comprising a pair of transistors, the current mirror circuit being coupled to a supply voltage level and another terminal of the switching transistor, configured for generating the output current signal according to the output at the second terminal of the working transistor; and at least one low leakage manufacturing process transistor, coupled to at least one non-control terminal of at least one of the pair of transistors of the current mirror circuit; wherein, the working transistor and the current mirror circuit both correspond to a first threshold voltage of a low power manufacturing process, the switching transistor and the at least one low leakage manufacturing process transistor both correspond to a second threshold voltage of a low leakage manufacturing process, the second threshold voltage is higher than the first threshold voltage; and
, when the voltage-to-current circuit is disabled, the switching transistor is turned off to be open, and the at least one low leakage manufacturing process transistor is turned on, to couple a plurality of non-control terminals of at least one of the pair of transistors of the current mirror circuit to the supply voltage level.
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7. A voltage-controlled oscillator apparatus, comprising:
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a current-controlled oscillator, configured for generating an output frequency signal according to a current signal; and a voltage-to-current circuit, configured for converting an input voltage signal into a current signal in proportion and outputting the current signal to the current-controlled oscillator, the voltage-to-current circuit comprising; a switching transistor, being turned on when the voltage-to-current circuit is enabled; a working transistor, including a control terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal, the control terminal being coupled to the input voltage signal to receive the input voltage signal, the first terminal being coupled to a ground level, the second terminal being coupled to one terminal of the switching transistor, the input voltage signal determining a conductance of the working transistor to generate an output at the second terminal of the working transistor; a current mirror circuit, comprising a pair of transistors, the current mirror circuit being coupled to a supply voltage level and another terminal of the switching transistor and used for generating the output current signal according to the output at the second terminal of the working transistor; and at least two low leakage manufacturing process transistors, coupled to the control terminal and the second terminal of the working transistor; wherein, the working transistor and the current mirror circuit both correspond to a first threshold voltage of a low power manufacturing process, and the switching transistor and the at least two low leakage manufacturing process transistors both correspond to a second threshold voltage of a low leakage manufacturing process, the second threshold voltage is higher than the first threshold voltage; and
, when the voltage-to-current circuit is disabled, the switching transistor is turned off to be open, and the at least two low leakage manufacturing process transistors are turned on, to couple the control terminal the second terminal of the working transistor to the ground level.
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8. A voltage-controlled oscillator apparatus, comprising:
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a current-controlled oscillator, configured for generating an output frequency signal according to a current signal; and a voltage-to-current circuit, configured for converting an input voltage signal into a current signal in proportion and outputting the current signal to the current-controlled oscillator, the voltage-to-current circuit comprising; a switching transistor, being turned on when the voltage-to-current circuit is enabled; a working transistor, having a control terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal, the control terminal being coupled to the input voltage signal to receive the input voltage signal, the first terminal being coupled to a ground level, the second terminal being coupled to a terminal of the switching transistor, the input voltage signal determining a conductance of the working transistor to generate an output at the second terminal of the working transistor; a current mirror circuit, comprising a pair of transistors, coupled to a supply voltage level and another terminal of the switching transistor, configured for generating the output current signal according to the output at the second terminal of the working transistor; and at least one low leakage manufacturing process transistor, coupled to at least one non-control terminal of at least one of the pair of transistors of the current mirror circuit; wherein the working transistor and the current mirror circuit both correspond to a first threshold voltage of a low power manufacturing process, the switching transistor and the at least one low leakage manufacturing process transistor both correspond to a second threshold voltage of a low leakage manufacturing process, the second threshold voltage is higher than the first threshold voltage; and
, when the voltage-to-current circuit is disabled, the switching transistor is turned off to be open, and the at least one low leakage manufacturing process transistor is turned on, to couple a plurality of non-control terminals of at least one of the pair of transistors of the current mirror circuit to the supply voltage level.
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Specification