APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DC VOLTAGE MEASUREMENT

• US 20100289481A1
• Filed: 09/16/2009
• Published: 11/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Silicon Motion Incorporated California (Silicon Motion)
• Original Assignee: Silicon Motion Incorporated California (Silicon Motion)
• Inventors: HSIAO, Li Shuo
• Granted Patent: US 8,324,884 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/120
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/003 Measuring mean values of current or voltage during a given time interval
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/18 using conversion of DC into AC, e.g. with choppers

Abstract

The invention provides a method for DC voltage measurement. First, an input DC voltage is received. A temporary disturbance signal is then added to the input DC voltage to obtain a disturbed signal, wherein an amplitude of the temporary disturbance signal is greater than precision level of an analog-to-digital converter. The disturbed signal is then converted from analog to digital with the analog-to-digital converter to obtain a plurality of samples with different values. An average value is then derived from the samples. Finally, the average value is output as a measurement value of the input DC voltage.

Claims

1. A method for DC voltage measurement, comprising:

receiving an input DC voltage;

adding a temporary disturbance signal to the input DC voltage to obtain a disturbed signal, wherein an amplitude of the temporary disturbance signal is greater than precision level of an analog-to-digital converter;

converting the disturbed signal from analog to digital with the analog-to-digital converter to obtain a plurality of samples with different values;

deriving an average value from the samples; and

outputting the average value as a measurement value of the input DC voltage.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein adding of the temporary disturbance signal comprises:

lowering the voltage of the disturbed signal to a ground voltage; and

gradually charging the disturbed signal from the ground voltage to the input DC voltage.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein adding of the temporary disturbance signal comprises:

coupling an output node of the disturbed signal to the input DC voltage;

coupling a capacitor between the output node and the ground voltage; and

coupling a switch circuit between the output node and the ground voltage,

wherein lowering of the voltage of the disturbed signal comprises;

switching on the switch circuit to couple the output node to the ground voltage;

charging of the disturbed signal comprises; and

switching off the switch circuit to decouple the output node from the ground voltage.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the temporary disturbance signal is a sine wave, and the amplitude of the sine wave is greater than half of the precision level of the analog-to-digital converter.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein adding of the temporary disturbance signal comprises:

generating a sine wave as the temporary disturbance signal with a sine wave generator, wherein the amplitude of the sine wave is greater than half of the precision level of the analog-to-digital converter; and

adding the sine wave to the input DC voltage to obtain the disturbed signal.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein deriving of the average value comprises:

selecting a plurality of first samples from the samples; and

averaging the first samples to obtain the average value.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein deriving of the average value comprises:

selecting a plurality of first samples from the samples;

averaging the first samples to obtain an average sample value; and

adding a compensation value to the average sample value to obtain the average value.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein deriving of the average value comprises:

selecting a plurality of first samples from the samples; and

averaging the first samples according to a plurality of weights respectively corresponding to the first samples to obtain the average value.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the voltage of the disturbed signal gradually approaches the input DC value, and the weights corresponding to the samples increase with the time for sampling the first samples.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input DC voltage is a battery voltage.

20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input DC voltage is a battery voltage.

11. An apparatus for DC voltage measurement, comprising:

a disturbance circuit, receiving an input DC voltage, and adding a temporary disturbance signal to the input DC voltage to obtain a disturbed signal;

an analog-to-digital converter, converting the disturbed signal from analog to digital to obtain a plurality of samples with different values; and

a controller, deriving an average value from the samples, and outputting the average value as a measurement value of the input DC voltage,

wherein an amplitude of the temporary disturbance signal is greater than precision level of the analog-to-digital converter.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the disturbance circuit lowers the voltage of the disturbed signal to a ground voltage, and then gradually charges the disturbed signal from the ground voltage to the input DC voltage, thereby adding the temporary disturbance signal to the input DC voltage.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the disturbance circuit comprises:

a capacitor, coupled between an output node of the disturbed signal and the ground voltage, wherein the output node is further coupled to the input DC voltage; and

a switch circuit, coupled between the output node and the ground voltage, switched on to couple the output node to the ground voltage to lower the voltage of the disturbed signal to the ground voltage, and switched off to decouple the output node from the ground voltage to charge the disturbed signal to the input DC voltage.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the temporary disturbance signal is a sine wave, and the amplitude of the sine wave is greater than half of the precision level of the analog-to-digital converter.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the disturbance circuit comprises:

a sine-wave generator, generating a sine wave as the temporary disturbance signal, wherein the amplitude of the sine wave is greater than half of the precision level of the analog-to-digital converter; and

an adding circuit, adding the sine wave to the input DC voltage to obtain the disturbed signal.

16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the controller selects a plurality of first samples from the samples, and averages the first samples to obtain the average value.

17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the controller selects a plurality of first samples from the samples, averages the first samples to obtain an average sample value, and adds a compensation value to the average sample value to obtain the average value.

18. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the controller selects a plurality of first samples from the samples, and averages the first samples according to a plurality of weights respectively corresponding to the first samples to obtain the average value.

19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the voltage of the disturbed signal gradually approaches the input DC value, and the weights corresponding to the samples increase with the time for sampling the first samples.