Semiconductor Device and Method of Direct Measurement and Acquisition of MEMS Employing Sigma-Delta Loop
First Claim
1. A measurement circuit for a microelectromechanical system (MEMS), comprising:
- a sensing node for measuring a state of the MEMS;
an integrator;
a first capacitor coupled between the sensing node and an input of the integrator;
an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) including an input coupled to an output of the integrator and an output providing a digital signal representative of the state of the MEMS;
a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) including an input coupled to the output of the ADC; and
a second capacitor coupled between an output of the DAC and the sensing node.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A semiconductor device measures a state of a MEMS as a first voltage variation at a sensing node. The state of the MEMS includes a capacitance. A first capacitor is coupled between the sensing node and an input of an integrator for transferring the first voltage variation to a second node as a first signal. A second voltage variation is routed through a second capacitor to the second node as a second signal. The integrator integrates the first signal and second signal to provide an integrated signal. An ADC has an input coupled to an output of the integrator and converts the integrated signal to a digital signal representative of the capacitance of the MEMS. A DAC has an input coupled to the output of the ADC. A second capacitor is coupled between an output of the DAC and the sensing node.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A measurement circuit for a microelectromechanical system (MEMS), comprising:
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a sensing node for measuring a state of the MEMS; an integrator; a first capacitor coupled between the sensing node and an input of the integrator; an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) including an input coupled to an output of the integrator and an output providing a digital signal representative of the state of the MEMS; a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) including an input coupled to the output of the ADC; and a second capacitor coupled between an output of the DAC and the sensing node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of measuring a microelectromechanical system (MEMS), comprising:
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sensing a state of the MEMS as a first voltage variation at a sensing node; transferring the first voltage variation through a first capacitor to a second node as a first signal; providing a second voltage variation through a second capacitor to the second node as a second signal; integrating the first signal and second signal to provide an integrated signal; converting the integrated signal to a digital signal representative of the state of the MEMS; converting the digital signal to an analog signal; and routing the analog signal through a third capacitor to the sensing node. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A semiconductor device for measuring a microelectromechanical system (MEMS), comprising:
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a sensing node for measuring the MEMS; a first integrator; a first capacitor coupled between the sensing node and an input of the first integrator; an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) including an input coupled to an output of the first integrator and an output providing a digital signal representative of the state of the MEMS; and a feedback circuit coupled between the output of the ADC and the sensing node. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of measuring a microelectromechanical system (MEMS), comprising:
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sensing a state of the MEMS as a first voltage variation at a sensing node; transferring the first voltage variation through a first capacitor to a second node as a first signal; integrating the first signal to provide an integrated signal; and converting the integrated signal to a digital signal representative of the state of the MEMS. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification