Programmable non-volatile analog voltage source devices and methods
First Claim
1. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single integrated circuit:
- a pair of electrically erasable floating gate differential analog voltage storage cells for storing an analog voltage as a difference between a pair of voltages stored in the differential analog voltage storage cells, and for providing as an output at least one analog voltage output in response thereto;
buffer means responsive to the output of the differential analog voltage storage cells to provide a low impedance analog output in response thereto; and
,write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in the pair of electrically erasable floating gate differential analog voltage storage cells.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Programmable non-volatile analog voltage source devices and methods wherein analog voltages may be sampled and stored in a non-volatile manner for output, typically through parallel output buffers. In one form and in a single integrated circuit, an input provided to the circuit may be stored at any analog storage location as determined by an address also provided to the circuit, the storage location determining at which of the outputs of the circuit the stored value will appear. While the storage, achieved by way of storage of differential voltages in floating gate MOSFET devices, is non-volatile, the same is also electrically alterable as desired. Various alternate embodiments and methods including the ability to address multiple pages of analog storage locations for storage of analog signals and selective parallel output of each page of the storage, output enable capabilities, parallel inputs and digital inputs are disclosed.
167 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single integrated circuit:
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a pair of electrically erasable floating gate differential analog voltage storage cells for storing an analog voltage as a difference between a pair of voltages stored in the differential analog voltage storage cells, and for providing as an output at least one analog voltage output in response thereto; buffer means responsive to the output of the differential analog voltage storage cells to provide a low impedance analog output in response thereto; and
,write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in the pair of electrically erasable floating gate differential analog voltage storage cells. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single integrated circuit:
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a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and for providing as an output at least one analog voltage output in response thereto, said analog sample storage array including pairs of storage elements, said analog voltages being stored as differences between voltages maintained by said pairs of elements; addressing means for directing an analog voltage input signal to one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array dependent upon an input to the addressing means; and
,write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array dependent upon the then current input to the addressing means. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
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6. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single integrated circuit:
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a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and for providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs in response thereto; addressing means for directing an analog voltage input signal to a selected one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array with said selected location being identified by an input to the addressing means; and
,write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in said selected analog voltage storage location of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and
whereineach of the analog voltage storage locations in said nonvolatile analog sample storage array comprise differential analog voltage storage cells, whereby an analog voltage stored in said nonvolatile analog sample storage array is stored as two voltages, the difference between the two representing the stored analog voltage, and further comprising means responsive to the voltage of a single ended input signal for providing two voltages having a differential voltage responsive to the sampled voltage to said differential analog voltage storage cells.
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7. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single-integrated circuit:
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a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and for providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs in response thereto; addressing means for directing an analog voltage input signal to a selected one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array with said selected location being identified by an input to the addressing means; write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in said selected analog voltage storage location of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and a sample and hold circuit also responsive to the write signal for sampling the voltage of the analog input signal and temporarily holding at the output of the sample and hold circuit a voltage responsive to the sampled voltage, and wherein said write means is responsive to the write signal to cause the analog voltage input as held in said sample and hold circuit to be stored in one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array dependent upon the then current input to the addressing means. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single integrated circuit:
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a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and for providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs in response thereto; addressing means for directing an analog voltage input signal to a selected one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array with said selected location being identified by an input to the addressing means; write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in said selected analog voltage storage location of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and a means for providing an output signal indicative of the completion of a write operation by said write means.
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18. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single integrated circuit:
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a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and for providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs in response thereto; addressing means for directing an analog voltage input signal to a selected one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array with said selected location being identified by an input to the addressing means; write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in said selected analog voltage storage location of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and digital to analog convertor means for receiving a multi-bit parallel digital signal and converting said multi-bit parallel digital signal to an analog signal as said analog input signal to said write means. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single integrated circuit:
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a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and for providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs in response thereto; addressing means for directing an analog voltage input signal to a selected one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array with said selected location being identified by an input to the addressing means; and
,write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in said selected analog voltage storage location of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and
whereinsaid nonvolatile analog sample storage array is a means for storing a first plurality of analog voltages, said addressing means is a means for directing a second plurality of analog voltage input signals to an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array dependent upon the input to the addressing means; and
,said write means is responsive to a write signal to cause a second plurality of analog voltage inputs to be stored in a second plurality of said first plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array dependent upon the then current input to the addressing means. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single integrated circuit:
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a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and for providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs in response thereto; addressing means for directing an analog voltage input signal to a selected one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array with said selected location being identified by an input to the addressing means; and write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in said selected analog voltage storage location of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and
whereinthe addressing means includes means for providing an analog voltage input signal as an output for the respective one of the plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs dependent upon the input to the addressing means.
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23. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single integrated circuit:
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a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and for providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs in response thereto; addressing means for directing an analog voltage input signal to a selected one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array with said selected location being identified by an input to the addressing means; and
,write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in said selected analog voltage storage location of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and
whereinthe write means is responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be compared with the analog voltage output of the respective analog voltage storage location and to provide a fine programming sequence in response thereto to cause the analog voltage input to be more accurately stored in the respective analog voltage storage location.
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24. A method of providing a plurality of nonvolatile analog voltages comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs; (b) storing a plurality of analog voltages in selected analog voltage storage locations of the nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and
,(c) statically reading out the plurality of analog voltages stored in the selected analog voltage storage locations of the nonvolatile analog sample storage array to provide a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs; and
whereinin step (a), each storage location in the nonvolatile analog sample storage array is a pair of differential analog voltage storage cells; in step (b), each analog voltage stored in the nonvolatile analog sample storage array is stored as two voltages, the difference between the two representing the stored analog voltage; and step (c) further includes the step of converting each pair of voltages to an analog voltage proportional to the difference between the respective pair of voltages.
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25. A method of providing a plurality of nonvolatile analog voltages comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs; (b) storing a plurality of analog voltages in selected analog voltage storage locations of the nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and
,(c) statically reading out the plurality of analog voltages stored in the selected analog voltage storage locations of the nonvolatile analog sample storage array to provide a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs; and
whereinin step (b), the analog voltages to be stored are first provided in digital form and then converted to analog form for storage; and in step (b), the analog voltages to be stored are provided in bit parallel digital form and then converted to analog form for storage. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. A method of providing a plurality of nonvolatile analog voltages comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs; (b) storing a plurality of analog voltages in selected analog voltage storage locations of the nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and
,(c) statically reading out the plurality of analog voltages stored in the selected analog voltage storage locations of the nonvolatile analog sample storage array to provide a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs; and
whereinthe plurality of analog voltage storage locations of step (a) is N times the plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs provided in step (c) at any one time, so that any of N pages of parallel analog voltage outputs may be selectively provided in step (c). - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. A method of providing a plurality of nonvolatile analog voltages comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs; (b) storing a plurality of analog voltages in selected analog voltage storage locations of the nonvolatile analog sample storage array; (c) statically reading out the plurality of analog voltages stored in the selected analog voltage storage locations of the nonvolatile analog sample storage array to provide a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs; and (d) providing an analog voltage input signal to be stored as an output for the respective one of the plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs dependent upon the input to the addressing means.
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31. A method of providing a plurality of nonvolatile analog voltages comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and providing as an output a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs; (b) storing a plurality of analog voltages in selected analog voltage storage locations of the nonvolatile analog sample storage array; (c) statically reading out the plurality of analog voltages stored in the selected analog voltage storage locations of the nonvolatile analog sample storage array to provide a plurality of parallel analog voltage outputs; and
whereinduring the storing of an analog voltage, the analog voltage is compared with the analog voltage output of the respective analog voltage storage location and a fine programming sequence is conducted in response thereto to cause the analog voltage input to be more accurately stored in the respective analog voltage storage location.
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32. A programmable non-volatile analog voltage source comprising, in a single integrated circuit:
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a nonvolatile analog sample storage array for storing a plurality of analog voltages in an equal plurality of analog voltage storage locations and for providing as an output at least one analog voltage output in response thereto; addressing means for directing an analog voltage input signal to a selected one of said plurality of analog voltage storage locations of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array with said selected location being identified by an input to the addressing means; and
,write means responsive to a write signal to cause an analog voltage input to be stored in said selected analog voltage storage location of said nonvolatile analog sample storage array; and
whereineach of the analog voltage storage locations in said nonvolatile analog sample storage array comprise differential analog voltage storage cells, whereby an analog voltage stored in said nonvolatile analog sample storage array is stored as two voltages, the difference between the two representing the stored analog voltage, and further comprising means responsive to the voltage of a single ended input signal for providing two voltages having a differential voltage responsive to the sampled voltage to said differential analog voltage storage cells. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification