Common mode early voltage compensation subcircuit for current driver
First Claim
1. A driver circuit comprising:
- driving circuitry driving differential signals over a twisted pair cable and driving common mode current signals containing information over said twisted pair cable, said driving circuitry comprising driving transistors and having a bias voltage, said driving transistors coupled to said twisted pair cable; and
a subcircuit coupled to said driving circuitry and modifying an effective common mode early voltage characteristic of said driving transistors in response to variations in said bias voltage from a reference voltage level, said subcircuit effectively reducing common mode current flow over said twisted pair cable in response to variations of said bias voltage from said reference voltage level.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a driver circuit for a twisted pair cable, a compensator for preventing appreciable common mode current flow into or out of the twisted pair cable in response to the device receiving a wide range of common mode voltage bias levels. A wide range of external bias voltages may be received as a result of variations in the ground node voltages of two coupled devices. The compensator circuit utilizes a feed back loop and monitors the bias voltage received on the twisted pair cable. As the magnitude of the common mode current increases due to external bias voltage variation from a reference bias voltage, the current flow of p-channel transistors, coupled in an arrangement of the present invention, is increased (or decreased, as necessary) so that reduced common mode current flows onto the twisted pair cable. The present invention reduces appreciable common mode current flow through the twisted pair cable from the driver that are due to variations in the external bias voltage between communication devices. The present invention provides high common mode output impedance for the driver circuit by altering the effective common mode common mode early voltage characteristics of the driver circuit while utilizing shorter channel length transistors for high speed communication capacity. The present invention also offers reduced current supply capacity of the common mode bias voltage source. The present invention operates ideally within driver circuits compatible with the IEEE P1394 communication standard.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A driver circuit comprising:
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driving circuitry driving differential signals over a twisted pair cable and driving common mode current signals containing information over said twisted pair cable, said driving circuitry comprising driving transistors and having a bias voltage, said driving transistors coupled to said twisted pair cable; and a subcircuit coupled to said driving circuitry and modifying an effective common mode early voltage characteristic of said driving transistors in response to variations in said bias voltage from a reference voltage level, said subcircuit effectively reducing common mode current flow over said twisted pair cable in response to variations of said bias voltage from said reference voltage level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A high speed current driver circuit comprising:
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(a) a biased driver circuit driving differential and common mode current signals containing information over a twisted pair cable, said driver circuit driving high, low and null signals representative of digital information, said driver circuit comprising; a first pair of transistors coupled to said twisted pair cable for driving differential signals; a second pair of transistors coupled to said twisted pair cable for driving common mode signals; and a third pair of transistors coupled to said twisted pair cable, said third pair of transistors for use in conjunction with said first pair and said second pair of transistors; and (b) a common mode early voltage compensation circuit coupled to said biased driver circuit, said common mode early voltage compensation circuit monitoring a bias voltage level and minimizing common mode current flow over said twisted pair cable in response to variations of said bias voltage level from a reference bias voltage. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A driver circuit for communicating information over a twisted pair cable, said driver circuit comprising:
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first circuitry for generating differential voltage signals over said twisted pair cable, said differential signals representative of binary data, said first circuitry having a bias voltage; second circuitry for generating a common mode voltage signal over said twisted pair cable, said second circuitry responsive to a speed signal input, and said common mode voltage signal for indicating a high speed transmission rate; and a common mode early voltage compensation circuit coupled to said first and second circuitry for monitoring said bias voltage and for minimizing common mode current flow over said twisted pair cable in response to variations of said bias voltage from a reference bias voltage level. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A communication network comprising:
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a plurality of communicating devices comprising a general purpose computer system, a digital graphic display device, a digital graphic input device, and a digital information storage device; and associated with individual devices of said network, a driver circuit for communicating information over a twisted pair cable, said driver circuit comprising; driving circuitry driving differential signals over said twisted pair cable and driving common mode current signals containing information over said twisted pair cable, said driving circuitry comprising driving transistors and having a bias voltage, said driving transistors coupled to said twisted pair cable; and a subcircuit coupled to said driving circuitry and modifying an effective common mode early voltage characteristic of said driving transistors responsive to variations in said bias voltage from a reference voltage level, said subcircuit effectively reducing common mode current flow over said twisted pair cable in response to variations of when said bias voltage from said reference voltage level. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. In a communication device, a method of communicating information over a twisted pair cable, said method comprising the steps of:
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generating differential voltage signals over said twisted pair cable, said differential voltage signals representative of digital information for transmission, said step of generating differential voltage signals performed by a single driver circuit; generating common mode voltage signal over said twisted pair cable, said common mode voltage signal for signaling communication speed information, said step of generating common mode voltage signal also performed by said single driver circuit; monitoring a bias voltage of said single driver circuit; and minimizing common mode current flow over said twisted pair cable in response to variations of said bias voltage from a reference bias voltage level. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification