Integrated circuit for conditioning and conversion of bi-directional discrete and analog signals
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An integrated circuit providing a general purpose interface within an electrical system ands capable of accepting electrical input signals with various characteristics and providing electrical output signals with various characteristics, said integrated circuit comprising:
- a plurality of signal conditioning cells each capable of accepting said input electrical signals with various characteristics and providing said output electrical signals with various characteristics and each comprising a pair of physical leads, an input conditioning circuit connected to said pair of physical leads and capable of buffering said input electrical signals of various characteristics into an input electrical signal with standard characteristics, and an output conditioning circuit capable of buffering an output electrical signal with standard characteristics into electrical signals with various characteristics and including a voltage driver, a current driver, and transmission gates connecting said voltage and said current drivers to said physical leads;
a signal conversion cell connected to each of said plurality of signal conditioning cells and comprising an analog to digital conversion circuit for converting said input electrical signals with standard characteristics into a plurality of input digital values, a digital to analog conversion circuit for converting a plurality of output digital values into output electrical signals with standard characteristics, a plurality of registers accessible by an external computer, said registers storing digital values, and decoders to map said digital values to addresses from said registers corresponding to particular ones of said signal conditioning cells, and a sequencer and control circuit for coordinating operations in said integrated circuit;
an input signal multiplexor comprising an analog input signal bus and a plurality of transmission gates, each connected between one of said signal conditioning cells and said input signal bus; and
an output signal multiplexor comprising an analog signal output bus and a sample and hold circuit connected between each of said signal conditioning cells and said analog output signal bus.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An integrated circuit chip for interfacing a digital computer to sensors and controlled devices can be configured to accept and provide a variety of analog and discrete input and output signals. The circuit includes a plurality of signal conditioning cells, a plurality of signal conversion cells, and input and output signal multiplexors.
39 Citations
9 Claims
-
1. An integrated circuit providing a general purpose interface within an electrical system ands capable of accepting electrical input signals with various characteristics and providing electrical output signals with various characteristics, said integrated circuit comprising:
-
a plurality of signal conditioning cells each capable of accepting said input electrical signals with various characteristics and providing said output electrical signals with various characteristics and each comprising a pair of physical leads, an input conditioning circuit connected to said pair of physical leads and capable of buffering said input electrical signals of various characteristics into an input electrical signal with standard characteristics, and an output conditioning circuit capable of buffering an output electrical signal with standard characteristics into electrical signals with various characteristics and including a voltage driver, a current driver, and transmission gates connecting said voltage and said current drivers to said physical leads;
a signal conversion cell connected to each of said plurality of signal conditioning cells and comprising an analog to digital conversion circuit for converting said input electrical signals with standard characteristics into a plurality of input digital values, a digital to analog conversion circuit for converting a plurality of output digital values into output electrical signals with standard characteristics, a plurality of registers accessible by an external computer, said registers storing digital values, and decoders to map said digital values to addresses from said registers corresponding to particular ones of said signal conditioning cells, and a sequencer and control circuit for coordinating operations in said integrated circuit;
an input signal multiplexor comprising an analog input signal bus and a plurality of transmission gates, each connected between one of said signal conditioning cells and said input signal bus; and
an output signal multiplexor comprising an analog signal output bus and a sample and hold circuit connected between each of said signal conditioning cells and said analog output signal bus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
an input amplifier to buffer said input electrical signals and including a first input, a second input, and an output, a load resistor that can be selectively switched across the first input and the second input of said input amplifier as required to convert an input current electrical signal into a voltage level input for said input amplifier, and a programmable gain module capable of adjusting voltage levels of said input electrical signals with various characteristics into standard characteristic voltage levels. -
9. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein said input conditioning circuit of said signal-conditioning cell further comprises:
(a) a programmable low pass filter connected to the output of said input amplifier.
-
Specification