Abstract:
The invention relates to a non-linear electronic device and, more particularly, to a non-linear capacitor. More specifically, but not exclusively, the invention relates to an electronic circuit device that may be integrated on a semiconductor substrate. Advantageously, the non-linear device is a capacitor formed by a feedback loop of cascade connected active blocks (2, 5, 6). Moreover, the invention may be integrated or used in association with a circuit network including other non-linear devices.
Abstract:
In driving a load in a PWM mode in function of numeric command values of a certain N number of bits by converting the current numeric command value in at least a driving PWM signal (PWM_A, PWM_B) having a fixed frequency and a duty cycle proportional to the numeric command value, comparing through a comparator (COMPARATOR) the N bit numeric value with the counter of an up/down counter of the same number (N) of bits (N BIT UP/DOWN COUNTER) functioning in a continuous mode at the frequency of a system's clock signal (SysClk), the definition of the conversion may be enhanced withtout correspondingly increasing the number of bits of the UP/DOWN COUNTER. This is achieved by incrementing by more than a unit (N+3) the number of bits on which a certain command value is mapped; converting the N most significant bits with the exception of said additional bits of said command value by means of said comparator and up/down counter; decoding said additional bits by generating a corresponding plurality of intermediate levels of variation of the duty cycle, each of which has a duration of half a clock period (SysClk/2) producing a plurality of signals, outphased among each other by half a clock period (A, B, C, D, B, A', B', C', D', E'); generating said driving PWM signal (IN_A, IN_B) by multiplating (MULTIPLEXER) said signals outphased among each other by half a clock period, carrying out logic combinations of such signals in function of the most significative bit (MSB) of the numeric command value and of said least significative additional bits.