Abstract: A precision current reference or a precision oscillator includes a circuit that precisely controls the cyclic charging of a switched capacitor. The voltage across the switched capacitor is ramped up to a desired voltage during the charge phase. The circuit comprises a network of switched capacitors around a transconductance amplifier. An error voltage between a predetermined voltage and a voltage across the switched capacitor is amplified by a transconductance amplifier to give an error current, which is integrated over time to give an integrated error voltage. The error voltage can be minimized such that the circuit produces a precise output current whose value depends on the switched capacitor capacitance, the predetermined reference voltage and a frequency used to switch the switched capacitors. Alternatively, an embodiment may be part of a frequency locked loop to provide a precise oscillator whose frequency depends on a predetermined resistance and the switched capacitor capacitance.

Abstract: The invention allows for the realization of a precision current reference or a fully integrated crystal-less precision oscillator by providing a circuit that precisely controls the cyclic charging operation of a switched capacitor. The voltage across the switched capacitor is ramped up and stops at the end of the charge phase at precisely a desired voltage. By using an appropriate network of switches based around a transconductance amplifier, the error voltage between the desired voltage and the voltage across the switched capacitor is amplified by the transconductance amplifier to give an error current. The error current is integrated over time to give an integrated amplified error voltage. By using appropriate feedback, the error voltage can be minimised to give a precise output current whose value depends on a capacitance, a voltage and a frequency.