Patents by Inventor Frederick J. Highton

Frederick J. Highton has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7319419
    Abstract: A switched-capacitor sample/hold circuit includes a switched-capacitor input sampling stage and a sample/hold amplifier circuit including an operational amplifier having first and second inputs coupled to first and second input sampling capacitors, respectively, and first and second feedback capacitors coupled between the first and second inputs and first and second outputs of the operational amplifier. A continuous-time offset DAC receives a digital input signal representative of an offset voltage produces first and second offset correction voltages. The first and second offset correction voltages are coupled to the switched-capacitor sample/hold circuit to adjust the amount of pre-charging of the first and second feedback capacitors, respectively, in accordance with the value of the digital input signal to compensate an offset component associated with the and second input voltages. The output of the switched-capacitor sample/hold circuit can be connected to an ADC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2008
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Christopher P. Lash, Ronald F. Cormier, Jr., Frederick J. Highton
  • Patent number: 5592403
    Abstract: A digital signal processor (DSP) circuit is configured to recursively retrieve and process pairs of data points in a symmetric digital filter. The data points are retrieved from an external source (e.g., compact disk) at a first frequency, and processed within the DSP at a second frequency. The DSP employs a floating pointer scheme, which effectively functions a buffer to thereby compensate for jitter or drift between the first and second frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1997
    Assignee: Monolith Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: David S. Trager, Akhtar Ali, Frederick J. Highton, Kun Lin
  • Patent number: 4800365
    Abstract: A CMOS digital-to-analog converter includes a modified R-2R resistive ladder network connected to 16 pairs of bit switches responsive to the various digital inputs to produce an internal analog voltage representative of the digital input. Each pair of bit switches includes an N-channel MOSFET and a P-channel MOSFET. The on resistance of the P-channel MOSFET is adjusted to precisely match that of the N-channel MOSFET by driving the gate of each P-channel MOSFET with the output of a CMOS inverter referenced between V.sub.CC and a reference voltage that is adjusted to cause the on resistances of a P-channel "monitor" MOSFET and an N-channel "monitor" MOSFET to be equal. A reference voltage is generated by a circuit that generates a temperature-invariant source current from a V.sub.BE difference between first and second transistors, causes part of it to flow through first, second, and third resistors, the third resistor having a voltage across it established by the V.sub.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1987
    Date of Patent: January 24, 1989
    Assignee: Burr-Brown Corporation
    Inventors: Robert L. White, Frederick J. Highton, Kazuo Ito, Gary L. Miller
  • Patent number: 4692641
    Abstract: A serial-to-parallel converter receiving a clock signal and continuous serial stream of input data, each having TTL logic levels, produces parallel outputs for driving current switches of a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The data and clock signals each are converted to ECL logic levels by a pair of emitter-coupled differential lateral PNP transistors having their collectors coupled to a pair of NPN current mirror circuits, the outputs of which drive the bases and emitters of a pair of NPN emitter follower transistors, resulting in very high bandwidth operation. Master-slave ECL shift register bit outputs are directly coupled, without emitter followers, to ECL inputs of output latches that drive the DAC current switches, resulting in substantially reduced power consumption and chip area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 1986
    Date of Patent: September 8, 1987
    Assignee: Burr-Brown Corporation
    Inventor: Frederick J. Highton
  • Patent number: 4680749
    Abstract: A novel circuit architecture is disclosed for achieving audio, tone, and digital data signal modulation in a full duplex radio transceiver. A single signal source is utilized to generate both transmitted carrier and receiver local oscillator injection signals. Yet the architecture is such that the transmitted data does not appear at the receiver's discriminator output--while a "side tone" of transmitted audio does so appear. The audio to be transmitted is used to frequency modulate a VCO and provide the receiver first mixer injection signal as well as a "carrier" input to a phase modulator. The data/tone signals are on the other hand, combined and integrated in a complex waveform and input to control the phase modulator. The resulting FM (data/tone and voice) output from the phase modulator is then input to a conventional duplexed r.f. transmitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 1985
    Date of Patent: July 14, 1987
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Arvid E. Englund, Stephen R. Wynn, Rodney A. Dolman, Frederick J. Highton, Rickey D. Harris
  • Patent number: 4607250
    Abstract: A low voltage sixteen bit digital-to-analog converter operable between +5 and -5 volt power supplies and capable of providing output voltage levels to within about 1.4 volts of +V.sub.CC and -V.sub.CC includes a circuit for external adjustment of the bit current of a particular bit of the digital-to-analog converter, which circuit produces a constant adjustment current that is summed with that bit current over a wide range of processing parameters and temperature, and requires only a single terminal for connection of an external potentiometer by means of which the bit current is adjusted and a small value filter capacitor for filtering out noise generated by an internal zener diode voltage reference circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 1985
    Date of Patent: August 19, 1986
    Assignee: Burr-Brown Corporation
    Inventors: Jimmy R. Naylor, Frederick J. Highton
  • Patent number: 4591805
    Abstract: An amplifier exploits Miller-effect capacitance in a cascaded multi-stage self-limiting amplifier arrangement to achieve automatic adaptive bandwidth behavior (without the use of an active feedback control loop). The Miller-effect capacitance varies in accordance with the amplifier signal-level, with the capacitance in turn varying the amplifier bandwidth. Bandwidth is decreased for low-signal-levels and increased for relatively high-signal-levels. The adaptive amplifier technique is especially useful to reduce broadband noise in an IF stage of a communications device before the usable signal is fed to a detector stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 1984
    Date of Patent: May 27, 1986
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Frederick J. Highton
  • Patent number: 4476575
    Abstract: A radio transceiver has a single reference oscillator and a receiving frequency synthesizer and a transmitting frequency synthesizer. The synthesizer frequencies are selected so that the receiving intermediate frequency and a transmitting intermediate frequency (produced by the transmitted frequency mixing with the received frequency) are spaced widely apart. Thus, any beat note between the two intermediate frequencies is outside the passband or filter bandwidth in the receiver circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 9, 1984
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Earnest A. Franke, Frederick J. Highton