TITLE: ACTIVE GUARDING FOR REDUCTION OF RESISTIVE AND CAPACITIVE SIGNAL LOADING WITH ADJUSTABLE CONTROL OF

COMPENSATION LEVEL

[0001] The section headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting the subject matter described in any way.

FIELD

[0002] Applicants' teachings are related to a method and circuit for reducing resistive and capacitive signal loading.

SUMMARY [0003] In various embodiments, applicants' teachings relate to an active guarding circuit for reducing parasitic impedance signal loading. In various embodiments, the circuit comprises a signal-transmission channel, an impedance, and an amplifier. The signal-transmission channel carries an electrical signal and is shunted by a parasitic impedance having a parasitic impedance value. The electrical signal causes a leakage current having a leakage current magnitude to flow through the parasitic impedance. The impedance has an impedance value, a first terminal and a second terminal; the first terminal is coupled to the signal-transmission channel. The amplifier has an input terminal, an output terminal and a gain. The input terminal of the amplifier is coupled to the signal-transmission channel, the output terminal of the amplifier is coupled to the second terminal of the impedance to provide a compensation current to flow through the impedance, and the gain is selected based on the impedance and parasitic impedance values so that the compensation current has a magnitude substantially equal to the leakage current magnitude.

[0004] In some embodiments, the impedance is the parasitic impedance. In various other embodiments, the impedance is separate from the parasitic impedance.

[0005] In various embodiments, the gain of the amplifier is substantially equal to 1.

[0006] The active guarding circuit as defined in claim 4, wherein the gain and the compensation impedance are selected so that the compensation current magnitude is substantially equal to the leakage current magnitude.

[0007] In some embodiments, the gain of the amplifier is greater than 1. [0008] In various embodiments, the impedance includes a capacitance.

In some embodiments, the impedance includes a resistance. In some embodiments, the impedance includes both a resistance and a capacitance. In various other embodiments, the impedance is a capacitance. In some other embodiments, the impedance is a resistance. [0009] In various embodiments, applicants' teachings relate to a method of active guarding for reducing parasitic impedance signal loading. The method comprises sensing an electrical signal on the signal-transmission channel, the signal-transmission channel is shunted by a parasitic impedance having a parasitic impedance value, the electrical signal causing a leakage current having a leakage current magnitude to flow through the parasitic impedance. The method further comprises providing an impedance having an impedance value, with a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal is coupled to the signal-transmission channel. The method further comprises providing an amplified signal to the second terminal of the impedance to cause a compensation current to flow through the impedance, the amplified signal is equal to the electrical signal multiplied by a gain, the gain is selected based on the impedance value and the parasitic impedance value so that the magnitude of the compensation current is substantially equal to the leakage current magnitude.

[0010] In some embodiments, the impedance is provided by the parasitic impedance. In various other embodiments, the impedance is separate from the parasitic impedance.

[0011] In various embodiments, the gain of the amplifier is selected to be substantially equal to 1.

[0012] In some embodiments, the method further comprises selecting the gain and the compensation impedance such that the compensation current magnitude is substantially equal to the leakage current magnitude.

[0013] The active guarding circuit as defined in claim 4, wherein the gain and the compensation impedance are selected so that the compensation current magnitude is substantially equal to the leakage current magnitude.

[0014] In some embodiments, the gain of the amplifier is selected to be greater than 1.

[0015] In various embodiments, the impedance includes a capacitance. In various embodiments, the impedance includes a resistance. In some embodiments, the impedance includes both a resistance and a capacitance. In various other embodiments, the impedance is a capacitance. In some other embodiments, the impedance is a resistance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The skilled person in the art will understand that the drawings, described below, are for illustration purposes only. The drawings are not intended to limit the scope of the applicants' teachings in any way.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a signal-transmission channel having a parasitic impedance;

[0018] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a circuit with several sources of parasitic impedances indicated;

[0019] FIGS. 3 to 8 are schematic diagrams of active guarding circuits according to various embodiments of applicants' teachings; and

[0020] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a circuit illustrating the application of active guarding circuits according to various embodiments of applicants' teachings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] Signals that are transmitted over signal-transmission channels can be attenuated or otherwise distorted. One reason for such distortion and attenuation is that signal-transmission channels often have parasitic impedances coupled to them. FIG. 1 illustrates a circuit 100 that comprises a signal-transmission channel 182 that is shunted by a parasitic impedance 184. Such parasitic impedances may be resistive or capacitive or a combination of the two. The exact value of the parasitic impedance is in part determined by the frequency of the signal passing through the impedance.

[0022] As illustrated in Figure 1 , a parasitic impedance may provide a signal with an alternate path to ground. In short, such a parasitic impedance forms a voltage divider with any other load that is coupled to the signal- transmission channel. In this manner, the presence of parasitic impedance may cause attenuation and/or distortion of the signal.

[0023] Parasitic impedances can arise from a wide variety of sources including but not limited to other signal-transmission channels, other circuit components, and shielding. FIG. 2 illustrates a number of sources of parasitic impedances. Specifically, FIG. 2, is a schematic diagram of a portion of a circuit having a signal-transmission channel 282, several parasitic impedances 284a to 284b, shield 290, and a multiplexer 292. [0024] Shield 290 runs parallel to signal-transmission channel 282 and thereby causes parasitic impedances 284a and 284b to exist between signal- transmission channel 282 and shield 290. Similarly, parasitic impedances 284c and 284d exist between the input of the multiplexer and the power supplies of the multiplexer. FIG. 2 is intended to be illustrative only. Parasitic impedances may exist for a variety of reasons. In addition, although FIG. 2

only illustrates capacitive impedances, the impedances may also be resistive or a combination of resistive and capacitive.

[0025] Thus, parasitic impedances may exist in various forms for a variety of reasons in commonly used circuits. The presence of parasitic impedances can cause the signals that are transmitted by these circuits to be attenuated or otherwise distorted. The circuits and methods according to applicant's teachings can be used to minimize or eliminate the negative effects caused by parasitic impedances.

[0026] In various embodiments, applicants' teachings are related to an active guarding circuit and method for reducing impedance signal loading. Further, in some embodiments, applicants' teachings are related to a circuit and method for reducing capacitive signal loading. Moreover, in other embodiments, applicants' teachings are related to a circuit and method for reducing resistive signal loading. Furthermore, in some embodiments, applicants' teachings are related to a circuit and method for reducing resistive and capacitive signal loading. In yet other embodiments, applicants' teachings are related to an active guarding circuit and method for reducing impedance signal loading with an adjustable control of level compensation. Applicants' teachings are not intended to be limited to the above-described embodiments. [0027] Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is schematic diagram of an active guarding circuit 300 according to various embodiments of applicants' teachings. Circuit 300 can be created by adding an amplifier 310 and a compensation impedance 380 to the circuit 100 of FIG. 1. More specifically, the input of the amplifier 310 is coupled to the signal-transmission channel 382 and the output is coupled to one terminal of the compensation impedance 380. The other terminal of the compensation impedance is coupled to the signal-transmission channel 382. Parasitic impedance 384 has one terminal 385a connected to signal-transmission channel 382 and a second terminal 385b connected to ground. The terminal of a parasitic impedance, such as terminal 385b, that is not connected to the signal transmission channel of interest, will be referred to as the termination point of

the parasitic impedance. The ground node may include but is not limited to small signal ground, such as a power supply terminal.

[0028] Compensation impedance 380 and parasitic impedance 384 may be any appropriate impedance including but not limited to a resistance, a capacitance or any appropriate combination, whether in series or parallel, of resistance and capacitance.

[0029] Signal-transmission channel 382 may be used to transmit a signal to a load (not shown), which may be any suitable circuit or circuit component. The presence of a signal on signal-transmission channel 382 causes a voltage to appear across parasitic impedance 384. This causes a leakage current leakage to flow through the parasitic impedance 384. The magnitude of the current flowing through parasitic impedance 384 depends on the value of the impedance as well as the magnitude of the voltage appearing across its terminals. [0030] Amplifier 310 amplifies the signal appearing on the signal- transmission channel 382. In various embodiments amplifier 310 has a gain that is greater than 1. This causes a voltage to appear across compensation impedance 380 and a current l _com p to flow through compensation impedance 380. [0031] In various embodiments, the gain of amplifier 310 and the value of the compensation impedance is selected such that the current that flows through parasitic impedance 384 is compensated for by the current that flows through compensation impedance 380. Specifically, given a signal voltage of V _s i _g n _a i, a parasitic impedance of Z _para , the leakage current can be said to be:

[0032] I _leαkαge = V _sιgnαl x U- Equation (1 )

\ ^L pαrα j

[0033] Similarly, given a compensation impedance of Z _CO mp and an amplifier gain of G, the compensation current flowing through the compensation impedance may be said to be:

[0034] I _comp Equation (2)

[0035] Equating equation (1) and equation (2) yields the following:

[0036] Icomp = I leakage

[0037] Equation (3) [0038] Thus, by selecting G and Z _comp to satisfy equation (3) the compensation current will exactly match the leakage current. The compensation impedance 380 effectively serves as a negative impedance that cancels the effect of the parasitic impedance 384.

[0039] In various embodiments, the value of the parasitic impedance may not be known and therefore it may not be possible to select a gain for the amplifier by simply using equation (3) above. In such embodiments, the value of the gain can be estimated by using circuit 300 of FIG. 3. Specifically, circuit

300 is implemented by selecting a compensation impedance and range of values of gain. The circuit is operated at the various values of gain and the output is monitored. For those values of gain that exceed the required value, the output would oscillate. Thus, the correct value of the gain lies in a range of values that is bounded by (1) the lowest known value of the gain at which the output oscillates and (2) the highest known value of the gain at which the output does not oscillate. This process may be continued in an iterative manner until a suitable value of gain is selected. Once an appropriate value of gain is determined, the parasitic impedance may be estimated by using equation (3) given above.

[0040] In various embodiments, the parasitic impedance may be comprised of both parasitic and resistive elements. However, in some embodiments the effect of the capacitive loading can be significantly greater than the effect of the resistive loading. In such cases, various embodiments of applicants' teachings may be used to address the capacitive loading and not

the resistive loading. Alternatively, applicants' teachings may be used to partially compensate for any portion of the parasitic impedance. Thus, in various embodiments, circuits according to applicants' teachings may be used to reduce and/or partially compensate for any leakage currents that may flow through any parasitic impedances coupled to a signal-transmission channel, but not necessarily to completely compensate for all the current that is lost due to leakage currents.

[0041] Alternatively, the parasitic impedance may be measured or estimated according to known techniques. The value of the parasitic impendence obtained from this may then be used to select initial values for the compensation impedance and the range of values of gain. The gain can then be fine tuned according to the above-described method.

[0042] Reference is next made to FIG. 4, which is a schematic diagram of an active guarding circuit 400 according to various embodiments of applicants' teachings. Circuit 400 may be created by applying the output of amplifier 410 to the termination point of parasitic impedance 484. Specifically, in some applications, the termination point, or terminal 485b of parasitic impedance 484 of FIG. 4 may be accessible. In such instances, it may be possible to connect the output of an amplifier to terminal 485b of parasitic impedance 484 and therefore, it may not be necessary to utilize a circuit with a separate compensation impedance.

[0043] Circuit 400 can be implemented by connecting the input of amplifier 410 to signal-transmission channel 482 and the output of amplifier 410 to the terminal of the parasitic impedance 484 that is not connected to signal-transmission channel 482.

[0044] Signal-transmission channel 482 may be used to transmit a signal to a load, which may be any suitable circuit or circuit component (not illustrated). The presence of a signal on signal-transmission channel 482 causes a voltage to appear across parasitic impedance 484. This causes a leakage current to flow through the parasitic impedance 484. The magnitude

of the current flowing through parasitic impedance 484 depends on the value of the impedance as well as the magnitude of the voltage appearing across its terminals.

[0045] Amplifier 410 amplifies the signal appearing on the signal- transmission channel 482 and applies the amplified signal to the terminal of parasitic impedance 484 that is not connected to the signal-transmission channel 482. This causes a compensation current to flow through the parasitic impedance 484. In various embodiments, the gain of amplifier 410 is selected to be substantially equal to 1. In such a case, the voltage appearing at the terminal of parasitic impedance 484 that is connected to the output of amplifier 410 is substantially equal to the voltage appearing at the opposite terminal of parasitic impedance 484 thereby causing a compensation current, having an equal magnitude but opposite direction to the leakage current, to flow through parasitic impedance 484. Since the currents are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction, they cancel each other and no current flows through the parasitic impedance 484. Stated another way, a substantially equal voltage potential exists at either terminal of parasitic impedance 484 therefore, no substantial current flows through the parasitic impedance 484. [0046] As shown in the illustrative example of FIG. 4, parasitic impedance 484 serves as both a parasitic impedance and a compensation impedance. Thus, where terminal 485b of parasitic impedance 484 may be accessed, a more simple compensation circuit may be achieved than may be possible when terminal 485b is not accessible. In particular, a separate compensation impedance is not necessary and the gain of the amplifier may be set to 1.

[0047] Moreover, in various embodiments, circuit 400 may be utilized without knowing the value of parasitic impedance. In addition, if extra compensation is required, then the gain of the amplifier may be appropriately adjusted as will be explained in greater detail below.

[0048] Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is a detailed schematic diagram of an active guarding circuit 500 according to various embodiments of applicants' teachings. Specifically, circuit 500 may be utilized to implement circuits equivalent to either circuit 300 or 400 as will be explained in greater detail below.

[0049] Circuit 500 comprises an amplifier portion 510 which in turn comprises an operational amplifier 512 with a non-inverting input 514, an inverting input 516, an output node 517, and power rails 518 and 520.

[0050] Circuit 500 also comprises input node 522, guarding output 524 and negative impedance output 526. More specifically, input node 522 is the node that is connected to a signal-transmission channel. Guarding output 524 is the output utilized when using a configuration similar to that illustrated in FIG. 4. Specifically, if the termination point of a parasitic capacitance is accessible, then guarding output 524 may be used to connect to the termination point of the parasitic impedance. In contrast, negative impedance output 526 is the output that is used to connect to a signal-transmission channel when the termination point of the parasitic impedance is not accessible.

[0051] Referring again to the amplifier portion 510, amplifier portion 510 further comprises an input balancing portion 528, a gain control portion 530, and a stability control portion 532. Input balancing portion 528 comprises resistor 534. Gain control portion comprises resistor 536, one terminal of which is connected to ground 538, and resistor 540. By adjusting the values of resistors 536 and 540, one is able to adjust the gain G of the overall amplifier portion 510. In some embodiments, when negative impedance output 526 is utilized the values of resistors 536 and 540 may be set to a value that is greater than 1. In various other embodiments, when guarding output 524 is utilized, the values of resistors 536 and 540 may be selected to provide a gain of greater than 1. Stability control portion 532 comprises capacitor 542, resistor 544, and resistor 546. By adjusting the values of capacitor 542,

resistor 544, and resistor 546 one is able to alter the stability of the overall amplifier circuit.

[0052] Circuit 500 can also comprise compensation level portion 580, when used in a configuration similar to FIG. 3. Compensation level portion 580 is in turn comprised of resistor 546 and capacitor 548. Compensation level portion 580 is used as the compensation impedance. By adjusting gain control portion 530 and compensation level portion 582, one may adjust the compensation current that is provided to the signal-transmission channel, and thereby match the compensation current magnitude to the magnitude of the leakage current. This may be done according to equation (3) given above. It should be understood however, that in various embodiments, where circuit 500 is used in a configuration similar to FIG. 4, compensation level portion 580 and output 526 can be omitted.

[0053] Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which is a detailed schematic diagram of an active guarding circuit 600 according to various embodiments of applicants' teachings. Circuit 600 comprises amplifier 610, which is coupled to compensation impedance 680. Both amplifier 610 and compensation impedance 680 are coupled to signal path 682, which has parasitic impedance 684. Parasitic capacitance 684 may be comprised of various impedances such as capacitances 686 and 688, which may be distributed throughout the signal-transmission channel 682. Parasitic capacitances 686 and 688 have termination points 685b. Both compensation impedance 680 and parasitic impedance 684 are illustrated as only containing capacitances.

However, it is not intended to exclude embodiments in which compensation impedance 680 and parasitic impedance 684 include resistances or a combination of capacitances and resistances, which may appear as some combination of parallel or serial connections.

[0054] Amplifier 610, comprises an operational amplifier 612, with a non-inverting input 614, an inverting input 616, an output node 617, and power rails 618 and 620. Amplifier 610 further comprises resistor 634 connected between the non-inverting input 614 and signal-transmission

channel 682. Resistor 636, which is connected between ground 638 and inverting input 616, as well as resistor 640, form a gain control portion. In various embodiments, the values of resistors 636 and 640 are selected to have a gain with a value greater than 1. Capacitor 642, resistor 644 and resistor 646 form a stability control portion.

[0055] Capacitors 648 and 650 make up a compensation impendence

680 and are connected between resistor 646 and signal-transmission channel 682. As discussed above, the value of compensation impedance and the gain of the amplifier may be selected according to equation (3) in order to cancel or reduce the effect of the parasitic impedance and the leakage current.

[0056] Reference is next made to FIG. 7, which is a detailed schematic diagram of an active guarding circuit 700 according to various embodiments of applicants' teachings. Circuit 700 is illustrated with specific values for various circuit components indicated. Circuit 700 may be utilized to compensate for parasitic capacitance 784 that has a value of 90 pF and appears across a signal-transmission channel 782.

[0057] Circuit 700 comprises amplifier 710, which is coupled to compensation impedance 780. Both amplifier 710 and compensation impedance 780 are coupled to the signal-transmission channel 782. The parasitic capacitance 784 could be distributed throughout the signal- transmission channel 782 and be made up of various impedances such as capacitances 786 and 788 having termination points 785b.

[0058] Amplifier 710, comprises an operational amplifier 712, which may be, but is not limited to being, implemented as an U21 LMH6642 operation amplifier. Operational amplifier 712 has a non-inverting input 714, an inverting input 716, an output node 717, and power rails 718 and 720. Amplifier 710 further comprises resistor 734 connected between the inverting input 714 and signal-transmission channel 782. Resistor 736 has a value of 100 kω and is connected between ground 738 and inverting input 716.

Resistor 740 has a value of 10 kω and is connected in parallel with capacitor 742. Resistors 738 and 740 form a gain control portion.

[0059] Capacitor 742 and resistor 746 form a stability control portion.

Capacitor 742 has a value of 10 pF, and resistor 746 has value of 100 ω. [0060] Capacitors 748 and 750 make up a compensation impendence

780 and are connected between resistor 746 and signal-transmission channel 782.

[0061] Circuit 700 may be utilized when the termination point of the parasitic impedance is not readily accessible. Specifically, it may not be possible to connect the output of amplifier 710 to terminal 785b of parasitic impedance 784.

[0062] Reference is next made to FIG. 8, which is a detailed schematic diagram of an active guarding circuit 800 according to various embodiments of applicants' teachings. Circuit 800 comprises amplifier 810, the input of which is coupled to signal-transmission channel 882. Signal-transmission channel 882 has parasitic impedance 884. Parasitic impedances 884 may be comprised of various impedances such as capacitances 886 and 888, which may be distributed through out the signal-transmission channel 882. Although parasitic impedance 884 is illustrated of being comprised of only capacitances, it is not intended to exclude embodiments in which parasitic impendence 884 is comprised of resistors, or a combination of resistive and capacitive elements.

[0063] The output of amplifier 810 is coupled to node 885b of parasitic impedance 884. Node 885b corresponds to the termination point of parasitic capacitance 884.

[0064] Amplifier 810, comprises an operational amplifier 812, with a non-inverting input 814, an inverting input 816, an output node 817, and power rails 818 and 820. Amplifier 810 further comprises resistor 834 connected between the inverting input 814 and signal-transmission channel 882. Resistor 836, which is connected between ground 838 and inverting

input 816, as well as resistor 840, form a gain control portion. Capacitor 842, resistor 844 and resistor 846 form a stability control portion.

[0065] Circuit 800 may be utilized when the termination point, or terminal 885b, of the parasitic impedance 884 is readily accessible. Specifically, the output of amplifier 810 is connected to terminal 885b of parasitic impedance 884.

[0066] The use of any circuit components such as amplifiers may introduce delays into circuits. If the delay is significant then the circuit may not adequately compensate for any leakage current that is lost through the parasitic impedance. This may result in signal distortion. Various embodiments of the circuits illustrated above may overcome the difficulties associated with delays by utilizing amplifiers with a sufficient bandwidth so as not to introduce a delay that is significant when compared to the bandwidth of the signal that is propagated over the signal-transmission channel. [0067] For example, various embodiments of the circuits illustrated above may make use of an operational amplifier when implementing the amplifier for the signal. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the operational amplifier, such as operational amplifier 812 is selected to be at least 10 times the bandwidth of the signal being propagated over the signal transmission channel. In various embodiments, the signal that is propagated on the signal-transmission channel is a sinusoidal signal. In such cases, the bandwidth of the signal is simply the frequency of the signal, and the bandwidth of the amplifier may be appropriately selected.

[0068] An alternative solution for compensating for delay is that a phase lead of an appropriate signal may be added to the amplifier of any of the above signals. This requires that the circuit be able to predict the future values of the signal. In the case of sinusoidal signals, or any other periodic signal, this may be accomplished very easily as the value of such a signal may always be predicted for any future time.

[0069] Reference is now made to FIG. 9, which is a schematic diagram of a circuit 900 according to various embodiments of applicants' teachings. Specifically, FIG. 9, illustrates the application of active guarding circuits according to applicants' teachings to a circuit similar to that illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0070] Illustrated in FIG. 9 is a signal-transmission channel 982, several parasitic impedances 984a to 984d, shield 990, and a multiplexer 992. Shield 986 runs parallel to signal-transmission channel 982 and thereby causes parasitic impedances 984a and 984b to exist between signal- transmission channel 982 and shield 986. Similarly, parasitic impedances 984c and 984d exist between the input of the multiplexer and the power supplies of the multiplexer.

[0071] Amplifiers 910a, 910b, and 910c are utilized to compensate for any leakage current that may occur. Specifically, the inputs of amplifiers 910a, 910b, and 910c are coupled to the signal-transmission channel and the outputs of amplifiers 910a, 910b, and 910c are coupled to the termination point of impedances 984a to 984d. Each of the amplifiers 910a, 910b, and 910c may be implemented as discussed with respect to FIGS. 4 and 8.

[0072] Although FIG. 9 only illustrates capacitive impedances, the impedances may also be resistive or may be any combination of resistances and capacitances connected in series or parallel. It is not intended to exclude any of these combinations. FIG. 9 is intentionally simplified for the purposes of clarity of illustration.

[0073] While the applicants' teachings are described in conjunction with various embodiments, it is not intended that the applicants' teachings be limited to such embodiments. On the contrary, the applicants' teachings encompass various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.