Software drivers for the reconfigurable ASIC analogue front end
A.H. Taner, John Ernest Brignell · 1994
The reconfiguration of the analogue front end of an intelligent sensor ASIC is implemented by means of analogue switches under digital control. A simplified diagram that concentrates solely on switching circuitry is shown. The configuration of this sub-system is determined by a vector of noughts and ones, which wholly determines its state. In an experimental version there are sixteen such switches, so any given state of the sub-system can be represented by a 16-bit word, that can be stored in a register-mapped memory space of the controlling digital processor. This is advantageous, as it permits a number of standard configurations to be stored and quickly implemented. Thus the sub-system can be switched into a self-check or self calibration mode with very few control instructions.