Expandable analog current sorter based on magnitude

Details Expandable analog current sorter based on magnitude Expandable analog current sorter based on magnitude

1998-08-24

2001-03-06

Choules, Jack (Department: 2777)

Miscellaneous active electrical nonlinear devices, circuits, and

Specific signal discriminating without subsequent control

By amplitude

C327S063000, C327S071000, C327S099000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06198311

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sorter for sorting a plurality of currents, more particular, to an expandable current magnitude sorter for sorting a plurality of currents.
2. Description of Related Art
Sorting is the operation of arranging non-sequential data into sequential data. Such sorting operations have been widely used in data processing system in many fields. Currently, there are several types of sorting processes available, such as bubble sorting, shell sorting, fast sorting, etc. However, those processes are difficult to perform in integrated circuitry. The sorting operation is implemented essentially by utilizing software in computers. Therefore, the operational speed, real-time processing and application for the sorting operation are seriously limited.
The implementation of the sorting operation in hardware has been gradually developed. However, the existing sorting circuits are almost always digital sorting circuits. The structure of a digital sorting circuit is very complicated and the required sorting time is very long. Although the digital sorting circuit can also be used for analog signals, A/D and D/A converters are required, so that the structure of the circuit is even more complicated. In addition, errors or transformations may occur in the conversion between digital signals and analog signals.
Accordingly, an analog current sorting circuit is desired, thus, the present invention is designed for this purpose.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a current sorter which is an analog current sorter with simple structure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a current sorter such that the number of currents to-be-sorted can be significantly increased by cascading a plurality of the current sorters. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the current sorter comprises an input circuit unit for receiving a plurality of input currents to-be-sorted, a winner-take-all (WTA) circuit unit for finding the maximum current, a feedback control and voltage output circuit unit for generating feedback control signals and output voltages indicating the maximum current, and an output circuit unit for outputting sorted currents. A plurality of input currents are simultaneously input to the input circuit unit and the sorted results are output in a time-shared manner on the output circuit unit.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5049758 (1991-09-01), Mead et al.
patent: 5059814 (1991-10-01), Mead et al.
patent: 5304864 (1994-04-01), Hong et al.
patent: 5703503 (1997-12-01), Miyamoto

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