Claims
- 1. A semi-conductor potentiometer which comprises:
- a resistor array comprised of a plurality of cells of resistors each having a resistive value wherein the arrangement of resistors and resistive value of the resistors varies from cell to cell;
- a plurality of gate devices for selecting a wiper point wherein there exists a wiper point for every cell and there exists a gate device for every wiper point adapted for selecting said wiper point;
- a multiplex control device which comprises a zero-crossing detector adapted for triggering potentiometer changes at or near a zero-crossing of a signal being amplified; and
- an interface device connected to the multiplexer control device adapted for interfacing said multiplex control device directly to an external switch without requiring a special circuit or CPU to provide an interface.
- 2. In an amplifier for amplifying a signal, a potentiometer comprising:
- a resistor array comprised of a plurality of cells of resistors, each of said plurality of cells of resistors having a total resistive value;
- a plurality of wiper points for separating each of said plurality of cells of resistors;
- means for selecting at least one of said plurality of wiper points;
- triggering means for triggering potentiometer changes at or near a zero-crossing of the signal being amplified; and
- an interface means connected to said triggering means, said interface means for interfacing said triggering means to an external switch.
- 3. The potentiometer as recited in claim 2, wherein said resistors and said total resistive value of each said plurality of cells of resistors varies from cell to cell.
- 4. The potentiometer as recited in claim 2, wherein said selecting means includes a plurality of gate devices.
- 5. The potentiometer as recited in claim 2, wherein said triggering means includes a zero-crossing detector.
- 6. The potentiometer as recited in claim 2, wherein said triggering means includes a multiplex control device.
- 7. In a system for amplifying a signal, a potentiometer comprising:
- a plurality of cells of resistors, each of said plurality of cells of resistors having a total resistive value;
- a plurality of wiper points, wherein each of said plurality of cells of resistors are connected by at least one of said plurality of wiper points;
- a plurality of gate devices for selecting at least one of said plurality of wiper points;
- a control for triggering potentiometer changes at or near a zero-crossing of the signal being amplified; and
- an interface connected to the control device.
- 8. The potentiometer as recited in claim 7, wherein said total resistive value of each of said plurality of cells of resistors varies from cell to cell.
- 9. The potentiometer as recited in claim 7, wherein said control includes a zero-crossing detector.
- 10. The potentiometer as recited in claim 7, wherein said interface includes an external switch.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/497,485 filed Jun. 30, 1995, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
497485 |
Jun 1995 |
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