Capacitor cancellation method and apparatus

1. An interface circuit for interfacing between a pair of subscribe tip/ring lines and a central office of a telecommunications network, the interface circuit comprising:

(a) filter circuitry configured to separate low-frequency and high-frequency signals appearing on the tip/ring lines, wherein the filter circuitry comprises a blocking capacitor that affects the impedance of the tip/ring lines;

(b) high-frequency interface circuitry configured to process the high-frequency signals;

(c) low-frequency interface circuitry configured to process the low-frequency signals, wherein the low-frequency interface circuitry comprises:

(1) a subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) configured between the tip and ring lines; and

(2) a coder/decoder (CODEC) coupled to the SLIC and configured to encode and decode the low-frequency signals;

(d) a capacitor cancellation circuit (CCC) coupled across the blocking capacitor and adapted to generate a first single-ended signal, which is applied to the SLIC and coupled via the SLIC and the filter circuitry to the tip/ring lines to cancel a portion of the effect of the blocking capacitor on the impedance of the tip/ring lines.

2. The invention of claim 1 , wherein the cancellation provided by the CCC provides a desired impedance between the tip/ring lines for both the low-frequency and high-frequency signals.

3. The invention of claim 2 , wherein the desired impedance has a resistance of about 900 ohms and a capacitance of about 2.16 microfarads.

4. The invention of claim 1 , wherein the portion canceled by the CCC corresponds to at least about 90% of the effect induced by the blocking capacitor.

5. The invention of claim 1 , wherein the CCC comprises:

a first converter adapted to sense a differential voltage across the blocking capacitor and generate a single-ended capacitance signal that reflects the capacitance of the blocking capacitor; and

a low-pass filter adapted to filter out components of the single-ended capacitance signal corresponding to the high-frequency signals to generate the first single-ended signal.

6. The invention of claim 5 , wherein the CODEC is coupled to the SLIC via a second converter adapted to convert a pair of differential signals generated by the CODEC into a second single-ended signal applied to the SLIC.

7. The invention of claim 5 , wherein the first converter comprises an operational amplifier having two inputs coupled across the blocking capacitor and an output coupled to the low-pass filter.

8. The invention of claim 7 , wherein the first converter comprises:

a first capacitor and a first resistor coupled in series between a non-inverting input of the operational amplifier and a first terminal of the blocking capacitor;

a second capacitor and a second resistor coupled in series between an inverting input of the operational amplifier and a first terminal of the blocking capacitor;

a third capacitor and a third resistor coupled in parallel between the inverting input and the output of the operational amplifier; and

a fourth capacitor and a fourth resistor coupled in parallel between the non-inverting input of the operational amplifier and the SLIC.

9. The invention of claim 5 , wherein the low-pass filter is a forth-order filter.

10. The invention of claim 9 , wherein the low-pass filter comprises two serially connected second-order filters.

11. The invention of claim 1 , wherein:

the high-frequency signals correspond to DSL signals having frequencies greater than about 4 kHz;

the low-frequency signals correspond to POTS signals having frequencies less than about 4 kHz; and

the filter circuitry comprises (i) a high-pass filter configured to provide the DSL signals to the high-frequency interface circuitry and (ii) a low-pass filter configured to provide the POTS signals to the low-frequency interface circuitry, wherein the blocking capacitor is part of the high-pass filter.

12. A capacitor cancellation circuit (CCC) for an interface circuit for interfacing between a pair of subscriber tip/ring lines and a central office of a telecommunications network, the interface circuit comprising:

(a) filter circuitry configured to separate low-frequency and high-frequency signals appearing on the tip/ring lines, wherein the filter circuitry comprises a blocking capacitor that affects the impedance of the tip/ring lines;

(b) high-frequency interface circuitry configured to process the high-frequncy signals;

(c) low-frequency interface circuitry configured to process the low-frequency signals, wherein the low-frequency interface circuitry comprises:

(1) a subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) configured between the tip and ring lines; and

(2) a coder/decoder (CODEC) coupled to the SLIC and configured to encode and decode the low-frequency signals;

(d) the capacitor cancellation circuit (CCC) coupled across the blocking capacitor and adapted to generate a first single-ended signal, which is applied to the SLIC and coupled via the SLIC and the filter circuitry to the tip/ring lines to cancel a portion of the effect of the blocking capacitor on the impedance of the tip/ring lines.

13. The invention of claim 12 , wherein the cancellation provided by the CCC provides a desired impedance between the tip/ring lines for both the low-frequency and high-frequency signals.

14. The invention of claim 12 , wherein the portion canceled by the CCC corresponds to at least about 90% of the effect induced by the blocking capacitor.

15. The invention of claim 12 , wherein the CCC comprises:

a first converter adapted to sense a differential voltage across the blocking capacitor and generate a single-ended capacitance signal that reflects the capacitance of the blocking capacitor; and

a low-pass filter adapted to filter out components of the single-ended capacitance signal corresponding to the high-frequency signals to generate the first single-ended signal.

16. The invention of claim 15 , wherein the CODEC is coupled to the SLIC via a second converter adapted to convert a pair of differential signals generated by the CODEC into a second single-ended signal applied to the SLIC.

17. The invention of claim 15 , wherein the first converter comprises an operational amplifier having two inputs coupled across the blocking capacitor and an output coupled to the low-pass filter.

18. The invention of claim 17 , wherein the first converter comprises:

a first capacitor and a first resistor coupled in series between a non-inverting input of the operational amplifier and a first terminal of the blocking capacitor;

a second capacitor and a second resistor coupled in series between an inverting input of the operational amplifier and a first terminal of the blocking capacitor;

a third capacitor and a third resistor coupled in parallel between the inverting input and the output of the operational amplifier; and

a fourth capacitor and a fourth resistor coupled in parallel between the non-inverting input of the operational amplifier and the SLIC.

19. The invention of claim 15 , wherein the low-pass filter is a forth-order filter.

20. The invention of claim 14 , wherein the low-pass filter comprises two serially connected second-order filters.

21. An interface circuit for interfacing between a pair of subscriber tip/ring lines and a central office of a telecommunications network, the interface circuit comprising:

(a) filter circuitry configured to separate low-frequency and high-frequency signals appearing on the tip/ring lines, wherein the filter circuitry comprises a blocking capacitor that affects the impedance of the tip/ring lines;

(b) high-frequency interface circuitry configured to process the high-frequency signals;

(c) low-frequency interface circuitry configured to process the low-frequency signals, wherein the low-frequency interface circuitry comprises:

(1) a subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) configured between the tip and ring lines; and

(2) a coder/decoder (CODEC) coupled to the SLIC and configured to encode and decode the low-frequency signals;

(d) a capacitor cancellation circuit (CCC) coupled across the blocking capacitor and adapted to cancel a portion of the effect of the blocking capacitor on the impedance of the tip/ring lines, wherein the CCC comprises:

an operational amplifier having (i) an inverting input coupled to a first terminal of the blocking capacitor, (ii) a non-inverting input coupled to a second terminal of the blocking capacitor, and (iii) an output coupled back to the first and second terminals of the blocking capacitor ; and

an inverter coupled between the output of the operational amplifier and the first terminal of the blocking capacitor.

22. The invention of claim 21 , wherein the CCC further comprises:

a first capacitor and a first resistor coupled in series between the inverting input of the operational amplifier and the first terminal of the blocking capacitor;

a second capacitor and a second resistor coupled in series between the non-inverting input of the operational amplifier and the second terminal of the blocking capacitor;

a third capacitor and a third resistor coupled in parallel between the inverting input and the output of the operational amplifier; and

a fourth capacitor and a fourth resistor coupled in parallel between the non-inverting input of the operational amplifier and a ground terminal.

23. The invention of claim 22 , wherein the CCC further comprises:

a fifth capacitor and a fifth resistor coupled in series between the output of the operational amplifier and the second terminal of the blocking capacitor; and

a sixth capacitor and a sixth resistor coupled in series between the inverter and the first terminal of the blocking capacitor.

24. The invention of claim 21 , wherein the cancellation provided by the CCC provides a desired impedance between the tip/ring lines for both the low-frequency and high-frequency signals.

25. The invention of claim 24 , wherein the desired impedance has a resistance of about 900 ohms and a capacitance of about 2.16 microfarads.

26. The invention of claim 21 , wherein the portion canceled by the CCC corresponds to at least about 90% of the effect induced by the blocking capacitor.

27. The invention of claim 21 , wherein:

the high-frequency signals correspond to DSL signals having frequencies greater than about 4 kHz;

the low-frequency signals correspond to POTS signals having frequencies less than about 4 kHz; and

the filter circuitry comprises (i) a high-pass filter configured to provide the DSL signals to the high-frequency interface circuitry and (ii) a low-pass filter configured to provide the POTS signals to the low-frequency interface circuitry, wherein the blocking capacitor is part of the high-pass filter.

28. A capacitor cancellation circuit (CCC) for an interface circuit for interfacing between a pair of subscriber tip/ring lines and a central office of a telecommunication network, the interface circuit comprising:

(a) filter circuitry configured to separate low-frequency and high-frequency signals appearing on the tip/ring lines, wherein the filter circuitry comprises a blocking capacitor that affects the impedance of the tip/ring lines;

(b) high-frequency interface circuitry configured to process the high-frequency signals;

(c) low-frequency interface circuitry configured to process the low-frequency signals, wherein the low-frequency interface circuitry comprises:

(1) a subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) configured between the tip and ring lines; and

(2) a coder/decoder (CODEC) coupled to the SLIC and configured to encode and decode the low-frequency signals;

(d) the capacitor cancellation circuit (CCC) coupled across the blocking capacitor and adapted to cancel a portion of the effect of the blocking capacitor on the impedance on the tip/ring lines, wherein the CCC comprises:

an operational amplifier having (i) an inverting input coupled to a first terminal of the blocking capacitor, (ii) a non-inverting input coupled to a second terminal of the blocking capacitor, and (iii) an output coupled back to the first and second terminals of the blocking capacitor; and

an inverter coupled between the output of the operational amplifier and the first terminal of the blocking capacitor.

29. The invention of claim 28 , wherein the CCC further comprises:

a first capacitor and a first resistor coupled in series between the inverting input of the operational amplifier and the first terminal of the blocking capacitor;

a second capacitor and a second resistor coupled in series between the non-inverting input of the operational amplifier and the second terminal of the blocking capacitor;

a third capacitor and a third resistor coupled in parallel between the inverting input and the output of the operational amplifier; and

a fourth capacitor and a fourth resistor coupled in parallel between the non-inverting input of the operational amplifier and a ground terminal.