System and method for adaptively determining the transition rate of a quantized signal

1. An adaptive measurement system for measuring a transition rate associated with an output of a device in synchronous operation with a pulse width modulation signal, comprising:

an input signal-to-frequency converter subsystem that receives a first signal that is proportional to the output of the device and quantizes a characteristic of first signal, the input signal-to-frequency converter subsystem providing a second signal having multiple states and a transition rate that is proportional to a rate of quantization of the characteristic of the first signal;

an accumulator that receives the second signal and that accumulates a state transition count that is representative of a number of transitions between the multiple states in the second signal over a first sample period;

a transition rate measurement subsystem communicatively coupled to the accumulator and that reads the accumulator in synchronization with the pulse width modulation signal to find the state transition count and determines an instance of average transition rate for the second signal based at least upon the state transition count and the first sample period.

2. The adaptive measurement system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a timer subsystem that is communicatively coupled to the transition rate measurement subsystem and to the device and that provides the pulse width modulation signal to the transition rate measurement subsystem and to the device.

3. The adaptive measurement system of claim 2 wherein the sample period ends at a trailing edge of a cycle of the pulse width modulation signal.

4. The adaptive measurement system of claim 3 wherein the cycle of the pulse width modulation signal has a duration that is approximately the same as the first sample period.

5. The adaptive measurement system of claim 3 wherein the pulse width modulation signal is in a first state for a first time period and in a second state for a second time period, and wherein the first sample period is approximately an integer multiple of the second time period.

6. The adaptive measurement system of claim 3 wherein the transition rate measurement subsystem waits a predetermined amount of time after a trailing edge of the cycle of the pulse modulation signal to read the accumulator.

7. The adaptive measurement system of claim 1 wherein the input signal-to-frequency converter subsystem measures electrical current in the first signal and quantizes the amount of electrical current received at the input signal-to-frequency converter subsystem.

8. The adaptive measurement system of claim 1 wherein whenever the quantized characteristic of the first signal reaches a threshold value, the second signal switches between a first state of the multiple states and a second state of the multiple states.

9. The adaptive measurement system of claim 1 wherein the transition rate measurement subsystem determines whether the state transition count accumulated during the first sample period is not less than a predetermined accumulated count threshold, and if the state transition count is less than the predetermined accumulated count threshold, then the transition rate measurement subsystem accumulates data over at least a second sample period and determines the instance of average transition rate based at least upon data accumulated during the first sample period and the at least second sample period.

10. The adaptive measurement system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a control subsystem communicatively coupled to the transition rate measurement subsystem that receives the instance of average transition rate for the second signal and provides the device with feedback control based at least upon the instance of average transition rate.

11. The adaptive measurement system of claim 10 wherein the transition rate measurement subsystem is synchronized by a rising edge of a cycle of the pulse width modulation signal to read the accumulator to find a second state transition count and synchronized by a trailing edge of the cycle of the pulse width modulation signal to read the accumulator to find the first state transition count, wherein the transition rate measurement subsystem determines an instance of average off-state transition rate for the second signal based at least upon the second state transition count, and wherein the feedback control provided to the device is based at least upon the instance of average transition rate and the instance of average off-state transition rate to compensate for external affects on the device.

12. A method of regulating an output of a device, comprising:

quantizing a characteristic of an input signal;

receiving a converted-input signal having multiple states and a transition rate that is proportional to a rate of quantization of the characteristic of an input signal, the input signal being proportional to the output of the device;

switching the converted-input signal between a first state of the multiple states and a second state of the multiple states whenever the quantized characteristic of the input signal reaches a threshold value;

accumulating a state transition count that is representative of a number of transitions between the multiple states in the converted-input signal over a first sample period;

reading the accumulator at a time that is no earlier than the end of the first sample period to find the state transition count;

determining an instance of average transition rate for the converted-input signal based at least upon the state transition count and the first sample period; and

providing the device with feedback control based at least upon the instance of average transition rate.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

providing an interrupt signal at the end of the sample period, wherein the interrupt signal is provided prior to determining an instance of average transition rate.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the interrupt signal is a trailing edge of a cycle of the pulse width modulation signal.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the cycle of the pulse width modulation signal has a duration that is approximately the same as the first sample period.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

synchronizing the device with the pulse width modulation signal.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

waiting a predetermined amount of time after receiving the interrupt signal to read the accumulator.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

resetting the accumulator after receiving the interrupt signal to read the accumulator.

19. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

determining whether the state transition count accumulated during the first sample period is not less than a predetermined accumulated count threshold, and if the state transition count is less than the predetermined accumulated count threshold, then further including:

accumulating data over at least a second sample period, and wherein determining an instance of average transition rate for the converted-input signal includes determining the instance of average transition rate based at least upon data accumulated during the first sample period and the at least second sample period.

20. An adaptive system for measuring an output of a device, comprising:

an input signal-to-frequency converter subsystem having an input-signal quantizer and a memory storing an input-signal quanta threshold value, the input-signal quantizer receives a first signal that is proportional to the output of the device and quantizes a characteristic of the first signal, the input signal-to-frequency converter subsystem switches a second signal having multiple states between a first state of the multiple states and a second state of the multiple states whenever the quantized characteristic of the input signal reaches the input-signal quanta threshold value and provides a second signal having multiple states and a transition rate that is proportional to a rate of quantization of the characteristic of the first signal; and

a controller subsystem communicatively coupled to the input signal-to-frequency converter subsystem having a bit accumulator that receives the second signal and that accumulates a state transition count that is representative of a number of transitions between the multiple states in the second signal over a first sample period, the controller subsystem being configured to implement a logic for determining an instance of average transition rate for the second signal based at least upon the state transition count.

21. The adaptive system of claim 20 , wherein the controller subsystem is further configured to implement logic for determining at least one device operation parameter for regulating the output of the device and for providing the at least one device operation parameter.

22. The adaptive system of claim 20 , wherein the controller subsystem is further configured to implement logic for reading the bit accumulator at a time that is no earlier than the end of the first sample period to find state transition count.

23. The adaptive system of claim 20 , wherein the controller subsystem is further configured to implement logic for providing a train of cycles of a pulse width modulation signal to the device, each cycle of the pulse width modulation signal having a first state followed by a second state, wherein the device produces the output only during the respective second state of the cycles of the pulse width modulation signal, and wherein the controller subsystem is further configured to implement logic for determining at least one device operation parameter for regulating the output of the device and for providing the at least one device operation parameter.

24. The adaptive system of claim 23 , wherein during the first state of a given cycle of the pulse width modulation signal, the controller subsystem provides the at least one device operation parameter for the device to implement during the second state of the given cycle of the pulse width modulation signal.