Control circuit for ultrasonic transducers
A circuit of control of ultrasound transducers, is configurable according to the type of transducers to be controlled, and includes a first terminal intended to be coupled to a first electrode of each of the transducers, and a bias switch configurable to couple the first terminal to one or the other of first and second bias nodes according to the type of transducers to be controlled.
1. A circuit of control of ultrasound transducers, comprising:
a first terminal intended to be coupled to a first electrode of each of the transducers, and a bias switch configurable to couple the first terminal to one or the other of first and second bias nodes;
a plurality of second terminals intended to be respectively coupled to second electrodes of the transducers to be controlled; and
a receive circuit comprising an input node, a receive amplifier having its input coupled to the input node, an analog-to-digital converter having its input coupled to the output of the receive amplifier, an output coupled to the output of the analog-to-digital converter, and an impedance matching circuit configurable according to the type of transducers to be controlled.
2. The control circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a circuit intended to supply a DC bias voltage having an output node connected to the first bias node, and wherein the second bias node is a node of application of a reference potential of the control circuit.
3. The control circuit of claim 2 , wherein the circuit intended to supply a DC bias voltage comprises a DC/DC voltage converter configurable to modify the level of the DC bias voltage that it delivers.
4. The control circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of voltage pulse generators, each of the second terminals being coupled to one of the voltage pulse generators.
5. The control circuit of claim 4 , wherein the voltage level of the voltage pulses delivered by the pulse generators is configurable.
6. The control circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of switches respectively coupling the second terminals to the input node of the receive circuit.
7. The control circuit of claim 1 , wherein the receive circuit further comprises an array of switched capacitors arranged upstream of the analog-to-digital converter, enabling to store analog samples representative of the output signal of receive amplifier prior to their digitization by the analog-to-digital converter.
8. A circuit of control of ultrasound transducers, comprising:
a first terminal intended to be coupled to a first electrode of each of the transducers, and a bias switch configurable to couple the first terminal to one or the other of first and second bias nodes;
a plurality of second terminals intended to be respectively coupled to second electrodes of the transducers to be controlled; and
a receive circuit comprising an input node, a receive amplifier having its input coupled to the input node, an analog-to-digital converter having its input coupled to the output of the receive amplifier, an output coupled to the output of the analog-to-digital converter, and between the receive amplifier and the analog-to-digital converter, at least one of:
an analog gain adjustment circuit; and
an analog anti-aliasing filter.
9. The control circuit of claim 8 , wherein the receive circuit further comprises an array of switched capacitors arranged upstream of the analog-to-digital converter, enabling to store analog samples representative of the output signal of receive amplifier prior to their digitization by the analog-to-digital converter.
10. The control circuit of claim 8 , further comprising a circuit intended to supply a DC bias voltage having an output node connected to the first bias node, and wherein the second bias node is a node of application of a reference potential of the control circuit.
11. The control circuit of claim 10 , wherein the circuit intended to supply a DC bias voltage comprises a DC/DC voltage converter configurable to modify the level of the DC bias voltage that it delivers.
12. The control circuit of claim 8 , further comprising a plurality of voltage pulse generators, each of the second terminals being coupled to one of the voltage pulse generators.
13. The control circuit of claim 12 , wherein the voltage level of the voltage pulses delivered by the pulse generators is configurable.
14. The control circuit of claim 8 , further comprising a plurality of switches respectively coupling the second terminals to the input node of the receive circuit.