Methodology for the Digital Calibration of Analog Circuits and Systems shows how to relax the extreme design constraints in analog circuits, allowing the realization of high-precision systems even with low-performance components. A complete methodology is proposed, and three applications are detailed. To start with, an in-depth analysis of existing compensation techniques for analog circuit imperfections is carried out. The M/2+M sub-binary digital-to-analog converter is thoroughly studied, and the use of this very low-area circuit in conjunction with a successive approximations algorithm for digital compensation is described. A complete methodology based on this compensation circuit and algorithm is then proposed. The detection and correction of analog circuit imperfections is studied, and a simulation tool allowing the transparent simulation of analog circuits with automatic compensation blocks is introduced. The first application shows how the sub-binary M/2+M structure can be employed as a conventional digital-to-analog converter if two calibration and radix conversion algorithms are implemented. The second application, a SOI 1T DRAM, is then presented. A digital algorithm chooses a suitable reference value that compensates several circuit imperfections together, from the sense amplifier offset to the dispersion of the memory read currents. The third application is the calibration of the sensitivity of a current measurement microsystem based on a Hall magnetic field sensor. Using a variant of the chopper modulation, the spinning current technique, combined with a second modulation of a reference signal, the sensitivity of the complete system is continuously measured without interrupting normal operation. A thermal drift lower than 50 ppm/ DegreesC is achieved, which is 6 to 10 times less than in state-of-the-art implementations. Furthermore, the calibration technique also compensates drifts due to mechanical stresses and ageing.

Essays on festive drama - plays, pageantry and traditional ceremonies - of the European middle ages, with comparative material. Festive drama, in these studies, includes processions and folk-customs as well as full-blown plays, from Spain, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Britain, Denmark, and Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). The main focus is the middleages, but style and approach are as relevant as time-scale, reflecting a culture in which there are no firm divisions between drama and pageantry and traditional ceremonies. Common themes emerge: the world turned upside-down of Shrovetide; the emotive power of religious celebration; and the links between commerce and the demonstration of civic pride. Festive customs are viewed as hidden agendas of popular culture, and performances are reconstructed. Thisis the obverse of art and power: the means by which the people, not the princes, rule the world. Professor MEG TWYCROSS teaches at the Department of English at Lancaster University. Contributors: PETER H. GREENFIELD, OLGA HORNER, SHEILA LINDENBAUM, CLAIRE SPONSLER, RONALD E. SURTZ, RAFAEL PORTILLO, MANUEL J. GOMEZ LARA, PAMELA M. KING, ROBERT POTTER, JOHN CARTWRIGHT, DAVID MILLS, JAMES STOKES, ALAN E. KNIGHT, MARJOKE DE ROOS, FEMKE KRAMER, TOM PETTITT, LEIF SNDERGAARD, WIM HUESKEN, JEAN-MARC PASTREE, SALLY-BETH MACLEAN, MALCOLM JONES, CHRISTINE RICHARDSON, JARMILA F. VELTRUSKY, JOHN COLDEWEY.

Methodology for the Digital Calibration of Analog Circuits and Systems shows how to relax the extreme design constraints in analog circuits, allowing the realization of high-precision systems even with low-performance components. A complete methodology is proposed, and three applications are detailed.

To start with, an in-depth analysis of existing compensation techniques for analog circuit imperfections is carried out. The M/2+M sub-binary digital-to-analog converter is thoroughly studied, and the use of this very low-area circuit in conjunction with a successive approximations algorithm for digital compensation is described. A complete methodology based on this compensation circuit and algorithm is then proposed. The detection and correction of analog circuit imperfections is studied, and a simulation tool allowing the transparent simulation of analog circuits with automatic compensation blocks is introduced.

The first application shows how the sub-binary M/2+M structure can be employed as a conventional digital-to-analog converter if two calibration and radix conversion algorithms are implemented.

The second application, a SOI 1T DRAM, is then presented. A digital algorithm chooses a suitable reference value that compensates several circuit imperfections together, from the sense amplifier offset to the dispersion of the memory read currents.

The third application is the calibration of the sensitivity of a current measurement microsystem based on a Hall magnetic field sensor. Using a variant of the chopper modulation, the spinning current technique, combined with a second modulation of a reference signal, the sensitivity of the complete system is continuously measured without interrupting normal operation. A thermal drift lower than 50 ppm/ C is achieved, which is 6 to 10 times less than in state-of-the-art implementations. Furthermore, the calibration technique also compensates drifts due to mechanical stresses and ageing. "