An electrically controlled very high value floating CMOS resistor

Abstract

The present invention provides a circuit arrangement to convert fixed, or grounded resistors, to floating resistors. In particular, the circuit arrangement provides for the coupling of active electrical resistance devices to provide a relatively high value electrical resistance between two non-grounded nodes of the circuit arrangement in the order of Giga-ohms. The invention further provides for the magnitude of the floating electrical resistance to be determined by the magnitude of electrical current supply thus providing a means to select the magnitude of the floating electrical resistance by selecting by selecting the magnitude of electrical current supply. The circuit arrangement requires relatively few active devices and consumes a relatively small amount of electrical power in operation. The floating resistor of the present invention may be used in applications where a relatively high value resistor consuming a relatively small area of silicon, exhibiting relatively good linearity and wide dynamic range are required. Applications for such a device include neural networks, image processing and vision systems.