Hybrid multiplier

Claim 1

A MULTIPLIER FOR GENERATING A SIGNAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PRODUCT OF A DIGITAL QUANTITY AND AN ANALOG QUANTITY COMPRISING A SOURCE OF REFERENCE POTENTIAL, A SOURCE OF GROUND POTENTIAL, A PLURALITY OF SWITCHING DEVICES EACH HAVING A TRANSISTOR HAVING BASE, COLLECTOR, AND EMITTER ELECTRODES, A FIRST INPUT CIRCUIT FOR SAID ANALOG QUANTITY CONNECTED TO SAID BASE ELECTRODE, A COMPARATOR CONNECTED TO SAID REFERENCE POTENTIAL SOURCE AND TO SAID COLLECTOR ELECTRODE, AND A SECOND INPUT CIRCUIT FOR A DIGIT OF SAID DIGITAL QUANTITY CONNECTED TO SAID COMPARATOR, MEANS FOR PROVIDING A SIGNAL WHOSE MAGNITUDE VARIES AS A FUNCTION OF SAID ANALOG QUANTITY TO EACH OF SAID FIRST INPUT CIRCUITS, MEANS FOR PROVIDING A DIFFERENT DIGIT OF SAID DIGITAL QUANTITY TO EACH OF SAID SECOND INPUT CIRCUITS, AND MEANS FOR PROVIDING AN OUTPUT SIGNAL PROPORTIONAL TO THE PRODUCT OF SAID ANALOG AND DIGITAL SIGNAL INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF WEIGHTED IMPEDANCES, ONE OF SAID IMPEDANCES COUPLED TO EACH EMITTER ELECTRODE OF EACH ONE OF SAID PLURALITY OF SWITCHING DEVICES AND TO SAID SOURCE OF GROUND POTENTIAL, AND EACH OF SAID IMPEDANCES BEING WEIGHTED IN VALUE INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE WEIGHTING OF THE DIGIT WHICH IS APPLIED TO THE SWITCH TO WHICH IT IS COUPLED, A SUMMING IMPEDANCE MEANS CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID SOURCE OF REFERENCE POTENTIAL AND SAID SOURCE OF GROUND POTENTIAL, AND OUTPUT SIGNAL TRANSFER MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID SOURCE OF REFERENCE POTENTIAL AND TO SAID SUMMING MEANS.