Time to Digital Converters

Systematic Design of Sigma-Delta Analog-to-Digital Converters describes the issues related to the sigma-delta analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) design in a systematic manner: from the top level of abstraction represented by the filters defining signal and noise transfer functions (STF, NTF), passing through the architecture level where topology-related performance is calculated and simulated, and finally down to parameters of circuit elements like resistors, capacitors, and amplifier transconductances used in individual integrators. The systematic approach allows the evaluation of different loop filters (order, aggressiveness, discrete-time or continuous-time implementation) with quantizers varying in resolution. Topologies explored range from simple single loops to multiple cascaded loops with complex structures including more feedbacks and feedforwards. For differential circuits, with switched-capacitor integrators for discrete-time (DT) loop filters and active-RC for continuous-time (CT) ones, the passive integrator components are calculated and the power consumption is estimated, based on top-level requirements like harmonic distortion and noise budget.

This book offers students and those new to the topic of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) a broad introduction, before going into details of the state-of-the-art design techniques for SAR and DS converters, including the latest research topics, which are valuable for IC design engineers as well as users of ADCs in applications. The book then addresses important topics, such as correct connectivity of ADCs in an application, the verification, characterization and testing of ADCs that ensure high-quality end products.