Converter Basics
Converter Basics
(
N
in
out
FS
V
Division: D = 2
V
Quantization = division + normalization + truncation
Full-scale range (V
FS
) is determined by V
ref
A/D
b
n
Digital output Analog input
b
1
.
.
.
V
ref
Quantization Error
4
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
| |
|
\ .
FS
out in out in
N
V
=D - V =D - V
2
FS
N
V
= =LSB
2
| |
e
in FS
V 0, V
s s
-
2 2
D
out
0
V
in
2 3
1
3
5
0
2
4
6
7
V
FS
2
- -2 -3
V
FS
2
Random quantization error
is usually regarded as noise
V
in
0
-/2
/2
2 3 0 - -2 -3
N = 3
Quantization Noise
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Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
V
in
2 3
0
4 5 6 7
-/2
/2
V
FS
}
/2 2
2 2
-/2
1
= d =
12
P
0 -/2 /2
1/
Assumptions:
N is large
0 V
in
V
FS
and V
in
>>
V
in
is active
is Uniformly distributed
Spectrum of is white
Ref: W. R. Bennett, Spectra of quantized signals, Bell Syst. Tech. J., vol. 27, pp. 446-
472, July 1948.
Signal-to-Quantization Noise Ratio (SQNR)
6
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
( )
2
N
2
2N FS
2 2
2 / 8
V / 8
SQNR= = =1.5 2 ,
12
Assume V
in
is sinusoidal with V
p-p
= V
FS
,
SQNR=6.02 N+1.76 dB
N
(bits)
SQNR
(dB)
8 49.9
10 62.0
12 74.0
14 86.0
SQNR depicts the theoretical performance of an ideal ADC
In reality, ADC performance is limited by many other factors:
Electronic noise (thermal, 1/f, coupling/substrate, etc.)
Distortion (measured by THD, SFDR, IM3, etc.)
FFT Spectrum of Quantized Signal
7
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
N = 10 bits
8192 samples, only
f = [0, f
s
/2] shown
Normalized to V
in
f
s
= 8192, f
in
= 779
f
in
and f
s
must be
incommensurate
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
PSD
Frequency
d
B
SQNR-1.76 dB
ENOB=
6.02 dB
SQNR = 61.93 dB
ENOB = 9.995 bits
Ref: W. R. Bennett, Spectra of quantized signals, Bell Syst. Tech. J., vol. 27, pp. 446-
472, July 1948.
Commensurate f
s
and f
in
8
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
PSD
Frequency
d
B
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
PSD
Frequency
d
B
f
s
= 8192
f
in
= 256
f
s
= 8192
f
in
= 2048
Periodic sampling points result in periodic quantization errors
Periodic quantization errors result in harmonic distortion
Spectrum Leakage
9
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
PSD
Frequency
d
B
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
PSD
Frequency
d
B
f
s
= 8192
f
in
= 779.3
f
s
= 8192
f
in
= 779.3
TD samples must include integer number of cycles of input signal
Windowing can be applied to eliminate spectrum leakage
Trade-off b/t main-lobe width and sideband rejection for different windows
w/
Blackman
window
FFT Spectrum with Distortion
10
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
PSD
Frequency
d
B
High-order harmonics are aliased back, visible in [0, f
s
/2] band
E.g., HD3 @ 779x3+1=2338, HD9 @ 8192-9x779+1=1182
HD3
HD9
Dynamic Performance
11
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
SNDR
[dB]
V
in
[dB]
0 V
FS
Overload
Peak SNDR limited by large-signal distortion of the converter
Dynamic range implies the theoretical SNR of the converter
| |
| |
|
\ .
2
in
10
2 2
N
in
SNR
V / 2
=10LOG
/ 12+
V dB
Peak
SNDR
Dynamic
range
Circuit
noise
Dynamic Performance Metrics
12
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
Total harmonic distortion (THD)
Signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR or SINAD)
Spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR)
Two-tone intermodulation product (IM3)
Aperture uncertainty (related to the frontend S/H and clock)
Dynamic range (DR) misleading (avoid it if possible!)
Idle channel noise or pattern noise in oversampled converters
Evaluating Dynamic Performance
13
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
PSD
Frequency
d
B
Signal-to-noise
plus distortion ratio
(SNDR)
Total harmonic
distortion (THD)
Spurious-free
dynamic range
(SFDR)
SNDR = 59.16 dB
THD = 63.09 dB
SFDR = 64.02 dB
ENOB = 9.535 bits
HD3
HD9
SNDR-1.76 dB
ENOB=
6.02 dB
Static Performance Metrics
14
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
Offset (OS)
Gain error (GE)
Monotonicity
Linearity
Differential nonlinearity (DNL)
Integral nonlinearity (INL)
15
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
Static Performance
of DAC
DAC Transfer Characteristic
16
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
Note: V
out
(b
i
= 1, for all i) = V
FS
- = V
FS
(1-2
-N
) V
FS
N N
N-i
i
out FS i
i
i=1 i=1
b
V = V = b 2
2
D/A
b
n
Digital input
V
out
Analog output
b
1
.
.
.
V
ref
N = # of bits
V
FS
= Full-scale input
= V
FS
/2
N
= 1LSB
b
i
= 0 or 1
Multiplication
Ideal DAC Transfer Curve
17
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
-
V
FS
2
Offset
18
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
2
V
FS
-
V
os
Gain Error
19
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
2
V
FS
-
Monotonicity
20
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
2
V
FS
-
Differential and Integral Nonlinearities
21
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
DNL = deviation of an output step from 1 LSB (= = V
FS
/2
N
)
INL = deviation of the output from the ideal transfer curve
DNL < -1 ?
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
2
INL
V
FS
-
th
i
i Step Size-
DNL =
i
i j
j=0
INL = DNL
INL = cumulative sum of DNL
DNL and INL
23
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
DNL measures the uniformity of quantization steps, or incremental (local)
nonlinearity; small input signals are sensitive to DNL.
INL measures the overall, or cumulative (global) nonlinearity; large input
signals are often sensitive to both INL (HD) and DNL (QE).
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
2
V
FS
-
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
2
V
FS
-
Smooth Noisy
Measure DNL and INL (Method I)
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Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
2
V
FS
-
Endpoints of the transfer characteristic are always at 0 and V
FS
-
Endpoint
stretch
Measure DNL and INL (Method II)
25
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
2
V
FS
-
Least-square
fit and stretch
(detrend)
Endpoints of the transfer characteristic may not be at 0 and V
FS
-
Measure DNL and INL
26
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
Method I (endpoint stretch)
(INL) 0
Method II (LS fit & stretch)
(INL) = 0
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
2
V
FS
-
V
out
000
D
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
2
V
FS
-
27
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
Static Performance
of ADC
Ideal ADC Transfer Characteristic
28
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
D
out
000 V
in
001
011
101
010
100
110
111
V
FS
V
FS
/2 0
Note the systematic offset! (floor, ceiling, and round)
DNL and Missing Code
29
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
D
out
000 V
in
001
011
101
010
100
110
111
V
FS
V
FS
/2 0
DNL = deviation of an input step width from 1 LSB (= V
FS
/2
N
= )
DNL = ?
Can DNL < -1?
th
i
i Step Size-
DNL =
n
Ball casting problem: # of balls collected by each bin (n
i
) is proportional to
the bin size (converter step size)
~
th
i i
i
i
n - n
i Step Size-
DNL =
n
C
o
u
n
t
000
V
in
001 011 101 010 100 110 111
V
FS
0
Uniformly distributed 0 V
in
V
FS
>
n
i
CDT and Nonmonotonicity
34
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
Two transition steps for one code?! How to plot INL/DNL?
CDT can be misleading in determining the static nonlinearity
D
out
000 V
in
001
011
101
010
100
110
111
V
FS
V
FS
/2 0
35
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
Nyquist-Rate ADC
Nyquist-Rate ADC
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Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
Digitizes input signal up to Nyquist frequency (f
N
=f
s
/2)
Minimum sample rate (f
s
) for a given input bandwidth
Each sample is digitized to the maximum resolution of converter
Often referred to as the black box version of digitization
A/D
b
n
Digital output Analog input
b
1
.
.
.
V
ref
f
s
Nyquist-Rate ADC (N-Bit, Binary)
37
Data Converters Data Converter Basics Professor Y. Chiu
EECT 7327 Fall 2012
Word-at-a-time (1 step)
fast
Flash
Level-at-a-time (2
N
steps) slowest
Integrating (Serial)
Bit-at-a-time (N steps) slow
Successive approximation
Algorithmic (Cyclic)
Partial word-at-a-time (1 < M N steps) medium
Subranging
Pipeline
Others (1 M N step)
Folding relatively fast
Interleaving (of flash, pipeline, or SA) fastest