MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

Analog to Digital converter using CMOS technology

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
IN
ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

Guide: Mr. Amit Saxena

Submitted By:
Mukul Nigam (00796402810)
Paras Sanoria (00296402810)
Mukul Goel (01096402810)

MAHARAJA AGRASEN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SECTOR-22, ROHINI, DELHI-110086.
AFFILIATED TO

GURU GOBIND SINGH INDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY, NEW DELHI-110078

(2010-2014)

Certificate

This is to certify that the Major Project Report entitled Analog to Digital
converter using CMOS technology done by Mukul Nigam (00796402810),
Paras Sanoria (00296402810) & Mukul Goel (01096402810) is an authentic
work carried out by them at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology
under my guidance. The matter embodied in this major project work has
not been submitted earlier for the award of any degree or diploma to the
best of my knowledge and belief.

Date: 29th April 2014

(Signature of the guide)
Mr. Amit
Saxena

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to articulate our profound gratitude and indebtedness to our project guide
Mr. Amit Saxena, who has always been a constant motivation and guiding factor
throughout the project time in and out as well. It has been a great pleasure for us to get an
opportunity to work under him and complete the project successfully. We wish to extend
our sincere thanks to Prof. R S Gupta, Head of Department, for approving our project work
with great interest. An undertaking of this nature could never have been attempted with our
reference to and inspiration from the works of others whose details are mentioned in
references section. We acknowledge our indebtedness to all of them.

Mukul Nigam
(00796402810)

Paras Sanoria
(00296402810)

Mukul goel
(01096402810)

ABSTRACT
Analog-to-digital

converters

play an

essential

role in

modern

RF

receiver

design.Conventional Nyquist converters require analog components that are precise andHighly
immune to noise and interference. In contrast, oversampling converters can be implemented
using simple and high-tolerance analog components. Moreover,Sampling at high frequency
eliminates the need for abrupt cutoffs in the analog antialiasing filters. A technique of noise
shaping is used in -

converters in addition to oversampling to achieve a high-

resolution conversion. A significant advantage of the method is that analog signals are converted
using simple and high-tolerance analog circuits, usually a 1-bit comparator, and analog signal
processing circuits having a precision that is usually much less than the resolution of the overall
converter.
In this paper, the design technique for a low-cost first order narrow band sigma-delta
modulator in a standard 0.9m CMOS technology is described .This circuitry performs the
function of an analog-to-digital converter. A first-order 1-bit sigma-delta (-) analog-to-digital
converter is designed

and simulated using LTspice IV. The analysis of sigma-delta

modulator structures and the design flow were given. The modulator is proved to be robustness,
the high performance in stability .The simulation are compared with those from a traditional
analog-to-digital converter to prove that sigma-delta is performing better in the case of weak
signals acquisition. The design flow consist of a op-amp one of the key component of sigma
delta adc which is used for designing of integrator and summing circuit , followed by a high
speed comparator and a digital - to-analog convertor in the feedback path.

ii

Table of content
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................
.........................

ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................
............................

ii

List

of

figures

...................................................................................................................................
......... v
1.
INTRODUCTION
.....................................................................................................................................
1
1.1
MOTIVATION
............................................................................................................................. 2
1.2
THESIS
GOALS......................................................................................................................
...... 3
1.3
THESIS ORGANIZATION
............................................................................................................. 3
2.
Sigma Delta Overview
........................................................................................................................... 4
2.1
Analog-to-digital conversion:
.................................................................................................... 5
2.2
SIGMA-DELTA ADC
.................................................................................................................... 6
2.3
Flash ADC
.................................................................................................................................
.6
2.9
Quantization
Noise.................................................................................................................. 14
2.10
Signal Sampling
....................................................................................................................... 14
2.11
Noise
Shaping....................................................................................................................
...... 15
2.12
Spur- Free Dynamic Range (SFDR)
.......................................................................................... 17
2.13
Differential non- linearity
(DNL).............................................................................................. 17
2.14
Integral non-linearity (INL)
...................................................................................................... 18
iii

2.15
End-point INL:
......................................................................................................................... 19
2.16
MODULATOR............................................................................................................
............... 20
2.17
DECIMATOR..............................................................................................................
............... 22
3.
System level Design of Sigma Delta ADC
............................................................................................ 23
3.1.
Designing of Sigma Delta Modulator
...................................................................................... 24
3.2.
Designing of two stage Opamp.............................................................................................. 24
3.3.
Designing of Comparator
........................................................................................................ 26
3.4.
Designing of Summing
Amplifier............................................................................................. 28
3.5.
Designing of Integrator
........................................................................................................... 30
3.6.
Designing of Digital-to-Analog Converter
............................................................................... 31
3.7.
Schematic of first Order
Modulator:.................................................................................. 33

iv

4.
Conclusion and Future work
............................................................................................................... 45
4.1.
Conclusion
...............................................................................................................................
46
4.2.
Future Work
............................................................................................................................ 46

List of figures
Figure 2.1 Architecture of Flash ADC............................................................................................ 7
Figure 2.2 Architecture of Pipe Line ADC ..................................................................................... 9
Figure 2.3 SuccessiveApproximation ADC.................................................................................. 10
2.4 Dual Slope ADC ..................................................................................................................... 12
2.5 Block diagram of a sigma-delta analog to digital converter ................................................... 14
2.6 (a)Under sampled signal ......................................................................................................... 15
2.7 Fig2.6(b) Oversampled signal................................................................................................. 16
2.8 Putting noise shaping and Digital filter together .................................................................... 16
2.9 Representation of DNL in an ADC transfer curve.................................................................. 18
2.10 Best fit INL ........................................................................................................................... 19
2.11 End Point INL ....................................................................................................................... 20
2.12 Block diagram of modulator ................................................................................................. 21
3.1 Schematic of Op-amp ............................................................................................................. 35
3.2 Frequency response of Op-amp .............................................................................................. 35
3.3 Schematic Design of latch-Comparator .................................................................................. 37
3.4 Simulated waveform of Comparator....................................................................................... 38
3.5 Schematic of summing amplifier. ........................................................................................... 39
3.6 Simulation result of summing amplifier. ................................................................................ 39
3.7 schematic of Integrator ........................................................................................................... 40
3.8 Simulation Result of integrator ............................................................................................... 41
3.9 Schematic of DAC .................................................................................................................. 42
3.10 simulation result of DAC ...................................................................................................... 42
3.11 schematic of a sigma-delta ADC .......................................................................................... 44
3.12 simulation result of Sigma Delta ADC ................................................................................. 44
vi

1. INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
1.1

MOTIVATION
Recent research on Radio Frequency (RF) communication emphasizes both higher

integration, to meet customer demand for low-cost, low-power, small-form factor personal
communication device .This reduction in power can be achieved by moving towards smaller
feature size .However, as we move towards smaller feature size, the process variations and other
non-idealities will greatly affect the performance of the device. One of theapplications where low
power dissipation, low noise, high speed, less Offset voltage are required is Analog to Digital
Converters (ADC) for mobile and portable devices. The performance limiting factor of such
ADC is gain amplifiers and comparators. In wireless application oversampling analog-to-digital
conversion has become popular because of its increased performance and flexibility.
Oversampling uses a sampling rate that is much greater than the bandwidth of the signal of
interest. Digital signal processing is then further used for filtering and down sampling. Sigmadelta ADC is a low-cost, low-bandwidth, low-power, high-resolution ADC and has varied
applications in data acquisition, communications, signal processing and instrumentation. It had
its origins in the early development phases of pulse code modulation (PCM) systems, this
technique has been in existence for many years, but recent advance in technology has made this
device practical and there use is becoming widespread, it has become a choice for modern voice
band, audio and high resolution industrial measurement application. The Sigma Delta ADC is
now used for much low cost, low power, high resolution applications.

1.2

THESIS GOALS
The main objective of this thesis is to design a Sigma Delta ADC using 90um LTspice IV

technology. This describes the designing of different blocks needed for designing the modulator
and filter architecture of the ADC.

1.3

THESIS ORGANIZATION

This thesis provides the designing of a Sigma Delta ADC using 90um LTspice IV technology.
The thesis can be organized in the following manner.
Chapter2 focuses on Basics of Analog-To-Digital Converter (ADC), Different architectures of
ADCs are studied in this section along with advantages and disadvantages. It gives a detail over
view of Sigma Delta ADC architecture and functionality.
Chapter 3 Describes the Designing detail of Sigma Delta ADC,it gives a brief description about
the different components of the ADC and also describes it designing requirements of these
components.
Chapter4 Gives the Transistor level designing of the ADC. It describes the detail designing of
Sigma Delta ADC using 90um CMOS technology, it includes he designing of different parts of
the modulator and the decimator part. All the simulated result using LTspice IV tool of different
blocks of the modulator is shown in this chapter including the final ADC architecture and its
result.

2. Sigma Delta Overview

2.1

Analog-to-digital conversion:

Data converter is a key component in any electronic system. Real world signals are inherently
analog; however, the digital form of analog signals can be processed using robust, flexible and
reliable digital-signal-processing (DSP). Therefore, analog-to-digital conversion becomes
critical. Data converter is also a very critical component in wireless receivers. Different radiofrequency (RF) receiver architectures have different specifications on their analog-to-digitalconverters (ADCs). Sigma-Delta modulation based analog-to digital (A/D) conversion process is
a cost effective and an alternative for high resolution converters which can be ultimately
integrated on digital signal processor ICs. The sigma-delta modulator was first introduced in
early phase of pulse width modulation (PWM) in around 1962; but it gained its importance in
recent times after the development in digital VLSI technologies.
Conventional converters are often difficult to implement in (VLSI) technology. As these
conventional methods need precise analog components in their filters and conversion circuits and
their circuits are very vulnerable to noise and interference. The conventional methods uses low
sampling frequency, which is usually the nyquist rate of the signal. By keeping these things in
mind the people are going for over sampling converters, these converters make extensive use of

mentioned below.
1. Higher reliability.
2. Increased functionality.
3. Reduced chip cost.
The Sigma Delta ADC are now used for many low cost, low power, high resolution applications,
the key feature of this ADC is that it is based on oversampling method which uses high

frequencies modulation technique and eliminates the use of anti aliasing filter at the input to the
converter.

2.2

SIGMA-DELTA ADC

Depending upon the sampling rate Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) can be divided in to two
parts. One which samples the signal at Nyquist rate that is fN=2F, Where fN is the sampling rate
and F is the bandwidth of the input signal, while the other samples the signal at a much higher
sampling rate then the signal band width this type of sampling is called oversampling and the
converters are called oversampling converters. These converters have an ability to achieve high
resolution, high reliability, and performance. Then Nyquist rate converters, some of the Nyquist
rate converters are

Flash ADC

Digital Ramp ADC

Successive Approximation ADC

Tracking ADC

Pipeline ADC

2.3Flash ADC
Flash ADCs are also called parallel ADCs. Due to the parallel architecture it is the fastest
ADC among all the other types and are suitable for high bandwidth applications. Due to presence
of 2 N resistor it consumes a lot of power, has low resolution, and expensive for high resolution.
Itis mainly used in high frequency applications and in the other types of ADC architectures
6

e.g.multi bit sigma delta and pipelined. Few applications of flash ADCs are satellite
communication,radar processing, data acquisition, sampling oscilloscopes, and high-density disk
drives. A typicalflash ADC block diagram is shown in Figure 2.1

Figure 2.1 Architecture of Flash ADC

Here 2N 1 comparators are required for an "N" bit converter. The resistor ladder network is
formed by 2N resistors, which is used to generatethe reference voltages for the each comparator.
The reference voltage for each comparator is 1 leastsignificant bit (LSB) less than the reference
voltage for the comparator immediately above it. When the input voltage (positive terminal) is
7

higher than the reference voltage (negative voltage) of comparator it will generate a "1",
otherwise, the comparator output is "0". If the analog input isin between Vx4 and Vx5 , then the
comparators X1 through X4 generates "1"s and all the remainingcomparators generate "0"s.
The comparators will generate a thermometer code of an input signal. It is called thermometer
code encoding, because it is similar as mercury thermometer, where in the mercury column, the
mercury always rises to the appropriate temperature and no mercury is present above that
temperature. This thermometer code will then encode into a binary form by thermometer-to
binary encoder. The comparators are typically a latched comparator with low gain stages. They
are typically low gain because at high frequencies it is difficult to obtain both wide bandwidth
and high gain. They are designed to obtain the low voltage offset, such that the condition of the
comparator is that its input offset of each comparator is smaller than 1 LSB of the ADC.
Otherwise, the offset of the comparator could falsely trip the comparator, resulting in a digital
output code not representative of a thermometer code. A regenerative latch present at each
comparator output stores the result. Due to presence of positive feedback, the end state is forced
to either a "1" or a 0.

2.4Pipelined ADC
The pipelined analog-to-digital converter is one of the most popular ADC architecture. It can
work from few Msamples to more than hundreds of Msamples with resolution from 8 bit to
16bits. Due to its high resolution and sampling rate range it is widely use in medical and
communication applications e.g. CCD imaging, digital receiver, ultrasonic medical imaging,
base station, digital video (for example, HDTV), DSL, cable modem, and fast Ethernet. Speed,
resolution, power and dynamic performance are greatly improved in Pipeline ADC but SAR and

Integrating architectures are still used for low sampling rate applications, whereas for high
sampling rate (e.g. 1 GHz) flash ADC is still the choice. The example of 12 bits pipeline ADC
isshown inFigure 2.2

Figure 2.2 Architecture of Pipe Line ADC

Initially sample-and-hold (S&H) circuit samples and holds the input VIN. The flash ADC
in the first stage will convert this signal into 3 bit digital output. This 3 bits digital code is
applied to DAC and the analog output is subtracted from the original signal, then the remainder
is multiplied by 4 and then applied to the next stage. This process will continue till the last stage
(Stage 4) and every stage provides 3 bits. After last stage the amplified remainder signal is
feedinto 4 Bit flash ADC that will generate 4 least significant bits. As every stage generates bits
at different instant in time therefore it is required to align all the bits by shift register prior to
applying 12-bit digital output to the digital-error-correction logic. During the interval when one

stage completes the processing of one sample and passes the magnified remainder to the other
stage. The next stages are also performing the same operation because sample and hold circuit is
Embedded in every stage. This pipelining technique explained above increases the throughput of
ADC.

2.5Successive Approximation ADC

Successive-approximation-register (SAR) analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are mostly use in
medium to high-resolution and low sampling rate applications. These are mostly in the
rangebetween 8 to 16 bits. It also provides small form factor and low power consumption. As its
power consumption is low therefore it is the good choice for low power application such as
Portable/battery-powered instruments, pen digitizers, industrial controls, and data/signal
acquisition. SAR ADC actually implements binary search algorithm, therefore its internal
circuitry might work at several megahertz but due to the successive approximation algorithm the
sampling rate of ADC is quite small. There are many ways to implement SAR ADC but its basic
structure is shown in Figure 2.3

Figure 2.3 SuccessiveApproximation ADC

1
0

In this structure track/hold circuit is used to hold the analog input voltage (VIN). The
binarysearch algorithm is implemented by N-bits register. Initially the value of register is set to
mid-scalier. MSB set to 1 and all the other bits are set to 0. The output of DAC (V DAC)
becomes half the reference voltage VREF/2, where VREF is the reference voltage of ADC. The
comparator will compare the input voltage VIN with VDAC. If VIN is greater than VDAC, the
comparator output will be set to 1, and the MSB of the N-bit register remains at '1'. If the input
voltage VIN is less than VDAC then the comparator output becomes 0. The SAR control logic
will change the MSB of the register to '0', set the next bit to 1 and perform comparison again.
This process continues till LSB and once this process is completed the N-bit digital word is
available in the register.

2.6Dual-Slope ADC
In order to understand the architecture of Dual slope ADC we first need to understand theconcept
of single slope ADC. The single slope ADC is also known as integrating ADC and themain
theme of this architecture is to use analog ramping circuit and digital counter instead of using
DAC. The op-amp circuit that is also called an integrator is used to generate a reference ramp
signal that will compare with input signal by a comparator. The digital counter clocked with
precise frequency is used to measure time taken by the reference signal to exceed the input signal
voltage. The Dual-Slope ADC input voltage (VIN ) integrates for fixed time interval (TINT), then
it will deintegrate by using reference voltage (REFV ) for a variable amount of time (TDE-INT) as
shown in Fig.2.4

1
1

2.4 Dual Slope ADC

The behavior of this structure is similar to digital ramp ADC, except that saw-toothwaveform is
used as reference signal. Integrating ADCs provides high resolution and can provide good noise
rejection and line frequency. As dual slope structure integrates input signal for fixed time
instant therefore input signal becomes average and this will produce output with greater noise
immunity. Due to this fact it is very useful for high accuracy applications. The other advantage
of this structure is that it avoids DAC in the structure that decreases the design complexity. The
main limitation of this structure is that it only suitable for low bandwidth input signals.

2.7ADC comparison
It shows the range of resolutions, conversion method, encoding method, conversion time, size,
advantages and disadvantages available for flash, sigma-delta, successive approximation, dual
slope and pipeline converters. As one can observe that flash ADC provide the highest speed
amongst all the other types of ADC. The speed of sigma delta converter is comparable with SAR
ADC but even it is much slower than flash ADC. From the resolution point of view successive
approximation resolution that is from 8 to 16 bits is comparable with pipelined structure but the
fastest flash has maximum resolution of 6 to 8 bits. Therefore we can conclude that it is always
the trade-off between speed, accuracy and power. The selection of architecture is depended upon
1
2

the application.All families of converters are speed up with the CMOS process improvements
e.g. successive approximation conversion time has been increased to tens of microseconds. This
also effects the power consumption of data converters. On the other hand improvement in DSP
functionality also impacts on the ADC design e.g. improvement in sigma-delta converter by
adding fast and more complex digital filter.

2.8Sigma Delta ADC

Sigma delta ADC comes under the category of oversampling ADC, which samples the signal at
an over sampled frequency of fN=k2F where k is the oversampling ratio and is given by the
following equation.
K=fn/F

2.1

2.5shows the block diagram and description of sigma delta ADC. The modulator part samples
the input signal at a much higher frequency set by the over sampling convert which converts the
analog input signal to pulse density modulated signal followed by a decimation filter which
contains the original input signal and out of band noise.Both the modulator and the decimator
are operated with the same over sampling clock. The modulator is of first order with a 1-bit
quantize and it generates a 1-bit output. The output of the decimator is N-bit digital data, where
N is the output resolution of the ADC and is dependent on the over sampling ratio of the
converter.

1
3

2.5 Block diagram of a sigma-delta analog to digital converter

The following sub-sections below gives anoverview of the terms quantization noise, signal
sampling and noise shaping which are related to sigma-delta converters.

2.9Quantization Noise
The analog signal can take any continuous value. But a digital n-bit signal only settles to 2n
discrete values. Quantization noise is the difference between the analog value and its digital
representation, which causes the distortion .Quantization error, can be defined as a measure of an
n-bit converters failure to represent accurately an analog signal in the digital domain.

2.10

Signal Sampling

In the process of oversampling the input analog signal is sampled at a much higher frequency
then the Nyquistfrequency, which reduces the quantization noise to a great extent in the required
band of interest. In order to construct the sampled signal without distortion the sampling
frequency must be twice of the signal frequency as stated by the sampling theorem. 2.6shows
the spectrum of an under sampled signal[2] Here the sampling frequency, fs is less than twice
the input signal frequency 2f. The shaded portion of the figure shows the aliasing which occurs
1
4

when

1
5

the sampling frequency is not twice the signal frequency. We get a distorted signal at the output
2.7shows the spectrum of an oversampled signal [2]Here the sampled signal in the frequency
domain appears as a series of band-limited signals.This puts the entire input signal bandwidth at
less than fS/2 which reduces the aliasing.

2.11

Noise Shaping

It is one of the properties of sigma-delta ADCs which results due to the application of feedback
which extends dynamic range. The closed loop modulator works as a high-pass filter for
quantization-noise and as a low-pass filter for the input signal. When the signal is over-sampled,
the quantization noise power in the Nyquist bandwidth spreads over the wider bandwidth, which
is shown in 2.8. The total quantization noise is still the same but the quantization noise in the
bandwidth of interest is reduced significantly. The figure illustrates the noise shaping which is
achieved by using the oversampled sigma-delta modulator.

2.6 (a)Under sampled signal

1
6

2.7Fig2.6(b) Oversampled signal

In a sigma-delta ADC, the analog modulator samples the input at oversampling ratio and after
the input signal passes through the modulator it is fed into the digital filter or a decimator. The
digital filter provide a sharp cutoff at the bandwidth of interest, which essentially removes out of
band quantization noise and signals

2.8 Putting noise shaping and Digital filter together

1
7

2.12

Spur- Free Dynamic Range (SFDR)

SFDR is the ratio of the strength of the fundamental frequency to the strongest spurious signal in
the output of ADCs. SFDR is an indicator of fidelity of an ADC. Non-linearity in the ADC
generates spurious signals that affect the achievable SFDR.SFDR can be calculated using the
below formula
SFDR=Signal (dB) - largest spur (dB)

2.13
DNL is

Differential non- linearity (DNL)

a measure of

separation

between

adjacent levels

measured at vertical

jump.DNLmeasures any deviation from one LSB. In other words, for an ideal ADC, the output is
divided into 2N uniform voltage levels, each with width. Any deviation from the ideal step width
is calleddifferential non- linearity (DNL) and is measured in number of counts (LSBs). The DNL
is 0LSBFor ideal ADCs. In a practical ADC, DNL error comes from its architecture. For
example, in a SAR ADC, DNL error may be caused near the mid-range due to mismatching of
its DAC. Let us consider an example of a 3-bit ADC with transfer characteristics as shown in
Fig. In this ADC, each input step should be exactly 1/8 of the full-scale input range (1 LSB of
this ADC). Given that this ADC has an input range of 8V, the first output-code transition is
caused by an input change of 0.5V (Full-scale input range/16 = LSB), which is as expected.
However, the second transition, from 001 to 010, takes place after an input change of 1.25V
(1.25 LSB), and so is too large by 0.25 LSB. Similarly, there is a variation in step size at each of
the following steps. The DNL of this particular ADC can be specified as 0.75 LSB, which is the
maximum deviation from the ideal step size of this ADC throughout its transfer.

1
8

2.9 Representation of DNL in an ADC transfer curve

2.14
Integral

Integral non-linearity (INL)

non

linearity

(INL)

is

the

maximum

difference

between

actual

finite

resolutioncharacteristic and ideal finite resolution characteristics. In the other words INL is a
measure ofhow closely the ADC output matches its ideal response. INL can be defined as the
deviation inLSB of the actual transfer function of the ADC from the ideal transfer curve. INL
can be estimated using DNL at each step by calculating the cumulative sum of DNL errors up to
that point. In reality, INL is measured by plotting the ADC transfer characteristics as explained
below. There are two methods to find the INL error
1. Best fit (best straight line) method
2. End point method
Best fit (best straight line) method
The best fit method of INL measurement considers offset and gain error. One can see in 2.10that
the Ideal transfer curve considered for calculating best-fit INL does not go through the origin.
1
9

The ideal transfer curve here is drawn such that it depicts the nearest first-order approximation to
the actual transfer curve of the ADC. The intercept and slope of this ideal curve can lend us the
values of the offset and gain error of the ADC. Quite intuitively, the best fit method yields better
results for INL.

2.10 Best fit INL

The only real use of the best fit INL number is to predict distortion in AC applications. This
number would be equivalent to the maximum deviation for an AC application.

2.15

End-point INL:

The End-Point method provides the worst case INL. This measurement passes the straightline
through the origin and maximum output code of the ADC. As this method provides the worst
case INL, it is more useful to use this number as compared to the one measured using best fit for
DC applications. The parameter INL must be considered for applications involving recession
measurements and control.

2
0

2.11 End Point INL

2.16

MODULATOR

The modulator is the analog part of sigma delta ADC, the resolution of the converter depends
upon the order of the modulator order of the modulator is set by the sampling ratio. It consists of
an integrator and a comparator (ADC) in the forward path and a DAC in the feed backpath, Delta
is used to show deviation or small incremental change known as delta modulation. it is based
on quantizing the change in signal by sample to sample rather then absolute value of signal at
each level. Sigma or integrating is done at the input side of the converter of the output of DAC
and the input signal. So this modulation is called as sigma delta modulation. The feedback signal
from the DAC is subtracted from the input signal by the summing amplifier, and then the error
signal is filtered by the low pass filter integrator. The comparator works as at oversampling clock
frequency and act as quantizeror ADC. It compares the input signal against last sample signal to
see if it is higher then the reference or not. if it is larger then the output is increased else
2
1

decreaced.The density of 1s and 0s forming a pulse stream at the output is the digital
representation of the input analog signal. A converter needs a sampling frequency more then
twice the signal frequency to reproduce the signal without distortion. The density of the pulses
represents the average value of the input, most of the pulses are high for the positive peak of
analog signal and the density of negative pulses represents the negative peak of the signal.
By balancing three major design aspects the resolution of the sigma delta ADC can be
increased they are the over sampling ratio, quantizer resolution and order of modulator. The use
of a higher order modulator reduces the superimposed noise in the bit stream. The in band
quantization noise can be reduced by doubling there sampling frequency. The input analog signal
can directly be sampled using an input over sample clock as it uses the process of oversampling
this also eliminates the use of antialiasing filter due to oversampling process.

2.12 Block diagram of modulator

The modulator consists of an Integrator, Difference Amplifier, 1bit latched Comparator

(ADC) and a 1bit DAC.2.12shows the basic structure of a modulator. The modulator pushes the
output of the modulator to a higher frequency range which can be filtered using a digital
decimation filter.

2
2

2.17

DECIMATOR

Decimation is the process of converting the sampling rate of a signal from a given higher
rate fs tolower rate fn.Decimation means reducing by a factor 10.but in communication it is the
reduction in the sampling rate of the signal. It is a digital low pass filter which performs the
samples rate reduction operation. The sigma-delta modulator performs the operation of noise
shaping and hence the noise is pushed to higher frequencies so that the decimation stage
following the modulator can filter out this noise above the cutoff frequency. The band limited
signal can then be resample by discarding K 1 samples out of every K samples, where K being
the oversampling ratio. By averaging K samples out of the quantized sigma-delta output, the
decimation filter achieves a high output resolution and also the frequency of the output data is at
twice the input signal bandwidth which is the nyquist rate.

2
3

2
4

3. System level Design of Sigma Delta ADC

23

Design of Sigma Delta ADC

Sigma delta ADC as shown in figure2.1, consist of a Modulator and a Decimation filter. In this
report designing of sigma delta ADC is implemented in 90um CMOS technology. The modulator
runs on a supply voltage of 1.8v, and achieves a SNR of 85dB for a signal band width of 20
KHz. It operates at an oversampling ratio of 64 and a sampling frequency of 2.56 MHz.

3.1.

Designing of Sigma Delta Modulator

The Modulator as shown in Figure 2.3 consists of a single stage integrator, a summing amplifier,
a quantizer(comparator) and a 1bit DAC.The basic building block of this modulator is a simple
two stage differential Op-amp.

3.2.

Designing of Comparator

Comparator or quantizer is one of the core components of any analog-to-digital converter (ADC)
as we know Nyquist converters need precise analog components in their conversion circuits.
Typically, aquantizer design includes a very precise sample-and hold circuit and a high-accuracy
comparator working at Nyquist sampling frequency. The accuracy requirement of the comparator
depends on the accuracy requirement of the converter, in - modulators, the comparator is
required to work at a high oversampling frequency but its resolution can be as small as 1 bit.
Therefore, the comparator designing - modulators focuses more on a high-speed operation
instead of accuracyand uses a complementary comparator with latch or latched comparator
followed by a buffer which helps in buffering the output of the comparator

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3.3.

Designing of Summing Amplifier

The summing amplifier is one of the flexible circuits of Sigma delta ADC. It is given with the
analog input signal in one of its terminal and the other is given the feed backed loop from the
output of DAC. It is basically a summing amplifier with one resistor in the input side and a
combination of resistor for the feedback path also. This circuit is designed using 90um LTspice
IV technology. Here a input voltage of 2.5v is givn as an input to the summing amplifier and
the
corresponding output will be the sum of the input and the feed back voltage 4.5shows the
schematic of summing amplifier and 4.6shows the transient analysis of the above circuit.

3.5 Schematic of summing amplifier.

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3.5.

Designing of Integrator

The integrator is designed using a two stage Op-Amp, in LTspice IV 90um CMOS technology
and is connected with a feed back capacitor which helps in charging of the input voltage to give
a integrated output. It is given a sinusoidal input signal from the summing amplifier whose
output is the sum of the input and the feed back signal and gives ramp output corresponding to a
given sinusoidal input. The below

3.7shows the structure of a integrator circuit and

4.8gives the simulation result of the integrator.

3.7 schematic of Integrator

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3.8 Simulation Result of integrator

3.6.

Designing of Digital-to-Analog Converter

A sigma delta convertor uses multibit quantizer and multibit digital-to-analog (DAC) to
reconstruct the analog signal,for such DAC the linearity of the convertor is important. For a high
resolution DAC, accuracy is one of the major problems that it encounters, for this a single bit
system is used to overcome the accuracy problem. In one bit DAC linearity is determined by the
accuracy of switching between the reference signal, for high switching accuracy the system will
be very linear.

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Figure 3.6 Circuit of DAC

Figure 3.7 Waveform of DAC

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3.7.

Schematic of first Order Modulator:

The sigma-delta A/D converter stands out to be the most advanced, among all the Data
converters discussed so far. A block level schematic of a first order A/D converter is as depicted
below in Fig4.11.The figure shows the block diagram of a first order Delta-sigma Converter (-
ADC). It consists of Integrator, a comparator (1 bit ADC), 1-bit DAC. In above circuitry a 1-bit
ADC (generally known as a Comparator), drive it with the output of an integrator, and feed the
integrator with an input differenced with the output a 1-bit DAC. The type of A/D converters
discussed so far are Nyquist converters where by sampling rate is twice the input signal
frequency for error free signal approximation. Only way to decrease the Quantization noise or
better signal representation is sampling the signal many more times. This is the fundamental
theory in sigma delta data converters.4.11shows the schematic of asigma-delta ADC, the circuit
is fed with a sinusoidal signal of 2.5v and frequency of 100MHz to the summing circuit whose
other terminal is connected to the feedback output signal of one bit DAC .The output of this
circuit is given to the integrator and the other terminal of integrator is connected to a ground. the
output of the integrator is given to the latched-comparator, whose other to terminals are
connected to clock signals which helps the comparator to increase the speed and also the
sensitivity of the circuit. The comparator compares the input signal from the integrator with the
reference signal and gives the corresponding output as shown above. It will give a positive signal
when ever the input signal crosses the reference signal above its value and a negative when it
crosses the reference signal. The pulse of bit generated from the comparator is given as a input to
the DAC which is connected as a feedback to the ADSC circuit. This process is iterated several
times to get a series of digital bit stream. The simulation result of the above circuit is shown in
4.12below.

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3.11 schematic of a sigma-delta ADC

3.12 simulation result of Sigma Delta ADC

The above schematic circuit simulates an input analog signal and there by gives a corresponding
digital stream of pulses at the output of the modulator circuits. This is achieved due to the
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continuous iteration of the input signal to the modulator.

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4. Conclusion and Future work

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4.1.

Conclusion

A Sigma delta Analog to digital Convertor is designed by integrating the components of the
system.. This is used as a summing circuit which helps in providing the differential feed back
input to the integrator. Followed by a high speed comparator is designed ,for this a latched type
comparator is used which compares the input signal with a reference signal and gives the
corresponding result which is then fed to 1 bit Digital to Analog (DAC) circuit at the feedback
path of the system. This process is iterated and a pulse of digital signal is achieved at the output
of the system. The sigma delta ADC was simulated using a standard LTspice IV .Dynamic latch
comparator has been designed in order to reduce static power dissipation. The different parts
of the dynamic latch comparator like: pre-amplifier, dynamic latch, and output buffer are
implemented on LTspice IV with 1.2 V power supply. The simulation results shown for a
sampling frequency of 2.5 GHz and the average power dissipation of the proposed comparator is
68 W.

4.2.

Future Work

The future work of Sigma delta ADC is

1. Design of a high speed high precision reduced size CMOS comparator.
2. Comparison with existing comparator.
3. Designing of a high speed and low power Sigma delta ADC
4. Designing of a multibit Sigma delta ADC.

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