An 8-bit 20-MS/s ZCBC Time-Domain Analog-to-Digital Data Converter

An 8-bit 20-MS/s time-domain analog-to-digital data converter (ADC) using the zero-crossing-based circuit technique is presented. Compared with the conventional ADCs, signal processing is executed in both the voltage and time domains. Since no high-gain operational amplifier is needed, this time-domain ADC works well in a low supply voltage. The proposed ADC has been fabricated in a 0.18-mum CMOS process. Its power dissipation is 4.64 mW from a supply voltage of 1.8 V. This active area occupies 1.2 times 0.7 mm². The measured signal-to-noise-distortion ratio achieves 44.2 dB at an input frequency of 10 MHz. The integral nonlinearity is less than plusmn1.07 LSB, and the differential nonlinearity is less than plusmn0.72 LSB. This time-domain ADC achieves the effective bits of 7.1 for a Nyquist input frequency at 20 MS/s.