Quantization and Saturation Noise Due to Analog-to-Digital Conversion

This correspondence carries out an analysis of the noise power generated by a saturating A/D converter when the input signal has an assumed Gaussian probability density function. Two noise powers are found to contribute to the output device noise, i e., one due to quantization effects and one due to saturation effects. The results of this analysis should have application to a broad class of radar and sonar problems.