The high-resolution multi-tone signal generators

In this paper, a novel technique for analyzing and designing a high performance multi-tone signal generator is. presented. The proposed multi-tone signal generator begins with two parallel integration units and four coefficients. In order to avoid having coefficients that are too small, two of the coefficients remain constant while the others are variable. The analysis illustrates that the coefficients and the initial values of integration units determine the oscillation frequency and amplitude, respectively. A 4th-order leapfrog sigma-delta modulator that follows the resonator to shape the noise floor is proposed for constructing the signal generator. A useful technique called time-division multiplexing (TDM) is adopted for generating multi-tone oscillation because of the large hardware overhead. An example is used to demonstrate that a two-tone oscillator with the TDM technique can achieve an SNR over 90 dB within the 20 kHz base-band. The proposed multi-tone oscillator can be used in high-resolution signal processing systems such as self-test applications, telecommunications, and arbitrary signal generation.