A low hardware complexity time domain quantizer for wideband multibit - ADCs

This paper presents proof of concept of a low hardware complexity time domain quantizer (TDQ) for wideband multibit countinuous time (CT) ΣΔ ADCs. Besides rendering multi-level quantization of the input signal, the proposed scheme generates a two-level loop feedback signal for the modulator. The two-level feedback eliminates the errors emanating from component mismatches in the feedback digital-to-analog converter (DAC) due to process variations. The complete scheme is modeled using Simulink (MATLAB) and is validated through simulation. A 2^nd order ΣΔ modulator incorporating the proposed TDQ achieves a dynamic range of 45.7 dB for a bandwidth of 10 MHz and an input sine-wave of -5.78 dBFS amplitude.