A 6 Bit Flash ADC Operating Up to 1 GHz and Nyquist Up to 500 MHz Sampling Rate

A high speed Analog-Digital converter realized with a standard Bipolar process (Ft = 8 GHz) is presented. Optimized design and novel layout concept of the chip, leads to operating frequency up to 1 GHz sampling rate with less than 1.4 W power dissipation. The architecture and the design of the main functions are described. The way to optimize dynamic performance is shown in the paper. Main measurement results are : Differential Non linearity of ± 0.15 LSB, analog input bandwidth of 550 MHz, Nyquist operation up to 500 MHz sampling rate.