A Level-Crossing Analog-to-Digital Converter With Triangular Dither

In this paper, a level-crossing analog-to-digital converter is described. It can convert audio bandwidth signals with high resolution using few threshold levels and digital interpolation. Samples are generated at nonuniform time intervals and then interpolated to produce uniformly spaced output samples. A periodic triangular dither signal added to the input ensures that low-amplitude or slowly varying signals are sampled and converted accurately. The dither is estimated and removed digitally before interpolation. Simulations show that greater than 10-bit resolution can be achieved with only seven comparators when using a sixth-order polynomial interpolator.