High speed analog to digital converter

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6788238
  • Patent Number
    6,788,238
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, October 21, 2003
    20 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 7, 2004
    19 years ago
Abstract
An analog to digital converter includes a reference ladder, a track-and-hold amplifier tracking an input signal with its output signal during the phase φ1 and holding a sampled value during, a coarse analog to digital converter having a plurality of coarse amplifiers each inputting a corresponding tap from the reference ladder and the output signal, a fine analog-to-digital converter having a plurality of fine amplifiers inputting corresponding taps from the reference ladder and the output signal, the taps selected based on outputs of the coarse amplifiers, a clock having phases φ1 and φ2, a circuit responsive to the clock that receives the output signal, the circuit substantially passing the output signal and the corresponding taps to the fine amplifiers during the phase φ2 and substantially rejecting the output signal and the corresponding taps during the phase φ1, and an encoder converting outputs of the coarse and fine amplifiers to an N-bit digital signal representing the input signal.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to analog to digital converters (ADC's), and more particularly, to reducing nonlinearities and inter-symbol interference in high-speed analog to digital converters.




2. Related Art




A subranging analog to digital converter (ADC) architecture is suitable for implementing high-performance ADC's (i.e. high speed, low power, low area, high resolution).

FIG. 1

shows a generic two-step subranging architecture, comprising a reference ladder


104


, a coarse ADC


102


, a switching matrix


103


, a fine ADC


105


, coarse comparators


107


, fine comparators


108


and an encoder


106


. In most cases, a track-and-hold


101


is used in front of the ADC. In this architecture, an input voltage is first quantized by the coarse ADC


102


. The coarse ADC


102


compares the input voltage against all the reference voltages, or against a subset of the reference voltages that is uniformly distributed across the whole range of reference voltages. Based on a coarse quantization, the switching matrix


103


connects the fine ADC


105


to a subset of the reference voltages (called a “subrange”) that is centered around the input signal voltage.




Modern flash, folding and subranging analog to digital converters (ADC's) often use averaging techniques for reducing offset and noise of amplifiers used in the ADC. One aspect of averaging is the topology that is used to accomplish averaging, i.e., which amplifier outputs in which arrays of amplifiers are averaged together.




In general, flash, folding and subranging ADC's use cascades of distributed amplifiers to amplify the residue signals before they are applied to the comparators. These residue signals are obtained by subtracting different DC reference voltages from an input signal V


in


. The DC reference voltages are generated by the resistive ladder (reference ladder)


104


biased at a certain DC current.




High-resolution ADC's often use auto-zero techniques, also called offset compensation techniques, to suppress amplifier offset voltages. In general, autozeroing requires two clock phases (φ


1


and φ


2


). During the auto-zero phase, the amplifier offset is stored on one or more capacitors, and during the amplify phase, the amplifier is used for the actual signal amplification.




Two different auto-zero techniques can be distinguished, which are illustrated in

FIGS. 2 and 3

. The technique shown in

FIG. 2

connects an amplifier


201


in a unity feedback mode during the auto-zero clock phase φ


1


. As a result, a large part of the amplifier


201


input offset voltage is stored on input capacitors C


1




a


, C


1




b


. The remaining offset is stored on output capacitors C


2




a


, C


2




b


if available.




The second technique, shown in

FIG. 3

, shorts the amplifier


201


inputs during the auto-zero phase φ


1


and connects them to a DC bias voltage V


res


. Here, the amplifier


201


output offset voltage is stored on the output capacitors C


2




a


, C


2




b


. Many ADC architectures use a cascade of several (auto-zero) amplifiers to amplify the input signal prior to applying to the comparators


107


,


108


. In general, flash, folding and subranging ADC's use arrays of cascaded amplifiers, and averaging and interpolation techniques are used to improve performance.




Unfortunately, the performance of cascaded arrays of amplifiers degrades significantly at high clock and input signal frequencies. The cause of this degradation is illustrated in

FIG. 4

when the reset technique shown in

FIG. 3

is used, and where R


SW


is shown as a circuit element, and the current flow I


C


is explicitly shown.




When the amplifier


201


is in the auto-zero phase φ


1


, the input capacitors C


1




a


, C


1




b


are charged to the voltage V


sample


that is provided by the track-and-hold amplifier


101


. As a result, a current I


C


will flow through the input capacitors C


1




a


, C


1




b


and an input switch (not shown). Due to the finite on-resistance R


SW


of the input switch (see FIG.


4


), an input voltage is generated, which will settle exponentially towards zero. This input voltage is amplified by the amplifier


201


and results in an output voltage that also slowly settles towards zero (assuming the amplifier


201


has zero offset).




Essentially, the auto-zero amplifier


201


is in a “reset” mode one-half the time, and in an “amplify” mode the other one-half the time. When in reset mode, the capacitors C


1




a


, C


1




b


are charged to the track-and-hold


101


voltage, and the current I


C


flows through the capacitors C


1




a


, C


1




b


and the reset switches, so as to charge the capacitors C


1




a


, C


1




b.






When the ADC has to run at high sampling rates, there is not enough time for the amplifier


201


output voltage to settle completely to zero during the reset phase. As a result, an error voltage is sampled at the output capacitors C


2




a


, C


2




b


that is dependent on the voltage V


sample


. This translates into non-linearity of the ADC, and often causes inter-symbol interference (ISI).




The problem of ISI occurs in most, if not all, ADC architectures and various approaches exist for attacking the problem. The most straightforward approach is to decrease the settling time constants. However, the resulting increase in power consumption is a major disadvantage.




Another approach is to increase the time allowed for settling, by using interleaved ADC architectures. However, this increases required layout area. Furthermore, mismatches between the interleaved channels cause spurious tones. The ISI errors can also be decreased by resetting all cascaded amplifiers during the same clock phase. Unfortunately, this is not optimal for high speed operation either.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention is directed to an analog to digital converter topology that substantially obviates one or more of the problems and disadvantages of the related art.




There is provided an analog to digital converter including a reference ladder, a clock having phases φ


1


, and φ


2


, and a-track-and-hold amplifier tracking an input signal with its output signal during the phase φ


1


and holding a sampled value during the phase φ


2


. A plurality of coarse amplifiers each input a corresponding tap from the reference ladder and the output sign. A plurality of fine amplifiers input corresponding taps from the reference ladder and a signal corresponding to the output signal, the taps selected based on outputs of the coarse amplifiers. A circuit responsive to the clock receives the signal corresponding to the output signal, the circuit substantially passing the signal corresponding to the output signal and the corresponding taps to the fine amplifiers during the phase φ


2


and substantially rejecting the signal corresponding to the output signal during the phase φ


2


. An encoder converts outputs of the coarse and fine amplifiers to an N-bit digital signal representing the input signal.




In another aspect of the present invention there is provided an analog to digital converter including a reference ladder and a two-phase clock having phases φ


1


and φ


2


. A track-and-hold amplifier tracking an input signal with its output signal during the phase φ


1


and holding a sampled value during the phase φ


2


. A plurality of coarse amplifiers each inputting a signal corresponding to the output signal and a corresponding tap from the reference ladder. A switching circuit that receives the signal corresponding to the output signal and has a differential mode transfer function of approximately 1 on the phase φ


2


and approximately 0 on the phase φ


1


. A plurality of fine amplifiers inputting corresponding taps from the reference ladder and the signal corresponding to the output signal through the switching circuit, the taps selected based on outputs of the coarse amplifiers. An encoder converts outputs of the coarse and fine amplifiers to an N-bit digital signal representing the input signal.




In another aspect of the present invention there is provided an analog to digital converter including a reference ladder and a multi-phase clock. A track-and-hold amplifier tracking an input signal with its output signal during one phase of the multi-phase clock and holding a sampled value during another phase of the multi-phase clock. A plurality of coarse amplifiers each inputting a signal corresponding to the output signal and a corresponding tap from the reference ladder. Switching means that receives the signal corresponding to the output signal and responsive to the multi-phase clock, the means substantially passing the signal corresponding to the output signal to the fine amplifiers during the one phase and substantially rejecting the signal corresponding to the output signal during the another phase. A plurality of fine amplifiers inputting, through the switching means, corresponding taps from the reference ladder and the output signal, the taps selected based on outputs of the coarse amplifiers. An encoder converts outputs of the coarse and fine amplifiers to an N-bit digital signal representing the input signal.




An analog to digital converter including a track-and-hold amplifier whose output signal tracks an input signal during one clock phase, and holds a sampled value during another clock phase. A coarse amplifier inputting the output signal and a coarse tap. A transfer matrix that substantially passes a signal corresponding to the output signal during the one clock phase and substantially blocks the signal corresponding to the output signal during the another clock phase. A fine amplifier inputting a fine tap and the output signal through the transfer matrix, the fine tap selected based on an output of the coarse amplifier. An encoder converts outputs of the coarse and fine amplifiers to an N-bit digital signal representing the input signal.




An analog to digital converter including a differential coarse amplifier inputting a signal corresponding to an input signal and a coarse tap during one clock phase, and a sampled value during another clock phase. A plurality of cross-coupled transistors that substantially pass the first signal and a fine tap during the one clock phase and substantially block the first signal and the fine tap during the another clock phase, the fine tap selected based on a signal from the differential coarse amplifier. A differential fine amplifier inputting an output of the plurality of cross-coupled transistors. An encoder converts outputs of the coarse and fine amplifiers to an N-bit digital signal representing the input signal.




Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.




It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES




The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:





FIG. 1

illustrates a conventional averaging topology.





FIGS. 2 and 3

illustrate conventional amplifier topologies with reset switches.





FIG. 4

illustrates a conventional amplifier topology and the source of the inter-symbol interference problem.





FIG. 5

illustrates a source of inter-symbol interference in greater detail.





FIG. 6

illustrates one embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 7

illustrates another embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 8

illustrates a reduction in inter-symbol interference using the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.




Recently, a technique to address the nonlinearity was published by Miyazaki et al., “A 16 mW 30 M Sample/s pipelined A/D converter using a pseudo-differential architecture,” ISSCC Digest of Tech. Papers, pp. 174-175 (2002), see particularly FIG. 10.5.2 therein. The technique applies only to amplifiers that use the auto-zero technique of FIG.


2


.




In Miyazaki, four extra switches and two extra capacitors are required. The resulting circuit topology has a common-mode transfer function of “1” and a differential-mode transfer function of “0” during the reset clock phase.




However, an important disadvantage of the circuit shown in Miyazaki is that it requires twice the amount of capacitance. This has a serious impact on the ADC layout area. Furthermore, the capacitive loading of the track-and-hold


101


doubles, which significantly slows down the charging of the capacitors C


1




a


, C


1




b


(roughly by a factor of two).





FIG. 5

shows the rationale for the present invention. In

FIG. 5

, the track-and-hold amplifier


101


outputs a step function to the sampling capacitors C


1




a


, C


1




b


. Due to the finite resistance RSW, the pulse becomes a spike (i.e., it is effectively high- pass filtered) by the time it gets to the amplifier


201


, which is the first amplifier in a cascade. The next set of capacitors C


2




a


, C


2




b


sees a “smeared-out” pulse, which, by the time it is amplified by the next amplifier in a cascade (amplifier


202


), and charges the next stage capacitors C


3




a


and C


3




b


, becomes further “smeared-out”. The spike being transferred throughout the cascaded amplifiers causes inter-symbol interference.




The problem of ISI can be solved in a very elegant way by complementing the reset switches shown in

FIG. 3

with some additional switches before the fine amplifiers of the fine ADC


105


. The resulting circuit is shown in FIG.


6


. The extra switches are contained in the dashed box


510


(a transfer matrix or transfer circuit).

FIG. 7

shows a modification of the new circuit that works in a similar way.




The transfer circuit shown in the dashed box


510


has a transfer function of “1” for common-mode signals at all times, so that the common mode transfer function is HCM (φ


1


)=1, HCM(φ


2


)=1. However, the transfer function varies for differential signals depending on the clock phase (φ


1


or φ


2


). More specifically, the transfer function for differential signals is HDM(φ


1


)=0, and HDM(φ


2


)=1. Hence, a differential voltage created across nodes {circumflex over (


1


)} and {circumflex over (


2


)} (due to the charging of the input capacitors C


1




a


, C


1




b


) is not transferred to input nodes {circumflex over (


3


)} and {circumflex over (


4


)} of the amplifier


201


during φ


1


. Therefore, the output voltage of the amplifier


201


is not affected by V


sample


in any way, reducing the occurrence of ISI. The input capacitors C


1




a


, C


1




b


subtract track-and-hold amplifier


101


voltage from a reference ladder


104


voltage.




The technique presented herein can find application in various types of ADC architectures that use auto-zero techniques for combating amplifier offsets.





FIG. 6

shows one embodiment of the present invention. φ


1


and φ


2


represent two phases of a clock, preferably non-overlapping phases. As shown in

FIG. 6

, the sampling voltage V


sample


is differentially connected to two sampling capacitors C


1




a


and C


1




b


, which are in turn connected to three switch transistors Ma, Mb and Mc. Gates of the switch transistors Ma, Mb, Mc are connected to φ


1


, a drain of the transistor Ma is connected to V


res


, and a source of the transistor Mc is connected to the reset voltage V


res


. Between the amplifier


201


and the switch transistors Ma, Mb, Mc, the transfer matrix


510


comprises four transistors M


1


, M


2


, M


3


and M


4


. Gates of the transistors M


2


and M


3


are connected to φ


1


. Gates of the transistors M


1


and M


4


are connected to V


dd


, the supply voltage. Sources of the transistors M


1


and M


2


are tied together and to the node {circumflex over (


1


)}, which is also connected to the sampling capacitor C


1




a


. Sources of the transistors M


3


and M


4


are tied together and also connected to a node {circumflex over (


2


)}, which is also connected to the sampling capacitor C


1




b


. Drains of the transistors M


3


and M


1


are tied together and to node {circumflex over (


3


)}, which is the “+” input of the amplifier


201


. Drains of the transistors M


2


and M


4


are tied together and to node {circumflex over (


4


)}, which is also connected to the “−” input of the amplifier


201


.




Thus, the circuit within the dashed box


510


may be referred to as a transfer matrix that has a property such that its differential mode transfer function H(φ


1


)=0, H(φ


2


)=1. This is different from a conventional approach, where the transfer function may be thought of as being H=1 for both φ


1


and φ


2


.




It will be appreciated that while the overall transfer function of the transfer matrix


510


is HDM(φ


1


)=0, HDM(φ


2


)=1, HCM(φ


1


)=1, HCM(φ


2


)=1, this is primarily due to the switches M


1


-M


4


, which essentially pass the differential voltage of nodes {circumflex over (


1


)} and {circumflex over (


2


)} through to nodes {circumflex over (


3


)} and {circumflex over (


4


)} respectively, on φ


2


. However, the gain factor need not be exactly 1, but may be some other value. The important thing is that it be substantially 0 on φ


1


.





FIG. 7

represents another embodiment of the present invention. The elements of

FIG. 7

correspond to the same-numbered elements of

FIG. 6

, however, the position of the transfer matrix


510


is before the three transistors Ma, Mb and Mc, rather than after. This results in lower noise operation, compared to the embodiment shown in FIG.


6


. The embodiment shown in

FIG. 6

, however, generally allows for higher frequency operation, compared to the embodiment of FIG.


7


.




Note that either PMOS or NMOS transistors may be used as switches in the present invention. Note further that given the use of the FET transistors as switches (rather than the amplifiers), the drain and the source function equivalently.





FIG. 8

illustrates the improvement in the signal due to the transfer matrix


510


. Note that the transistors Ma, Mb, Mc and the transistors of the transfer matrix M


1


-M


4


, are PMOS transistors, with the negative supply Vss used instead of the positive supply V


dd


. As may be seen from

FIG. 8

, the amount of spike seen by the amplifier


201


after a step function outputted from the track-and-hold


101


is dramatically decreased due to the transfer function of the transfer matrix


510


. φ


1e


in

FIG. 8

refers to an “early” phase φ


1


of the two-phase clock. The small spike seen in

FIG. 8

is due to a mis-match of the transistors M


1


-M


4


, and disappears entirely if the transistors are made bigger. In the event there is no spike (i.e., the transistors M


1


-M


4


are perfectly matched), an approximately 50% improvement in speed is expected.




Note further that in the event of using a plurality of cascaded amplifier stages for a pipeline architecture (designated A, B, C, D), if the A and B stage switches are driven by the phase φ


1


, and the C and D stages are driven by φ


2


, the transfer matrix


510


is only needed for the A stage and the C stage. On the other hand, if the switches of the stages A, B, C and D are driven by alternating clock phases (i.e., φ


1


, φ


2


, φ


1


, φ


2


), each stage will need its own transfer matrix


510


.




It will be appreciated that the various aspects of the invention as further disclosed in related application Ser. No. 10/158,595, Filed: May 31, 2002, Titled: HIGH SPEED ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER, Inventor: Jan Mulder; application Ser. No. 10/153,709, Filed: May 24, 2002, Titled: Distributed Averaging Analog To Digital Converter Topology, Inventors: Mulder et al.; application Ser. No. 10/158,773, filed on May 31, 2002, Titled: Subranging Analog To Digital Converter With Multi-Phase Clock Timing; application Ser. No. 10/158,774, Filed: May 31, 2002; Titled: Analog To Digital Converter With Interpolation of Reference Ladder, Inventors: Mulder et al.; and application Ser. No. 10/158,193, Filed: May 31, 2002, Inventor. Jan Mulder; Titled: CLASS AB DIGITAL TO ANALOG CONVERTER/LINE DRIVER, Inventors: Jan Mulder et al., all of which are incorporated by reference herein, may be combined in various ways, or be integrated into a single integrated circuit or product.




It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.



Claims
  • 1. An analog to digital converter comprising:a plurality of arrays of autozero amplifiers arranged in series in each array, wherein each autozero amplifier receives an output of a preceding autozero amplifier, wherein a first autozero amplifier in each array amplifiers receives an input signal and a corresponding reference voltage at its inputs, and wherein at least one of the autozero amplifiers includes a circuit that receives the signal corresponding to the output signal, the circuit substantially passing the signal corresponding to the output signal and the reference voltages to the amplifiers during the clock phase φ2 and substantially rejecting the signal corresponding to the output signal during the clock phase φ1; and an encoder converting outputs of the autozero amplifiers to an N-bit digital signal representing the input signal.
  • 2. The analog to digital converter of claim 1, further comprising a track-and-hold amplifier tracking the input signal with its output signal during clock phase φ1 and holding a sampled value during the clock phase φ2, the first autozero amplifier in each array receiving its input signal from the track-and-hold amplifier.
  • 3. The analog to digital converter of claim 2, further including a sampling capacitor at each input of the autozero amplifiers for sampling the output of the track-and-hold amplifier.
  • 4. The analog to digital converter of claim 2, wherein the output signal of the track-and-hold amplifier includes positive and negative differential outputs, andfurther including a transistor connected between positive and negative differential outputs of the circuit, a gate of the transistor being driven by the clock phase φ1.
  • 5. The analog to digital converter of claim 4, wherein, for each autozero amplifier, the circuit includes two cross-coupled transistors, two signal inputs and two signal outputs, the two signal outputs differentially connected to differential inputs of each corresponding autozero amplifier, the two signal inputs differentially connected to the output signal of the track-and-hold amplifier.
  • 6. The analog to digital converter of claim 4, wherein the circuit includes first, second, third and fourth transistors,wherein sources of the first and second transistors are connected to a positive differential output of the track-and-hold amplifier through a first sampling capacitor, wherein sources of the third and fourth transistors are connected to a negative differential output of the track-and-hold amplifier through a second sampling capacitor, wherein drains of the first and third transistors are connected to a positive differential input of the each autozero amplifier, wherein drains of the second and fourth transistors are connected to a negative differential input of the each autozero amplifier, and wherein gates of the second and third transistors are driven by the clock phase φ1.
  • 7. The analog to digital converter of claim 1, wherein, for each autozero amplifier, the circuit includes a plurality of transistors driven by either a supply voltage or the clock phase φ1.
  • 8. The analog to digital converter of claim 1, further including a transistor connected between the positive and negative differential outputs of the circuit, a gate of the transistor being driven by the clock phase φ1.
  • 9. The analog to digital converter of claim 1, further including a transistor connected between the positive and negative differential inputs of the circuit, a gate of the transistor being driven by the clock phase φ1.
  • 10. The analog to digital converter of claim 9, further including:a first reset transistor connected between a reset voltage and the positive differential output; a second reset transistor connected between the reset voltage and the negative differential output, wherein gates of the first and second reset transistors are driven by the clock phase φ1.
  • 11. The analog to digital converter of claim 1, wherein at least some of the autozero amplifiers include a plurality of amplifier stages, andwherein the circuit is coupled to an input of a first stage of such an autozero amplifier.
  • 12. The analog to digital converter of claim 1, wherein at least some of the autozero amplifiers include a plurality of amplifier stages, andwherein the circuit is coupled to a first stage of such an autozero amplifier.
  • 13. The analog to digital converter of claim 1, wherein each of the autozero amplifiers includes a plurality of amplifier stages, andwherein the circuit is coupled to inputs of alternating stages.
  • 14. An analog to digital converter comprising:a first plurality autozero amplifiers arranged in series, wherein each autozero amplifier receives an output of a preceding autozero amplifier, wherein a first autozero amplifier receives an input signal and a corresponding reference voltage at its inputs, and wherein at least one of the autozero amplifiers includes a switching circuit that receives the signal corresponding to the output signal and has a differential mode transfer function of approximately 1 on the clock phase φ2 and approximately 0 on the clock phase 1; a second plurality of autozero amplifiers inputting the reference voltages and the signal corresponding to the output signal through the switching circuit, the reference voltages selected based on outputs of the first plurality of autozero amplifiers; and an encoder converting outputs of the first and second plurality of amplifiers to an N-bit digital signal representing the input signal.
  • 15. The analog to digital converter of claim 14, further including a track-and-hold amplifier tracking an input signal with its output signal during a clock phase φ1 and holding a sampled value during a clock phase φ2, wherein a first autozero amplifier in the first plurality of amplifiers receives its input signal from the track-and-hold amplifier.
  • 16. The analog to digital converter of claim 15, further including a sampling capacitor for sampling the output of the track-and-hold amplifier.
  • 17. The analog to digital converter of claim 15, wherein, each autozero amplifier of the second plurality of autozero amplifiers also includes the switching circuit,wherein the switching circuit includes two cross-coupled transistors, two signal inputs and two signal outputs, the two signal outputs differentially connected to differential inputs of each corresponding autozero amplifier of the second plurality of autozero amplifiers, the two signal inputs differentially connected to the output signal of the track-and-hold amplifier.
  • 18. The analog to digital converter of claim 15, wherein the output signal of the track-and-hold includes positive and negative differential outputs,wherein the switching circuit includes first, second, third and fourth transistors, wherein sources of the first and second transistors are connected to a positive differential output of the track-and-hold amplifier through a first sampling capacitor, wherein sources of the third and fourth transistors are connected to a negative differential output of the track-and-hold amplifier through a second sampling capacitor, wherein drains of the first and third transistors are connected to a positive differential input of the each autozero amplifier of the second plurality of amplifiers, wherein drains of the second and fourth transistors are connected to a negative differential input of the each autozero amplifier of the second plurality of autozero amplifiers, and wherein gates of the second and third transistors are driven by the clock phase φ1.
  • 19. The analog to digital converter of claim 18, further including a transistor connected between the positive and negative differential outputs of the track and hold amplifier, a gate of the transistor being driven by the clock phase φ1.
  • 20. The analog to digital converter of claim 19, further including:a first reset transistor connected between a reset voltage and the positive differential output; a second reset transistor connected between the reset voltage and the negative differential output, wherein gates of the first and second reset transistors are driven by the clock phase φ1.
  • 21. The analog to digital converter of claim 14, wherein the switching circuit includes a plurality of transistors driven by either a supply voltage or the clock phase φ1.
  • 22. The analog to digital converter of claim 14, wherein each autozero amplifier of the second plurality of autozero amplifiers includes a plurality of amplifier stages and the switching circuit, andwherein the switching circuit is coupled to an input of a first stage for each autozero amplifier of the second plurality of autozero amplifiers.
  • 23. The analog to digital converter of claim 14, wherein each autozero amplifier of the second plurality of autozero amplifiers includes a plurality of amplifier stages and the switching circuit, andwherein the switching circuit is coupled to inputs of each stage.
  • 24. The analog to digital converter of claim 14, wherein each autozero amplifier of the second plurality of autozero amplifiers includes a plurality of amplifier stages and the switching circuit, andwherein the switching circuit is coupled to inputs of alternating stages.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 10/349,073, Filed: Jan. 23, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,674,388, Titled: HIGH SPEED ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER, Inventor: Jan MULDER, which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 10/158,595, Filed: May 31, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,573,853, Titled: HIGH SPEED ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER, Inventor: Jan MULDER; which is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No. 10/153,709, Filed: May 24, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,224, Titled: DISTRIBUTED AVERAGING ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER TOPOLOGY, Inventors: MULDER et al.; is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/158,773, filed on May 31, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,583,747, Titled: SUBRANGING ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER WITH MULTI-PHASE CLOCK TIMING; application Ser. No. 10/158,774, Filed: May 31, 2002; Titled: ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER WITH INTERPOLATION OF REFERENCE LADDER, Inventors: MULDER et al.; and application Ser. No. 10/158,193, Filed: May 31, 2002, Inventor: Jan MULDER; Titled: CLASS AB DIGITAL TO ANALOG CONVERTER/LINE DRIVER, Inventors: Jan MULDER et al., all of which are incorporated by reference herein.

US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
4978957 Hotta et al. Dec 1990 A
5191336 Stephenson Mar 1993 A
5973632 Tai Oct 1999 A
6259745 Chan Jul 2001 B1
6489913 Hansen et al. Dec 2002 B1
6674388 Mulder Jan 2004 B2
Non-Patent Literature Citations (32)
Entry
Abo, A.M. and Gray, P.R, “A 1.5-V, 10-bit, 14.3-MS/s CMOS Pipeline Analog-to-Digital Converter,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 34, No. 5, May 1999, pp. 599-606.
Brandt, B.P. and Lutsky, J., “A 75-mW, 10-b, 20-MSPS CMOS Subranging ADC with 9.5 Effective Bits at Nyquist,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 34, No. 12, Dec. 1999, pp. 1788-1795.
Bult, Klaas and Buchwald Aaron, “An Embedded 240-mW 10-b 50-MS/s CMOS ADC in 1-mm2,”IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 32, No. 12, Dec. 1997, pp. 1887-1895.
Cho, T.B. and Gray, P.R., “A 10 b, 20 Msample/s, 35 mW Pipeline A/D Converter,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Cicuits, IEEE, vol. 30, No. 3, Mar. 1995, pp. 166-172.
Choe, M-J. et al., “A 13-b 40-Msamples/s CMOS Pipelined Folding ADC with Background Offset Trimming,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 35, No. 12, Dec. 2000, pp. 1781-1790.
Choi, M. and Abidi, A., “A 6-b 1.3-Gsample/s A/D Converter in 0.35-μm CMOS,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 36, No. 12, Dec. 2001, pp. 1847-1858.
Flynn, M. and Sheahan, B., “A 400-Msample/s, 6-b CMOS Folding and Interpolating ADC,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 33, No. 12, Dec. 1998, pp. 1932-1938.
Geelen, G., “A 6b 1.1GSample/s CMOS A/D Converter,” IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, IEEE, 2001, pp. 128-129 and 438.
Hoogzaad, G. and Roovers, R., “A 65-mW, 10-bit, 40-Msample/s BiCMOS Nyquist ADC in 0.8 mm2,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 34, No. 12, Dec. 1999, pp. 1796-1802.
Hosotani, S. et al., “An 8-bit 20-MS/s CMOS A/D Converter with 50-mW Power Consumption,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 25, No. 1, Feb. 1990, pp. 167-172.
Ingino, J.M. and Wooley, B.A., “A Continuously Calibrated 12-b, 10-MS/s, 3.3-V A/D Converter,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 33, No. 12, Dec. 1998, pp. 1920-1931.
Ito, M. et al., “A 10 bit 20 MS/s 3 V Supply CMOS A/D Converter,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 29, No. 12, Dec. 1994, pp. 1531-1536.
Kattman, K. and Barrow, J., “A Technique for Reducing Differential Non-Linearity Errors in Flash A/D Converters,” IEEE International Solid-State Conference, IEEE, 1991, pp. 170-171.
Kusumoto, K. et al., “A 10-b 20-MHz 30-mW Pipelined Interpolating CMOS ADC,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 28, No. 12, Dec. 1993, pp. 1200-1206.
Lewis, S. et al., “A 10-b 20-Msample/s Analog-to-Digital Converter,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 27, No. 3, Mar. 1992, pp. 351-358.
Mehr, I. and Singer, L., “A 55-mW, 10-bit, 40-Msample/s Nyquist-Rate CMOS ADC,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 35, No. 3, Mar. 2000, pp. 318-325.
Nagaraj, K. et al., “Efficient 6-Bit A/D Converter Using a 1-Bit Folding Front End,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 34, No. 8, Aug. 1999, pp. 1056-1062.
Nagaraj, K. et al., “A Dual-Mode 700-Msample/s 6-bit 200-Msamples/s 7-bit A/D Converter in a 0.25-μm Digital CMOS,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 35, No. 12, Dec. 2000, pp. 1760-1768.
Nauta, B. and Venes, A., “A 70-MS/s 110-mW 8-b CMOS Folding and Interpolating A/D Converter,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 30, No. 12, Dec. 1995, pp. 1302-1308.
Pan, H. et al., “A 3.3-V 12-b 50-MS/s A/D Converter in 0.6-μm CMOS with over 80-ds SFDR,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 35, No. 12, Dec. 2000, pp. 1769-1780.
Song, W-C. et al., “A 10-b 20-Msample/s Low-Power CMOS ADC,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 30, No. 5, May 1995, pp. 514-521.
Sumanen, L. et al., “A 10-bit 200-MS/s CMOS Parallel Pipeline A/D Converter,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 36, No. 7, Jul. 2001, pp. 1048-1055.
Taft, R.C. and Tursi, M.R., “A 100-MS/s 8-b CMOS Subranging ADC with Sustained Parametric Performance from 3.8 V Down to 2.2 V,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 36, No. 3, Mar. 2001, pp. 331-338.
van der Ploeg, H. and Remmers, R., “A 3.3-V, 10-b 25-Msample/s Two-Step ADC in 0.35-μm CMOS,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 34, No. 12, Dec. 1999, pp. 1803-1811.
van der Ploeg, H. et al., “A 2.5-V 12-b 54-Msample/s 0.25-μm CMOS ADC in 1-mm2 With Mixed-Signal Chopping and Calibration,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 36, No. 12, Dec. 2001, pp. 1859-1867.
Vorenkamp, P. and Roovers, R., “A 12-b, 60-Msample/s Cascaded Folding and Interpolating ADC,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 32, No. 12, Dec. 1997, pp. 1876-1886.
Wang, Y-T. and Razavi, B., “An 8-bit 150-MHz CMOS A/D Converter,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 35, No. 3, Mar. 2000, pp. 308-317.
Yotsuyanagi, M. et al., “A 2 v, 10 b, 20Msample/s, Mixed-Mode Subranging CMOS A/D Converter,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 30, No. 12, Dec. 1995, pp. 1533-1537.
Yu, P.C. and Lee, H-S., “A 2.5-V, 12-b, 5-Msample/s Pipelined CMOS ADC,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE, vol. 31, No. 12, Dec. 1996, pp. 1854-1861.
Miyazaki et al., ISSCC 2002/Session 10/High-Speed ADCs/10.5, “A 16mW 30 MSample/s 10b Pipelined A/D Converter using a Pseudo-Differential Architecture”, Feb. 5, 2002, 3 pgs.
Sushihara et al., ISSCC 2002/Session 10/High-Speed ADCs/10.3, “A 7b 450 MSample/s 50mW CMOS ADC in 0.3 mm2”, Feb. 5, 2002, 3 pgs.
Dingwall et al., IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. SC-20, No. 6, “An 8-MHz CMOS Subranging 8-Bit A/D Converter”, Dec. 1985, pp. 1138-1143.
Continuations (5)
Number Date Country
Parent 10/349073 Jan 2003 US
Child 10/688921 US
Parent 10/158595 May 2002 US
Child 10/349073 US
Parent 10/158773 May 2002 US
Child 10/688921 US
Parent 10/158774 May 2002 US
Child 10/158773 US
Parent 10/158193 May 2002 US
Child 10/158774 US
Continuation in Parts (2)
Number Date Country
Parent 10/153709 May 2002 US
Child 10/158595 US
Parent 10/688921 US
Child 10/158595 US