Calibration and post processing approaches for current and voltage mode A/D converters

Abstract

A voltage and a current mode A/D Converter based on a novel integer divider circuit have been recently proposed by the authors. The mismatch and process or temperature variation problems have to be considered during the design as well as the real time operation since they affect the linearity of the conversion and in extreme cases they can lead to complete operation failure. A number of current and voltage mode calibration and post processing techniques that can be applied to several A/D Conversion architectures have been designed, based on the behavior of the proposed converters. The calibration methods can guarantee the correct real time operation of these converters while the presented post processing technique improves by up to 6dB the achieved Signal to Noise and Distortion Ratio of an 8-bit ADC designed by the authors.