Analog-to-digital converter technology comparison

Abstract

Analog-to-digital converters are ubiquitous, critical components of signal processing systems. This presentation surveys the state-of-the-art for ADCs and includes both experimental converters and commercially available parts. The shape of the distribution on a resolution vs. sampling rate graph provides insight into ADC performance limitations. For sampling frequencies ranging from /spl sim/0.5 MSPS to /spl sim/4 GSPS, resolution falls off by /spl sim/1 bit for every doubling of the sampling rate. This effect can be related to aperture jitter. For ADCs operating at /spl ges/4 GSPS, the speed of the device technology is a limiting factor. In order to push back these limits, many ADC architectures have been proposed and implemented.