High-Resolution, Broadband VLSI Data Conversion Interfaces

在以数字方式表示和处理信息的系统中，所能达到的整个系统性能的水平常常受到该信息的模拟和数字表示之间的接口的速度和动态范围的限制。 由于数字编码的信号可以以几乎任意的精度被处理，因此集成电路技术的缩放的持续进步是通过相应的需求来实现的，以提高所谓的数据转换接口的精度和速度。 这种压力又伴随着两个制约因素：在大型数字信号处理电路中嵌入数据转换接口的需求和便携式电子系统需求的爆炸性增长。 VLSI技术中的数据转换电路的集成对可用于实现这些电路的动态范围施加了严格的约束，而便携式系统中对电池寿命的关注通常要求与传统应用相比大幅降低功耗。 本研究的主要目的是发现使用标准的数字CMOS技术的带宽为几MHz的数字化信号的电路设计技术。 该研究的重点是使用过采样方法来编码MHz带宽的无线电信号集中在中频频率在几十MHz的范围内，并在提高分辨率的奈奎斯特速率转换器的数字化基带信号的带宽的顺序为10 MHz的方法。 研究的一个补充主题是从低电源电压以最小功耗工作。

In systems wherein information is represented and processed digitally, the level of overall system performance that can be achieved is often limited by the speed and dynamic range of the interfaces between analog and digital representations of that information. Since digitally encoded signals can be processed with virtually arbitrary precision, continued progress in the scaling of integrated circuit technology is accomplished by corresponding demand to improve the precision and speed of so-called data conversion interfaces. This pressure is, in turn, accompanied by two constraining factors: the desire to embed data conversion interfaces within large digital signal processing circuits and explosive growth in the demand for portable electronic systems. The integration of data conversion circuits in VLSI technologies imposes severe constraints on the dynamic range available to implement those circuits, while the concern for battery life in portable systems often dictates substantial reductions in power dissipation in comparison to traditional applications. The principal objective of this research is to discover circuit design techniques for digitizing signals with bandwidths of several MHz using standard digital CMOS technologies. The research focuses on the use of oversampling methods to encode MHz-bandwidth radio signals centered at IF frequencies in the range of a few tens of MHz and on methods of increasing the resolution of Nyquist-rate converters for digitizing baseband signals with bandwidths on the order of 10 MHz. A complementary theme of the research is operation from a low supply voltage with minimum power dissipation.