A low-power capacitor switching scheme with low common-mode voltage variation for successive approximation ADC. (March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rasool Ghasemi, A.; Saberi, Mehdi; Lotfi, Reza
• Is Part Of: Microelectronics journal. Volume 61(2017)
• Page Start: 15
• Page End: 20
• Publication Date: 2017-03
• Subjects: Successive approximation ADC -- Capacitive-array DAC -- Capacitor switching technique -- Power dissipation; Microelectronics -- Periodicals; Microélectronique -- Périodiques; Microelectronics; Electronic journals; Journals - contents and abstracts; Periodicals; 621.3805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mejo.2016.12.009
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-8324

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, a new low-energy switching technique with low common-mode voltage variation is proposed for successive-approximation analog-to-digital converters (SA-ADCs). In the proposed scheme, not only the switching energy consumed within the first three comparisons is less than zero, but also other comparisons are made with the low-power monotonic method. Therefore, the switching energy of the capacitive array, including the consumed energy during the sampling phase, is reduced by 90.68% compared with the conventional counterpart. Moreover, since the variation of the input common-mode voltage of the employed comparator is only 0.125Vref, where Vref is the reference voltage of the ADC, the required comparator's performance can be much more relaxed leading to more power saving. Post-layout simulation results of a 10-bit 1-MS/s SA-ADC in a 0.18-µm CMOS technology show a signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) of 61 dB, a spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of 79.8 dB, and an effective number of 9.84 bits. The ADC consumes 35.3 µW with a 1.8-V supply and achieves a Figure-of-Merit (FoM) of 38.5 fJ/conversion-step.