Analog to Digital Converters for Mixed Signal ASICs and SOCs
Analog to Digital Converters (ADCs), key functions for mixed signal ASICs and SOCs stay in the main focus of our work as enabling technology for many different system applications. New requirements of system as well as of technology aspects call for new c
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Abstract Analog to Digital Converters (ADCs), key functions for mixed signal ASICs and SOCs stay in the main focus of our work as enabling technology for many different system applications. New requirements of system as well as of technology aspects call for new concepts for analog to digital conversion like direct sensor signal conversion or digital assisted analog functions. Four examples from current research and development projects are depicted in this article.
1 Introduction The future of digital signal processing and data computing is closely linked to the performance of CMOS based processor implementation which is still driven by transistor size reduction and increase in gate density. This is popularly known as Moore’s law, referring to a famous postulate of Gordon Moore, cofounder of Intel, who forecasted in the 1970s, that silicon based integrated circuits would have a great future. One of his expectations was, that the number of components (transistors) per given area will double every one or two years due to miniaturization. Nowadays the “International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors” (ITRS-Roadmap) has overtaken the role of predicting the future of semiconductor process development. For CMOS based leading edge technologies, the ITRS-forecast in 2010 was from 24 nm processes in 2011 to 8 nm in 2022. That the race is still ongoing and even beating the forecast was demonstrated by Intel in June 2011 announcing its 22 nm process ready for production. A tremendous increase of digital processing power can be foreseen. However the real world is analog and interfacing with the analog world requires analog signal processing, which is not as easy implemented on high density low voltage nanomeJohann Hauer (B) Fraunhofer IIS, Am Wolfsmantel 33, 91058 Erlangen, Germany [email protected]
A. Heuberger, Microelectronic Systems. DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-23070-7_4, © Springer 2011
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Fig. 1 Extract from the ITRS-Roadmap
ter processes. Analog to Digital Converters (ADCs) and Digital to Analog Converters (DACs) are the key elements for connecting digital processing systems to sensors and actors in the real world. The resolution and bandwidth requirements for these interfaces strongly depend on the applications. Most of the interfaces are proprietary and the specifications are tailored to the actual needs of the processing system. Nevertheless some general tendencies can be identified. Typical resolutions of measurement systems for industrial applications range from 10 to 14 bit. Bandwidth requirements range from quasi static measurements of environmental conditions like temperature over many medium bandwidth implementations to very high frequency applications for communication purposes. Application areas are industrial control, audio and video signal applications, medical ultrasonic and Xray imaging and high frequency communication devices.
2 Pipeline ADC with Partial Amplifier Sharing Pipeline ADCs are preferred architectures for high-speed (10–250 MS=s) data conversion at me
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