Abstract: A/D conversion is achieved by employing a piecewise continuous dither signal such that a signal that results from combining the dither signal with the signal to be converted, has a zero-crossing within each interval Ij=(jT,(j+1)T), where j is an integer, T=&pgr;/&lgr;B, B is the bandwidth of the signal to be converted, and &lgr; is a constant that is greater than 1, and those zero crossings in adjacent intervals Ij are always separated by some minimal distance, &egr;, for all intervals Ij. Zero crossings of the combined signal are detected, and the instances where those crossings occur are encoded; one zero crossing for each interval.