SAR-TYPE ANALOG-DIGITAL CONVERTER USING RESIDUE INTEGRATION

Abstract

The present invention relates to a successive approximation register (SAR)-type analog-digital converter (ADC), which can amplify a residual voltage without a non-linearity problem caused by an output voltage of a residual voltage amplifier, thereby performing high-resolution analog-digital conversion at low power consumption. The SAR-type ADC may include: a coarse/fine SAR conversion unit configured to receive an analog input voltage and convert the received voltage into an MSB digital signal in a coarse SAR conversion mode, and receive a feedback voltage and convert the received voltage into an LSB digital signal in a fine SAR conversion mode; and a residue integration unit configured to repeatedly amplify a residual voltage with a predetermined gain by a predetermined number of times and output the amplified voltage as a final target multiple, the residual voltage corresponding to a voltage difference between the analog input voltage and an analog voltage obtained by converting the digital signal into an analog signal.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a successive approximation register (SAR)-type analog-digital converter (ADC) using residue integration, and more particularly, to an SAR-type ADC using residue integration, which can amplify a residual voltage without a non-linearity problem caused by an output voltage of a residual voltage amplifier, thereby performing high-resolution analog-digital conversion at low power consumption.

2. Related Art

An analog-digital converter (ADC) is a device that samples an analog signal and converts the sampled analog signal into a digital code or digital signal. Examples of the ADC may include a successive approximation register (SAR)-type ADC which includes an SAR to combine a digital code while sequentially increasing or decreasing the digital code from the most significant bit (MSB), and approximates the combined result to an analog input signal by comparing the combined result to the analog input signal. For this operation, the SAR-type ADC includes an N-bit digital-analog converter (DAC) and a comparator.

The SAR-type ADC has better energy efficiency than a general ADC. For this reason, the SAR-type ADC is widely applied to various sensor circuits.

However, there are difficulties in implementing a high-resolution ADC due to noise of the comparator applied to the SAR-type ADC. Furthermore, the various sensor circuits need to accurately sense an analog signal while lowering power consumption.

Therefore, the SAR-type ADC applied to the various sensor circuits is required to perform high-resolution analog-digital conversion with low power consumption.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments are directed to a SAR-type ADC using residue integration, which can amplify a residual voltage without a non-linearity problem caused by an output voltage of a residual voltage amplifier, thereby performing high-resolution analog-digital conversion at low power consumption.

In an embodiment, a SAR-type ADC using residue integration may include: a coarse/fine SAR conversion unit configured to receive an analog input voltage and convert the received voltage into an MSB digital signal in a coarse SAR conversion mode, and receive a feedback voltage and convert the received voltage into an LSB digital signal in a fine SAR conversion mode; a residue integration unit configured to repeatedly amplify a residual voltage with a predetermined gain by a predetermined number of times and output the amplified voltage as a final target multiple, the residual voltage corresponding to a voltage difference between the analog input voltage and an analog voltage obtained by converting the digital signal into an analog signal; and a digital signal output unit configured to add up a coarse SAR conversion result supplied from the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit, a result of a delta-signal modulation (DSM) loop installed in the residue integration unit, and a fine SAR conversion result supplied from the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit, and output a digital code of the corresponding bit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an SAR-type ADC using a residual voltage amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates the operation principle of the SAR-type ADC according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates the principle that a digital signal output unit generates a final digital output.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating coarse/fine conversion logic according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating residue integration logic according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram illustrating clock signals applied to the SAR-type ADC using residue integration according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which capacitor mismatch is removed according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating a Nyquist speed FFT spectrum of the SAR-type ADC according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a waveform diagram illustrating the linear characteristic of the SAR-type ADC according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereafter, exemplary embodiments will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an SAR-type ADC using a residual voltage amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the SAR-type ADC 100 includes a coarse/fine SAR conversion unit 110, a residue integration unit 120 and a digital signal output unit 130.

The coarse/fine SAR conversion unit 110 receives an analog input voltage V_IN and converts the received voltage into a most-significant-bit digital signal (MSBs) (for example, D_7:0) in a coarse SAR conversion mode. The coarse/fine SAR conversion unit 110 receives a final residual voltage V_O[32] as a feedback voltage and converts the received voltage into a least-significant-bit digital signal (LSBs) (for example, F_7:0) in a fine SAR conversion mode. Therefore, the digital signal F_7:0 correspond to a digital signal obtained by converting an output voltage value which is acquired after residual voltage amplification is finally repeated.

For this operation, the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit 110 includes a multiplexer 111, an ADC 112, a demultiplexer 113 and a control logic unit 114.

The multiplexer 111 selects and outputs the analog input voltage V_IN in the coarse SAR conversion mode according to control of the control logic unit 114, and selects and outputs a feedback output voltage V_O[j] in the fine SAR conversion mode.

The ADC 112 converts the analog signal (voltage) supplied from the multiplexer 111 into a digital signal in the coarse or fine SAR conversion mode. Since the ADC 112 is shared to perform analog-digital conversion in the coarse SAR conversion mode and the fine SAR conversion mode, the area and power consumption of the SAR-type ADC 100 can be reduced.

The demultiplexer 113 outputs the digital signal supplied from the ADC 112. At this time, the demultiplexer 113 outputs the MSB digital signal (MSBs) (for example, D_7:0) in the coarse SAR conversion mode, or outputs the LSB digital signal (LSBs) (for example, F_7:0) in the fine SAR conversion mode, according to control of the control logic unit 114.

The control logic unit 114 controls the operations of the multiplexer 111 and the demultiplexer 113 according to the coarse SAR conversion mode and the fine SAR conversion mode.

The residue integration unit 120 performs a residue integration process of repeatedly amplifying a residual voltage RES with a predetermined gain by a predetermined number of times and outputting the amplified voltage as the final target multiple, the residual voltage RES corresponding to a voltage difference between the analog input voltage V_IN and an analog voltage obtained by converting the digital signal D_7:0 into an analog signal. For example, the residue integration unit 120 repeatedly amplifies the residual voltage RES with a gain of 2³ by 2⁵ times, and finally outputs a voltage 2⁸ times higher than the residual voltage RES. At this time, since the residue integration unit 120 limits an output voltage of an internal integrator within an output voltage range (OVR) which does not cause non-linearity of an internal amplifier, a non-linearity problem caused by an increase in output voltage of the internal integrator can be prevented.

For this operation, the residue integration unit 120 includes a first digital-analog converter (DAC) 121, a first subtractor 122, a residual voltage amplifier 123, a second subtractor 124, an integrator 125 and a delta-sigma modulation (DSM) loop 126.

The first DAC 121 converts the MSB digital signal D_7:0 supplied from the demultiplexer 113 into an analog signal.

The first subtractor 122 subtracts an output voltage of the first DAC 121 from the input voltage V_IN, and outputs the residual voltage RES.

The residual voltage amplifier 123 amplifies the residual voltage RES supplied from the first subtractor 122 with a predetermined multiple (for example, 2³).

The second subtractor 124 subtracts a DSM feedback voltage B supplied through the DSM loop 126 from the output voltage A of the residual voltage amplifier 123. The default value of the DSM feedback voltage B is zero.

The integrator 125 generates an output voltage V_O[j] by integrating an output voltage of the second subtractor 124.

Whenever the residual voltage RES is amplified with a gain of 2³ and accumulated in the integrator 125 (2⁵ times), the DSM loop 126 generates the DSM feedback voltage B and supplies the DSM feedback voltage B to the second subtractor 124. Thus, since the DSM feedback voltage B is subtracted from the output voltage A of the residual voltage amplifier 123 through the second subtractor 124 whenever the residual voltage RES is integrated through the above-described path, the output voltage V_O[j] of the integrator 125 is limited within the output voltage range which does not cause non-linearity of the residual voltage amplifier 123.

For this operation, the DSM loop 126 includes a comparator 126A, a delay 126B, a second DAC 126C and an amplifier 126D.

The comparator 126A generates a feedback voltage E_i by comparing the output voltage V_O[j] of the integrator 125 to a reference voltage. The comparator 126A may be implemented with a 1-bit comparator.

The delay 126B delays the feedback voltage E_i supplied from the comparator 126A by a preset time. The preset time indicates a time corresponding to one round of the feedback loop. The feedback loop indicates a loop composed of the second subtractor 124, the integrator 125 and the DSM loop 126.

The second digital-analog converter 126C converts the digital feedback voltage E_i-1 delayed by the delay 126B into an analog signal. The second DAC 126C may be implemented with a 1-bit DAC.

The amplifier 126D generates the DSM feedback voltage B by amplifying the analog voltage supplied from the second DAC 126C with a predetermined multiple (for example: 2⁻²).

The output voltage (V_O[j]=V_O[2⁵]) amplified 2⁸ times by the residue integration unit 120 is transferred to the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit 110. Then, the output voltage is transferred to the ADC 112 and subjected to fine SAR conversion, according to control of the control logic unit 114. That is, the output voltage (V_O[j]=V_O[2⁵]) is subjected to fine SAR conversion by the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit 110, and converted into the LSB digital signal (LSBs) (for example, F_7:0).

The digital signal output unit 130 serves to adjust the coefficient of a digital output G_16:0 of the SAR-type ADC 100 to a target coefficient. For this operation, the digital signal output unit 130 includes amplifiers 131 and 132 and an adder 133.

The amplifier 131 amplifies the digital signal D_7:0 supplied from the demultiplexer 113 with a predetermined multiple (for example, 2⁸).

The amplifier 132 amplifies DSM results E₀ to E₃₁ supplied from the DSM loop 126 with the predetermined multiple (for example, 2⁶).

The adder 133 generates the digital output G_16:0 by adding up the output voltages of the amplifiers 131 and 132 and the LSB digital signal F_7:0 supplied from the demultiplexer 113. The adder 133 adds up the result D_7:0 of the coarse SAR conversion, the results E₀ to E₃₁ of the DSM loop, and the result F_7:0 of the fine SAR conversion, and finally outputs the 17-bit digital code G_16:0.

FIG. 2 illustrates the operation principle of the SAR-type ADC according to the embodiment of the present invention. The operation principle will be described as follows.

When 8-bit coarse SAR conversion for the analog input voltage V_IN is completed by the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit 110, the residual voltage RES is represented by (V_IN−DAC₈[D_7:0]).

The residue integration unit 120 accumulates a difference between the feedback voltage B(=2⁻²·DAC₁[E_j-1]) of the DSM loop 126 and the result A(=2³·RES) obtained by amplifying the residual voltage RES 2³ times during the residue integration process, into the integrator 125. Therefore, after the first residue integration process, the output voltage V_o[1] of the integrator 125 becomes 2³·RES−2⁻²·DAC₁[E₀]. Here, E₀ represents the initial value (E₀=−1) of the output of the DSM loop 126.

In this way, after the j-th residue integration process, the output voltage V_o[j] of the integrator 125 becomes V_o[j-1]+2³·RES−2⁻²·DAC₁[E_j-1]. Thus, after all of 2⁵ residue integration processes are completed, the output voltage V_o[2⁵] of the integrator 125 becomes 2⁸·RES−2⁻²·(DAC₁[E₀]+ . . . +DAC₁[E₃₁]).

At this time, since a condition of |2³·RES|≤|2⁻²·DAC₁[E_j-1]| is satisfied, the output voltage of the integrator 125 by the DSM loop 126 is limited within ±(|2³·RES|+|2⁻²·DAC₁[E_j-1]|)=±(|A|+|B|). When this range is set to the output voltage range which does not cause non-linearity of the amplifier, the residual voltage RES can be amplified 2⁸ times without a distortion caused by the non-linearity.

The final output voltage V_o[2⁵] of the integrator 125 is converted into 8 LSBs F_7:0 through the coarse SAR conversion by the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit 110.

FIG. 3 illustrates the principle that the digital signal output unit generates the final digital output. The principle will be described as follows.

The residual voltage RES outputted through the first subtractor 122 is finally amplified 2⁸ times, and 2⁵ comparison results E₀ to E₃₁ by the comparator 126A of the DAM loop 126 have a weight equal to F₆. Therefore, the result D_7:0 of the coarse SAR conversion, the results E₀ to E₃₁ of the DSM loop, and the result F_7:0 of the fine SAR conversion are added up as illustrated in FIG. 3, and the 17-bit digital code G_16:0 is finally generated. However, since a 1024 code offset is generated, the 16-bit digital code is finally generated by subtracting the offset from the digital code G_16:0.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the coarse/fine conversion logic according to the embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the coarse/fine conversion logic includes a first capacitive digital-analog converter (CDAC) 110A, a second CDAC 110B, an SAR comparator 110C and an SAR logic unit 110D.

The SAR logic unit 110D of FIG. 4 indicates a part of the functions of the first DAC 121, the first subtractor 122 and the integrator 125 in FIG. 1, a part of the SAR logic unit 110D and capacitors C_E11 and C_E21 in FIG. 4 indicate the second subtractor 124 and the second DAC 126C in FIG. 1, and the comparator 110C of FIG. 4 indicates the comparator installed in the ADC 112 of FIG. 1.

The first CDAC 110A includes a residue integration capacitor C_F11, a residual voltage generation capacitor C_S11, a capacitor C_E11 and switches SW11 to SW13. The residue integration capacitor C_F11 is connected to an input terminal and feedback terminal of a residual voltage amplifier 120C, and used for residue integration. The residual voltage generation capacitor C_S11 alternately receives the analog input voltage V_IN and the coarse SAR conversion result D_7:0, and generates a residual voltage. The capacitor C_E11 is charged with a feedback bit E_j supplied from the comparator 120D. The switches SW11 to SW13 switch the capacitors C_F11, C_S11 and C_E11.

The capacitances of the capacitors C_F11, C_S11 and C_E11 are not specifically limited, but the residue integration capacitor C_F11 has a capacitance of 128C (C: unit capacitance). For this configuration, the residue integration capacitor C_F11 may include capacitors with capacitances of 64C, 32C, 16C, 8C, 4C, 2C, 1C and 1C. The residual voltage generation capacitor C_S11 may have a capacitance of 1024C, and the capacitor C_E11 may have a capacitance of 32C. In the present embodiment, however, the first CDAC 110A converts the analog input voltage V_IN into the MSB digital signal D_7:0 using the residue integration capacitor C_F11 having a relatively small capacitance in the coarse SAR conversion mode and the fine SAR conversion mode. Therefore, the analog-digital conversion can be performed at higher speed.

The second CDAC 110B has the same internal configuration as the first CDAC 110A. However, the digital signal D_7:0 inputted to the second CDAC 110B and the feedback bit inputted through the delay 120E have the opposite signs.

The switches SW11 and SW21 are turned on to use the residue integration capacitors C_F11 and C_F21 during the coarse/fine SAR conversion as well as the residue integration. At first, a voltage inputted from outside is stored in the residue integration capacitors C_F11 and C_F21 through the switches SW11 and SW21, and subjected to coarse SAR conversion. Then, a voltage which is finally acquired after the residue integration is stored in the residue integration capacitors C_F11 and C_F21. Therefore, the finally acquired voltage is used to perform the fine SAR conversion. The switches SW11 to SW13 of the first CDAC 110A and the switches SW21 to SW23 of the second CDAC 110B perform the functions of the multiplexer 111 and the demultiplexer 113 in FIG. 1.

When receiving a sampling prediction signal Φ_{SAR_SAMP} generated by a clock signal which is inputted to notice that an analog input voltage is supplied for the first time, the SAR logic unit 110D supplies a positive analog input voltage V_IN⁺ to the residue integration capacitor C_F11 of the first CDAC 110A. At this time, the SAR logic unit 110D turns on the switches SW11 and SW21 to charge the capacitors C_S11 and C_E11, with a voltage difference between the analog input voltage V_IN⁺ and a common mode voltage V_CM.

The charging control operation for the capacitors C_F11, C_S11 and C_E11, of the first CDAC 110A through the SAR logic unit 110D is performed in a similar manner on the capacitors C_F21, C_S21 and C_E21 of the second CDAC 110B, and a difference therebetween is that a negative analog input voltage V_IN⁻ is supplied to the capacitors C_F21, C_Ss21 and C_E21 of the second CDAC 110B.

When receiving a conversion prediction signal Φ_{SAR_CONV} for informing the SAR logic unit 110D that the capacitors C_F11, C_S11 and C_E11 are completely charged after a predetermined time has elapsed, the SAR logic unit 110D turns off the switch SW13 to block the negative analog input voltage V_IN⁺ supplied to the residue integration capacitor C_F11. The conversion prediction signal Φ_{SAR_CONV} is generated by the SAR logic unit 110D after the sampling operation is completed.

Then, the SAR comparator 110C compares a negative residual voltage V_DAC⁻ supplied from the first CDAC 110A to a positive residual voltage V_DAC⁺ supplied from the second CDAC 118B, and outputs a resultant comparison signal CS.

The SAR logic unit 110D decides a charge voltage of the capacitor of 64C installed in the residue integration capacitor C_F11 according to the comparison signal CS supplied from the SAR comparator 110C, and the charge voltage corresponds to the first bit value of the analog-digital conversion.

Then, the SAR logic unit 110D decides charge voltages of the other capacitors of 32C, 16C, 8C, 4C, 2C, 1C and 1C by repeatedly performing the above operation on the other bits. Through a total of eight analog-digital conversion operations, the 8-bit SAR conversion is completed.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the residue integration logic according to the embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the residue integration logic includes a first CDAC 120A, a second CDAC 120B, a residual voltage amplifier 120C, a residual voltage comparator 120D, a delay 120E, a residue integration (RI) logic unit 120F.

The residual voltage amplifier 120C of FIG. 5 indicates the residual voltage amplifier 123 of FIG. 1, the RI logic unit 120F of FIG. 5 indicates the first DAC 121, the first subtractor 122 and the integrator 125 in FIG. 1, a part of the RI logic unit 120F and capacitors C_E11 and C_E21 in FIG. 5 indicate the second subtractor 124 and the second DAC 126C in FIG. 1, the comparator 120D of FIG. 5 indicates the comparator 126A of FIG. 1, the delay 120E of FIG. 5 indicates the delay 126B of FIG. 1, and the ratio of the capacitor C_E11 to the capacitor C_F11 and the ratio of the capacitor C_E21 to the capacitor C_F21 in FIG. 5 indicate the amplifier 126D of FIG. 1.

The first CDAC 120A includes capacitors C_F11, C_S11 and C_E11 for storing voltages and switches SW11 to SW13 for switching the capacitors C_F11, C_S11 and C_E11. The capacitor C_E11 for a feedback bit has a capacitance of 32C. The total capacitance of the residual voltage generation capacitor C_S11 is 1024C. For this configuration, the residual voltage generation capacitor C_S11 includes capacitors with capacitances of 512C, 256C, 128C, 64C, 32C, 16C, 8C, 4C and 4C.

The second CDAC 120B has the same internal configuration as the first CDAC 120A.

The RI logic unit 120F controls the first CDAC 120A to generate a negative residual voltage V_DAC⁻, and the negative residual voltage V_DAC⁻ is supplied to one input terminal of the residual voltage amplifier 120C.

In order to notify that an analog input voltage is supplied after SAR conversion is completed by the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit 110, a sampling prediction signal Φ_{RI_SAMP} is inputted to the RI logic unit 120F. At this time, the RI logic unit 120F supplies the positive analog input voltage V_IN⁺ to one terminals of the capacitors C_S11 and C_E11, and turns on the switch SW13 to charge the capacitors C_S11 and C_E11 with the common mode voltage V_CM.

When the charging operation for the capacitors C_S11 and C_E11 is completed, a residual voltage measurement signal Φ_{RI_EvAL} is inputted to the RI logic unit 120F. At this time, the RI logic unit 120F turns off the switch SW13 to block the common mode voltage VCM supplied to the capacitors C_S11 and C_E11. At this time, the residual voltage amplifier 120C is switched to an enable state.

The residue integration capacitors C_F11 and C_F21 which have been used for SAR conversion are connected to both input terminals of the residual voltage amplifier 120C, such that their charge voltages are amplified by the residual voltage amplifier 120C.

The RI logic unit 120F turns on the switch SW12 to sequentially supply the SAR 8-bit voltage converted in the previous mode to one input terminal of the residual voltage amplifier 120C, and the previously generated feedback bit is stored the capacitor CE11 through the delay 120E such that the negative residual voltage V_DAC⁻ is generated from the first CDAC 120A. The negative residual voltage V_DAC⁻ is supplied to the one terminal of the residual voltage amplifier 120C.

Similarly, the RI logic unit 120F controls the second CDAC 120B in the same manner as the first CDAC 120A, such that a positive residual voltage V_DAC⁺ is generated from the second CDAC 120B. The positive residual voltage V_DAC⁺ is supplied to the other input terminal of the residual voltage amplifier 120C.

The residual voltages V_DAC⁻ and V_DAC⁺ generated through the above-described processes are converted into voltages V_o[j]⁻ and V_o[j]⁺ amplified by 2³ through the residual voltage amplifier 120C.

The comparator 120D compares the generated voltages V_o[j]⁺ and V_o[j]⁺, and outputs a resultant feedback bit E_j.

Such a process is repeated 2⁵ times to adjust the total gain to 2⁸. The voltages V_o[j]⁻ and V_o[j]⁺ generated at the final 32nd (2⁵) round are supplied as input voltages when the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit 110 is operated in the fine conversion mode.

FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram illustrating clock signals applied to the SAR-type ADC using residue integration according to the embodiment of the present invention. The clock signals will be described as follows.

Timing clock signals for analog-digital conversion are internally generated by the sampling prediction signal Φ_{SAR_SAMP} which is an external clock signal. When the sampling prediction signal Φ_{SAR_SAMP} is “high”, the analog input voltage V_IN stored in the residue integration capacitors C_F11 and C_F21 is sampled, and the digital circuits are reset.

When the sampling prediction signal Φ_{SAR_SAMP} transitions to “low”, the conversion prediction signal Φ_{SAR_CONV} transitions to “high”, and the 8-bit coarse SAR conversion is performed.

Then, when the conversion prediction signal Φ_{SAR_CONV} transitions to “low”, 2⁵ residue integration processes are performed while the sampling prediction signal Φ_{RI_SAMP} and the residual voltage measurement signal Φ_{RI_EVAL} are alternately activated.

When the series of residue integration processes are finished, the conversion prediction signal Φ_{SAR_CONV} transitions to “high” to perform the 8-bit fine SAR conversion. Then, the entire procedure is ended.

The digital output G_16:0 generated through the above-described procedure is stored in an output register (not illustrated) when the sampling prediction signal Φ_{SAR_SAMP} transitions from “low” to “high”.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example in which capacitor mismatch is removed according to the embodiment of the present invention. During the residue integration process, a capacitor mismatch problem may occur. FIG. 7 illustrates that dynamic element matching (DEM) is applied to the residual voltage generation capacitor C_S and the capacitor C_E used for storing a feedback voltage during the residue integration process, in order to remove capacitor mismatch.

During the residue integration process, the capacitors with a total capacitance of 1024C (32C×32) are used. At this time, the capacitor C_E used to store a feedback voltage is used for the MSB 32C, and the residual voltage generation capacitor C_S used to store a 8-bit coarse (or fine) SAR conversion value for the analog input voltage V_IN is used for the rest 992C. The rest 992C is classified into 31 capacitors with a capacitance of 32C, or specifically, 16 capacitors C_S7 (512C), eight capacitors C_S6 (256C), four capacitors C_S5 (128C), two capacitors C_S4 (64C) and one capacitor C_S3 (32C).

As described above, the process of storing a voltage corresponding to the same digital signal excluding the feedback bit at the step of generating the residual voltage RES by charging a capacitor with an analog signal converted from a digital signal is repeatedly performed 32(2⁵) times, when the residual voltage measurement signal Φ_{RI_EvAL} is inputted. At this time, the capacitors with a capacitance of 32C among the capacitors with a total capacitance of 1024C are sequentially selected 32 times to store a voltage corresponding to the digital signal. Therefore, the top five capacitors C_S7 to C_S3 and the capacitor C_E may be averaged to remove capacitor mismatch.

FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating a Nyquist speed FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) spectrum of the SAR-type ADC according to the embodiment of the present invention. When the SAR-type ADC according to the embodiment of the present invention converts an analog signal of 977.777 Hz at a sampling speed of 2 KS/s as illustrated in FIG. 8, a spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) of 98.2 dB and a signal-to-noise ratio and distortion ratio (SNDR) of 84.6 dB are exhibited.

FIG. 9 is a waveform diagram illustrating the linear characteristic of the SAR-type ADC according to the embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the SAR-type ADC according to the embodiment of the present invention exhibits a differential non-linearity (DNL) of −0.70/+0.49 and an integral non-linearity (INL) of −3.44/+3.65 at a sampling speed of 2 KS/s.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the SAR-type ADC can amplify a residual voltage without a non-linearity problem caused by an output voltage of the residual voltage amplifier, thereby performing high-resolution analog-digital conversion at low power consumption.

While various embodiments have been described above, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the embodiments described are by way of example only. Accordingly, the disclosure described herein should not be limited based on the described embodiments.

Claims

1. A successive approximation register (SAR)-type analog-digital converter (ADC) using residue integration, comprising:

a coarse/fine SAR conversion unit configured to receive an analog input voltage and convert the received voltage into an MSB digital signal in a coarse SAR conversion mode, and receive a feedback voltage and convert the received voltage into an LSB digital signal in a fine SAR conversion mode;

a residue integration unit configured to repeatedly amplify a residual voltage with a predetermined gain by a predetermined number of times and output the amplified voltage as a final target multiple, the residual voltage corresponding to a voltage difference between the analog input voltage and an analog voltage obtained by converting the digital signal into an analog signal; and

a digital signal output unit configured to add up a coarse SAR conversion result supplied from the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit, a result of a delta-signal modulation (DSM) loop installed in the residue integration unit, and a fine SAR conversion result supplied from the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit, and output a digital code of the corresponding bit.

2. The SAR-type ADC of claim 1, wherein the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit comprises:

a multiplexer configured to configured to select and output the analog input voltage in the coarse SAR conversion mode, and select and output the feedback in the fine SAR conversion mode;

an ADC configured to convert the analog signal supplied from the multiplexer into a digital signal in the coarse SAR conversion mode or the fine SAR conversion mode;

a demultiplexer configured to output the MSB digital signal in the coarse SAR conversion mode or output the LSB digital signal in the fine SAR conversion mode, when outputting the digital signal supplied from the ADC; and

a control logic unit configured to control the operations of the multiplexer and the demultiplexer according to the coarse SAR conversion mode and the fine SAR conversion mode.

3. The SAR-type ADC of claim 1, wherein the residue integration unit repeatedly amplifies the residual voltage with a gain of 23 by 25 times, and finally outputs a voltage which is 28 times higher than the residue voltage.

4. The SAR-type ADC of claim 1, wherein the residue integration unit comprises:

a first digital-analog converter (DAC) configured to convert the MSB digital signal supplied from the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit into an analog signal;

a first subtractor configured to subtract an output voltage of the first DAC from the input voltage, and output the resultant residual voltage;

a residual voltage amplifier configured to amplify the residual voltage with a preset multiple;

a second subtractor configured to subtract a DSM feedback voltage from an output voltage of the residual voltage amplifier;

an integrator configured to integrate an output voltage of the second subtractor and generate the resultant output voltage; and

a DSM loop configured to generate the DSM feedback voltage whenever the residual voltage is amplified with the preset multiple and accumulated in the integrator, and limit the output voltage of the integrator within an output voltage range which does not cause non-linearity of the residual voltage amplifier.

5. The SAR-type ADC of claim 4, wherein the preset multiple is 23.

6. The SAR-type ADC of claim 4, wherein the number of times that the residual voltage is amplified with the preset multiple and accumulated in the integrator is set to 25.

7. The SAR-type ADC of claim 4, wherein the DSM loop comprises:

a comparator configured to compare the output voltage of the integrator to a reference voltage, and generate a resultant digital feedback voltage;

a delay configured to delay the digital feedback voltage supplied from the comparator;

a second DAC configured to convert the digital feedback voltage outputted from the delay into an analog signal; and

an amplifier configured to generate the DSM feedback voltage by amplifying the analog voltage supplied from the second DAC.

8. The SAR-type ADC of claim 7, wherein the comparator comprises a 1-bit comparator, and the second DAC comprises a 1-bit DAC.

9. The SAR-type ADC of claim 7, wherein the amplifier amplifies the analog voltage supplied from the second DAC with a multiple of 2−2.

10. The SAR-type ADC of claim 1, wherein the coarse/fine SAR conversion unit comprises:

a residue integration capacitor configured to perform a charging operation for the residue integration;

a residual voltage generation capacitor configured to alternately receive the analog input voltage and the result of the coarse SAR conversion, and generate a residual voltage; and

first and second capacitive digital-analog converters (CDAC) each comprising a feedback voltage charging capacitor for storing a feedback voltage supplied from the residue integration unit.

11. The SAR-type ADC of claim 10, wherein the residue integration capacitor is designed to have a smaller value than the capacitance of the residual voltage generation capacitor or the feedback voltage charging capacitor, such that the feedback voltage is converted into the LSB digital signal at a relatively high speed in the coarse SAR conversion mode.

12. The SAR-type ADC of claim 10, wherein the residue integration capacitor is designed to have a smaller value than the capacitance of the residual voltage generation capacitor or the feedback voltage charging capacitor, such that the residual voltage amplified after the residue integration is converted into the LSB digital signal at a relatively high speed in the fine SAR conversion mode.

13. The SAR-type ADC of claim 10, wherein dynamic element matching (DEM) is applied to the feedback voltage charging capacitor and the residual voltage generation capacitor, in order to remove capacitor mismatch.