Cascade ΣΔ modulator for low-voltage wideband applications
Abstract
A new cascade ΣΔ modulator architecture with unity signal transfer function is presented, which avoids the need for digital filtering in the error cancellation logic. The combination of these two aspects makes it highly tolerant to noise leakages, very robust to nonlinearities of the circuitry and especially suited for low-voltage implementations at low oversampling. Behavioural simulations are presented that demonstrate the higher efficiency of the proposed topology compared to existing cascades intended for wideband applications.
Full text
A new cascade ΣΔ modula o o low- ol age
wideband applica ions
A. Mo gado, R. del Río, J. M. de la Rosa
This le e p esen s a new cascade ΣΔ modula o a chi ec u e wi h uni y signal ans e
unc ion ha a oids he need o digi al il e ing in he e o cancella ion logic. The
combina ion o hese wo aspec s make i highly ole an o noise leakages, e y obus o
non-linea i ies o he ci cui y and especially sui ed o low- ol age implemen a ions a low
o e sampling. Beha io al simula ions a e p esen ed ha demons a e he highe e iciency
o he p oposed opology compa ed o exis ing cascades in ended o wideband
applica ions.
In oduc ion: Many new communica ion sys ems ha e a isen in ecen yea s ha demand
o high-bandwid h ΣΔ modula o s (ΣΔMs) in low- ol age echnologies [1]-[3]. Since
o e sampling mus be es ic ed o low alues in wideband applica ions, a usual design
choice in o de o achie e he equi ed pe o mance is o employ mul i-s age noise shaping
(MASH) a chi ec u es wi h mul i-bi quan iza ion. These ΣΔ opologies ci cum en he
s abili y p oblems o high-o de loops, bu a e sensi i e o quan iza ion noise leakages
caused by misma ches be ween he analog and digi al signal p ocessing in he ΣΔ cascade
[4].
An al e na i e ΣΔM a chi ec u e ha educes he sensi i i y o noise leakages o adi ional
cascade ΣΔMs is he so-called S u dy MASH (SMASH) modula o , ecen ly p esen ed in [1].
© IET (The Ins i u ion o Enginee ing and Technology). This ma e ial is p esen ed o ensu e imely dissemina ion o
schola ly and echnical wo k. Copy igh and all igh s he ein a e e ained by au ho s o by o he copy igh holde s. All
pe sons copying his in o ma ion a e expec ed o adhe e o he e ms and cons ain s in oked by each au ho 's copy igh .
In mos cases, hese wo ks may no be epos ed wi hou he explici pe mission o he copy igh holde .
This opology, which is illus a ed in Fig. 1 in he case o a 2-2 cascade, eplaces he e o
cancella ion logic equi ed in adi ional MASH modula o s o p ope ly combine he s ages
ou pu s by di ec eedback pa hs om he 2nd-s age ou pu o he 1s -s age inpu (ma ked in
Fig. 1 wi h ⊗ o cla i y). The modula o ou pu can be hus ob ained om he di ec digi al
sub ac ion o he wo s ages ou pu s, wi h no need o digi al il e ing o he s ages ou pu s
and he e o e, he subsequen elimina ion o ma ching equi emen s be ween analog and
digi al il e ing.
This le e p esen s a no el ΣΔ cascade in ended o high-speed low- ol age applica ions
which ex ends he unde lying p inciple o SMASH ΣΔMs o he implemen a ion o uni y signal
ans e unc ions (STFs) —i.e., —, while ci cum en ing he p oblems de ec ed
in he o me ones. On he one hand, by using uni y STFs, in eg a o s ideally p ocess
quan iza ion e o only, so ha he ole ance o ampli ie s non-linea i ies is la gely inc eased
[2] [3]. On he o he , by modi ying he s a egy o combine he s ages ou pu s, digi al il e ing
can s ill be a oided, while inc easing he obus ness and he simplici y o he ΣΔM.
P oposed Cascade Topology: The SMASH modula o in Fig. 1 su e s om se e al
d awbacks associa ed o he di ec eedback pa h om he 2nd-s age ou pu o he i s
s age, namely:
• I equi es, a leas , one ex a highly linea digi al- o-analog con e e (DAC) in he
added eedback pa h o he 1s -s age inpu .
STF z() 1=
• I is e y sensi i e o misma ching e ec s in he added eedback pa hs wi h espec
o he 1s -s age analog coe icien s, which causes low-o de noise leakages.
The p oposed modula o a chi ec u e, depic ed in Fig. 2, ci cum en s he abo e-men ioned
d awbacks by means o he ollowing s a egies:
• On he one hand, he p oposed a chi ec u e p ese es he appealing ea u es o
implemen ing uni y STFs, such as high o e load le els and elaxed ou pu swings
and non-linea i ies o he ampli ie s [2] [3].
• On he o he hand, eedback pa hs om he 2nd-s age ou pu o he i s s age a e
emo ed by di ec ly eeding he modula o ou pu back o he i s s age inpu . No e
ha , a he same ime, he digi al sub ac ion o he quan ize s ou pu s is pe o med
inside he 1s -s age loop. This s a egy elimina es he need o , a leas , one ex a
eedback pa h, so ha he numbe o linea DACs equi ed is no inc eased.
Howe e , a DAC wi h a ull scale la ge han ha o he analog- o-digi al con e e s
(ADCs) in he cascade ( and ) is equi ed in o de o accoun o he
summa ion o he digi al ou pu s o he s ages. Al hough, as will be shown in he nex
sec ion, he loca ion o he digi al adde helps o conside ably inc ease he
obus ness o misma ches o he p oposed cascade, hanks o he addi ional
il e ing ob ained o noise leakages.
Conside ing a linea model o he quan ize s in Fig. 2, i can be shown ha he Z-domain
B1B2
ans o m o he modula o ou pu is gi en by:
(1)
whe e s ands o he inpu signal and is he quan iza ion e o o he second
s age. No e ha −con a y o he SMASH modula o in Fig. 1− he quan iza ion e o o he
i s s age, , is cancelled, while a oiding any digi al il e ing. In addi ion, using a scaling
ac o ha is a powe o 2 will help o educe he powe o he 2nd-s age quan iza ion e o
a he ou pu and will equi e only a shi egis e be o e he digi al sub ac ion. This scaling
s a egy can no be di ec ly applied o he SMASH modula o , since in ha case, he ou pu
will be gi en by:
(2)
hus educing he powe o a he ou pu , bu no ha o .
Simula ion esul s: The pe o mance o he p oposed modula o (Fig. 2) has been
compa ed o adi ional 2-2 cascades and o he SMASH modula o (Fig. 1) by beha io al
simula ion using SIMSIDES, a Simulink-based ime-domain simula o o ΣΔ modula o s [5].
All opologies ope a e wi h an o e sampling a io o 16, 4-bi in e nal quan ize s and a 1-V
e e ence ol age o compa ison pu poses wi h da a epo ed in [1].
Yz() Xz() 1d⁄1z1–
–()
4
E2z()⋅⋅–=
Xz() E2z()
E1z()
d
Yz() z2– Xz() 1z1–
–()
4
E1z()⋅1d⁄1z1–
–()
4
E2z()⋅⋅–+⋅=
E2z() E1z()
Fig.3 depic s he Signal o Noise and Dis o ion Ra io (SNDR) achie ed by he di e se
modula o s e sus he inpu le el when conside ing quan iza ion e o s only. No e ha he
o e load le el o he p oposed cascade is conside ably la ge compa ed o he SMASH and
also imp o es ha o adi ional cascades. As shown in Fig.3, he a ainable SNDR peak can
be inc eased by ope a ing he p oposed opology wi h .
Table 1 shows bo h he o e load le els and he ou pu swing equi emen s o he ampli ie s
along he cascades. No e ha he combined usage o uni y STFs and mul i-bi quan iza ion
leads o a ema kable elaxa ion o he ou pu swing o he p oposed modula o compa ed
o MASH and SMASH opologies, wha simpli ies i s low- ol age implemen a ion.
The sensi i i y o noise leakages due o misma ches has been s udied o he di e se
a chi ec u es on he basis o a Mon e Ca lo simula ion. Fig.4 shows he SNDR a -6dBFS
ob ained o he SMASH modula o and he cascade p oposed in Fig.2 o a 50- un Mon e
Ca lo simula ion conside ing a s anda d de ia ion o 0.1% in all capaci o s. No e ha
misma ches a he addi ional eedback pa hs (⊗) a e esponsible o a la ge a ia ion o he
esolu ion in he SMASH opology, wha esul s in i s un eliable p ac ical implemen a ion.
Howe e , he loca ion o he digi al summa ion o he s ages ou pu s inside he 1s -s age loop
esul s in addi ional il e ing and p o ides he p oposed cascades wi h a la ge immuni y o
misma ches. As shown in Fig.4, he low sensi i i y o misma ches is s ill main ained despi e
using a scaling o ob ain la ge SNDRs.
Fig. 5 compa es he SNDR ob ained o he di e se ΣΔ s uc u es agains he ampli ie gain
d1>
d1>
in he in eg a o s o a -6dBFS inpu le el. No e ha he equi ed ampli ie gain in he
adi ional MASH wi h and he SMASH o achie e a SNDR o 95dB a e 50dB and
40dB, espec i ely. These alues a e elaxed o 30dB o he p oposed cascade wi h .
Thanks o he implemen a ion o uni y STFs, he p oposed cascade p o es o ha e also
conside ably la ge ole ance o non-linea i ies in he ampli ie gain. Fig. 6 shows he SNDR
o he di e se opologies agains he gain non-linea i y o a -6dBFS inpu le el. Fo all
s uc u es he ampli ie s gain is assumed o be 55dB and non-linea i ies a e con empla ed
in ampli ie s o he i s modula o s age. No e ha non-linea i y equi emen s a e also g ea ly
elaxed o he p oposed a chi ec u e.
Conclusions: A no el opology o cascade ΣΔ modula o has been p oposed. This
a chi ec u e is capable o achie ing la ge SNDRs a low o e sampling wi h e y elaxed
ou pu swing and gain demands in he ampli ie s, so ha i is especially sui ed o wideband
applica ions in low ol age scena ios. I s e iciency elies upon wo main s a egies, namely:
he educ ion o he e o cancella ion logic o a single digi al adde ha is placed inside he
1s -s age ΣΔ loop, and he implemen a ion o uni y STFs in bo h cascade s ages. Beha io al
simula ion esul s p o e he highe e iciency and obus ness o misma ches o he p oposed
cascade compa ed o exis ing ones.
d1=
d1=
Re e ences
1 Magha i, N., Kwon, S., Temes, G. C., and Moon, U.: ‘S u dy MASH ΔΣ modula o ’,
Elec on. Le ., 2006, 42, (13), pp. 1269-1270.
2 Sil a, J., Moon, U., S eensgaa d, J., and Temes, G. C.: ‘Wideband low-dis o ion del a-
sigma ADC opology’, Elec on. Le ., 2001, 37, (12), pp. 737-738.
3 Sil a, J., Moon, U., and Temes, G. C.: ‘Low-dis o ion del a-sigma opologies o MASH
a chi ec u es’. P oc. 2004 In . Sym. Ci cui s and Sys ems., Vancou e , Canada, 2004, 1,
pp. 1144-1147.
4 No swo hy, S. R., Sch eie , R., and Temes, G. C. (Eds.): ‘Del a-Sigma Da a Con e e s:
Theo y, Design and Simula ion’ (IEEE P ess, 1997)
5 Ruíz-Amaya, J., de la Rosa, J.M., Fe nández, F.V., Medei o, F., del Río, R., Pé ez-Ve dú,
B., Rod íguez-Vázquez, A.: ‘High-le el Syn hesis o Swi ched-Capaci o , Swi ched-
Cu en and Con inuous-Time ΣΔ Modula o s Using SIMULINK-Based Time-Domain
Beha io al Models’, IEEE T ans. Ci cui s and Sys . I, 2005, 52, pp. 1795-1810.
Au ho s' a ilia ions:
A. Mo gado, R. del Río and J. M. de la Rosa (Ins i u o de Mic oelec ónica de Se illa - IMSE-
CNM (CSIC/Uni e sidad de Se illa). Edi . CICA-CNM, A da. Reina Me cedes s/n, 41012-
Se illa, SPAIN).
E-mail: [email p o ec ed]
Table cap ions:
Table 1 O e load le els and ou pu swing equi emen s.
Figu e cap ions:
Fig. 1 SMASH modula o [1]
Fig. 2 P oposed opology
Fig. 3 SNDR e sus inpu ampli ude
Fig. 4 Mon e Ca lo simula ion esul s o capaci o s misma ching e ec s
Fig. 5 SNDR e sus ampli ie ini e gain
Fig. 6 E ec o he ampli ie non-linea i y on he SNDR
Figu e 6
102
101
100
90
92
94
96
98
100
SNDR, dB
Non-linea i y o he ampli ie gain, %
P oposed d = 1
MASH d = 1
SMASH