Bandpass Quantization Conversion for Sampling Jitter Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional analog-to-digital converters face significant precision degradation due to sampling uncertainty, particularly when processing high-frequency signals, as a result of timing jitter and frequency drift in the sample clock source, which existing methods struggle to effectively mitigate without requiring high-stability oscillators or complex analog bandpass filters.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a converter architecture that incorporates analog bandpass filters with wider bandwidths than digital bandpass filters, allowing for minimal spectral overlap and reduced noise introduction, combined with digital resampling to decouple sample-rate and conversion-rate clock sources, and the use of sampling error detectors to correct for timing jitter.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional sampling methods are used with standard oscillators, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision degrades due to timing jitter and frequency drift
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical oscillator system with a digital resampling system. Instead of relying on high-stability analog oscillators, the invention uses digital signal processing to generate resampled versions of the input signal at different time offsets, thereby eliminating the need for complex high-precision oscillator circuits while maintaining or improving measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and storing signal samples at multiple time offsets before the actual conversion process. These pre-sampled signals are then combined to compensate for timing jitter, allowing the system to achieve high precision without requiring the oscillator to maintain perfect stability during operation.
2Measurement precision
If analog bandpass filters with narrow bandwidths are used, then spectral overlap is reduced, but converter resolution degrades due to sampling uncertainty in high-frequency signals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the single conversion process into multiple parallel processing paths, each handling different frequency bands with appropriate filtering. By dividing the broad frequency spectrum into multiple narrower bands and processing them separately, the system reduces sampling uncertainty for each band while maintaining overall high-resolution conversion capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the sampling parameters dynamically by using multiple sample rates and time offsets for different frequency bands. This allows the system to optimize the sampling process for each specific frequency range, reducing sampling uncertainty and improving resolution without requiring excessively narrow analog filters across the entire bandwidth.
3Adaptability or versatility
If digital resampling is implemented to decouple clock sources, then adaptability improves for different conversion rates, but device complexity increases due to additional processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal digital resampling architecture that can handle multiple conversion rates and frequency bands using the same core processing blocks. The resampling engine is designed to be configurable and reusable across different operating conditions, allowing a single complex structure to provide versatile functionality rather than requiring separate dedicated circuits for each conversion rate.
4Measurement precision
If high-stability oscillators are used to reduce timing jitter, then measurement precision improves, but manufacturing cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes complex high-stability analog oscillator circuits with simpler digital processing techniques. By using standard oscillators combined with digital resampling and signal combination, the system achieves high sampling accuracy without requiring expensive, difficult-to-manufacture high-stability oscillator components, thereby improving ease of manufacture while maintaining precision.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is, among other things, an apparatus that includes an input line for accepting an input signal that is continuous in time and continuously variable. Multiple processing branches are coupled to the input line, each including: (a) an analog bandpass filter, (b) a sampling/quantization circuit coupled to an output of the analog bandpass filter, and (c) a digital bandpass filter coupled to an output of the sampling/quantization circuit. An adder is coupled to outputs of the processing branches. The digital bandpass filters in different ones of the processing branches have frequency response bandwidths that are centered at different frequencies, and the analog bandpass filters in different ones of the processing branches have frequency responses with bandwidths that are at least 25% greater than the frequency response bandwidths of the digital bandpass filters in their respective processing branches.