Multi-Rate Pipelined ADC Structure for Wide Dynamic Range
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Solution Overview
Problem
Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) face challenges in achieving high performance over a wide dynamic range while minimizing power consumption and overhead, often requiring compromised solutions that sacrifice performance or limit range.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a multi-rate ADC structure where different components operate at varying clock frequencies or sampling rates, with a sampling rate interpolator to increase the sampling rate of lower-rate outputs to match higher-rate outputs, allowing for pipelining and power efficiency while maintaining performance across a wide dynamic range.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a single ADC operates at high sampling rate to cover wide dynamic range, then performance is improved, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The ADC system is segmented into multiple parallel ADCs, each operating at different sampling rates. A first ADC operates at a lower sampling rate (e.g., 1/4 or 1/8 of the target rate) while second ADCs operate at higher sampling rates. This segmentation allows each ADC to consume less power individually while collectively achieving the required effective sampling rate through interpolation and combining operations.
2Measurement precision
If multiple ADCs are used to cover wide dynamic range, then performance over dynamic range is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the operating sampling rates of different ADCs based on the input signal characteristics and dynamic range requirements. The first ADC operates at a lower rate for signals within its optimal range, while second ADCs operate at higher rates for signals requiring greater precision. This dynamic rate adjustment optimizes performance across the wide dynamic range while managing complexity through selective activation.
Solution Approach 2:
A sampling rate interpolator is introduced as an intermediary component that processes the output of the first ADC (operating at lower sampling rate) and interpolates it to match the sampling rate of the second ADCs. This intermediary enables the combining of outputs from ADCs operating at different rates, effectively managing the complexity of multi-rate operation while achieving wide dynamic range coverage.
3Use of energy by moving object
If ADC operates at lower sampling rate to reduce power, then power consumption is reduced, but performance over wide dynamic range deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The outputs from multiple ADCs operating at different sampling rates are merged through interpolation and combining operations. The first ADC's lower-rate output is interpolated to match the higher sampling rate of second ADCs, and then combined with their outputs. This merging process reconstructs the wide dynamic range performance that would be lost if any single ADC operated alone at reduced power consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Representative implementations of devices and techniques provide analog to digital conversion of analog inputs. A plurality of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) can be arranged such that one or more of the ADCs is operating at a sampling rate that is less than others of the plurality of ADCs. For example, a sampling rate interpolator may be used to increase a sampling rate of signals output at the one or more ADCs operating at the lower sampling rate, allowing pipelining of the plurality of ADCs.