Pipeline ADC Clock Timing Adjustment for Quantization Completion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current pipeline analog to digital converters (ADCs) face increased power consumption and circuit area due to fixed operating intervals, which become inefficient at higher clock frequencies, leading to inaccurate conversions and higher current requirements for residue amplifiers.
Innovation Solution
A pipeline ADC with adjustable amplification phase and timing adjustment method, utilizing a detector circuitry to ensure quantization completeness before processing, and a clock generator to adjust the clock signal timing, thereby reducing power consumption and circuit area by optimizing the amplification phase.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the operating interval for each conversion is fixed, then the pipeline ADC can process conversions sequentially, but at higher clock frequencies the time interval becomes smaller requiring higher current and increasing power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the operating interval variable rather than fixed. The control circuit dynamically adjusts the time interval between clock signals based on whether the quantization operation is complete, allowing the system to adapt its timing to the actual processing status and avoid unnecessary high current consumption at high clock frequencies
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback through the control circuit that monitors the completion status of quantization operations and uses this information to adjust subsequent clock signal timing. This feedback mechanism ensures that the operating interval is optimized based on actual processing requirements, reducing power consumption while maintaining conversion speed
2Device complexity
If the operating interval is fixed, then the conversion process is simplified, but circuits like residue amplifier require higher current leading to increased circuit area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the operating interval dynamic rather than fixed, allowing the system to extend time intervals when needed for quantization completion. This eliminates the need for oversized circuits like high-current residue amplifiers, reducing circuit area while maintaining a relatively simple conversion process through controlled timing adjustment
3Productivity
If the clock frequency is increased to improve conversion speed, then productivity increases, but the time interval becomes smaller requiring higher current for accurate processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses feedback to monitor quantization completion status and adjusts clock timing accordingly. This ensures that even at high clock frequencies, the quantization operation has sufficient time to complete accurately before the next operation begins, maintaining conversion accuracy while achieving high productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the effective operating interval based on quantization status, allowing high clock frequencies to be used when quantization is complete while extending intervals when quantization is still in progress, thus maintaining both high speed and high accuracy
Data Source
AI summary
A pipeline analog to digital converter (ADC) includes converter circuitries, a detector circuitry, and a clock generator circuit. The converter circuitries sequentially convert an input signal to be digital codes. One of the converter circuitries includes a sub-ADC circuit and a multiplying digital to analog converter (MDAC) circuit. The sub-ADC circuit performs a quantization according to a first signal to generate a corresponding one of the digital codes, in which the first signal is the input signal or a previous stage residue signal. The MDAC circuit processes the corresponding one of the digital codes in response to a first clock signal, in order to generate a current stage residue signal. The detector circuitry detects whether the quantization is complete, in order to generate a control signal. The clock generator circuit adjusts a timing of the first clock signal according to the control signal.