Pipelined ADC Bit Reduction via Amplification Time Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pipelined analog-to-digital converters face challenges in reducing area overhead and power consumption, as increasing the number of stages leads to higher power consumption and larger circuit scales, while fewer stages result in longer signal processing delays.
Innovation Solution
The method involves a pipelined analog-to-digital conversion process with T pipeline stages, where each stage performs sampling, quantization, and amplification/extra quantization, reducing the number of bits required for each ADC stage without increasing the number of stages, thereby minimizing circuit scale and power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the number of stages in pipelined ADC is increased, then the conversion accuracy is improved, but the power consumption and area overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the quantization process into two segments: a first quantization stage that processes the most significant bits and a second quantization stage that processes the remaining less significant bits. This segmentation allows each stage to use optimized circuit designs appropriate for their specific bit ranges, reducing overall power consumption while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the quantization bit parameter across different stages - using fewer bits in earlier stages and more bits in later stages. This parameter variation optimizes the trade-off between speed and accuracy at each stage, reducing total power consumption compared to uniform bit distribution across all stages.
2Measurement precision
If the number of stages in pipelined ADC is increased, then the conversion accuracy is improved, but the area overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the ADC into multiple pipeline stages with different quantization depths. By distributing the total quantization bits across stages rather than using one large-stage design, the area overhead is reduced while maintaining the same overall conversion accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial quantization in the first stage and completes the quantization in subsequent stages. This partial action approach allows earlier stages to use simpler, smaller circuits that consume less area, while later stages handle the remaining quantization requirements.
3Measurement precision
If single-stage quantization with more bits is used, then the conversion accuracy is improved, but the power consumption and area overhead are larger
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the quantization process into multiple stages, each handling a portion of the total bits. This avoids the need for a single large-stage quantizer that would consume excessive power, while achieving the same total accuracy through distributed quantization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the quantization bit parameter across different stages - using fewer bits in earlier stages and more bits in later stages. This parameter variation optimizes the trade-off between speed and accuracy at each stage, reducing total power consumption compared to uniform bit distribution across all stages.
4Use of energy by stationary object
If single-stage quantization with fewer bits is used, then the power consumption and area overhead are reduced, but the time delay from signal sampling to final quantization is relatively long
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the quantization into parallel pipeline stages that process different bit portions simultaneously. This segmentation enables overlapping operations where later stages can begin processing while earlier stages complete their quantization, reducing total time delay compared to sequential processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains continuous operation across pipeline stages, where each stage continuously processes incoming signals while previous stages complete their operations. This continuous action eliminates idle time between stages, reducing overall conversion time while maintaining lower power consumption per stage.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure belongs to the field of integrated circuits, and is used for reducing an area overhead and a power consumption of a pipelined analog-to-digital converter. Each stage of the pipelined analog-to-digital converter according to the disclosure comprises an analogue-to-digital converter, a digital-to-analog converter, a subtractor and an amplifier. According to the disclosure, an amplification time of the pipelined ADC is used for extra quantization, and a number of bits of each ADC is reduced on the premise of not increasing a number of stages of the pipelined ADC, so that a scale of each circuit is greatly reduced, and the power consumption and the area overhead are reduced.