Current steering digital-to-analog conversion systems

A method of current steering in a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) driver apparatus, the method comprising:

• steering a current from a DAC driver circuit of a plurality of DAC driver circuits into a load network to generate an analog output signal by:
• controlling a first set of data switches by a first digital input signal of the DAC driver circuit of the plurality of DAC driver circuits;
• operating a first set of output switches or a second set of output switches to respectively couple either one of the first set of data switches or a second set of data switches to the load network;
• and
• operating a first set of dump switches or a second set of dump switches to dump a first set of current sources or a second set of current sources into respective dump loads, wherein:
• the steered current is provided by one of the first set of current sources or the second set of current sources,
• the first set of output switches, the first set of dump switches and the first set of current sources belong to the DAC driver circuit of a plurality of DAC driver circuits, and
• the second set of output switches, the second set of dump switches and the second set of current sources belong to another DAC driver circuit of a plurality of DAC driver circuits.

A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) system, the system comprising:

• a clock generator configured to generate a clock signal;
• a digital signal processor configured to generate a first digital signal at a first bit rate;
• a multiplexer circuit configured to receive the first digital signal and to generate a second digital signal at a second bit rate;
• and
• a DAC driver block configured to generate an analog output signal based on the second digital signal and the clock signal,
• wherein:
• the DAC driver block includes a plurality of DAC driver circuits coupled to a load network,
• a DAC driver circuit of the plurality of DAC driver circuits comprises a first and a second interleaving circuits,
• each of the first and the second interleaving circuits includes a set of data switches coupled to a set of dump switches and a set of output switches,
• the set of dump switches are operable to couple data switches of the first or the second interleaving circuit to a dump network, and
• the set of output switches are operable to couple data switches of the first or the second interleaving circuit to the load network.