Pipelined analog-to-digital conversion
AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated
InventorsSeyed Arash Mirhaj, Lei Sun, Yuhua Guo, Elias Dagher, Aram Akhavan, Yan Wang, Dinesh Jagannath Alladi
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Abstract
An apparatus is disclosed for pipelined analog-to-digital conversion. In an example aspect, the apparatus includes a pipelined analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The pipelined ADC includes a first stage and a second stage. The first stage includes a sampler and a quantizer coupled to the sampler. The first stage also includes a current distribution circuit coupled to the sampler. The second stage includes a sampler coupled to the current distribution circuit and a quantizer coupled to the sampler of the second stage.
Claims30
An apparatus comprising:
- a pipelined analog-to-digital converter comprising:
- a first stage comprising:
- a sampler;
- a quantizer comprising a time-to-digital converter (TDC), the quantizer coupled to the sampler;
- a current distribution circuit coupled to the sampler;
- and
- a comparator coupled between the sampler and the quantizer and between the sampler and the current distribution circuit;
- and
- a second stage comprising:
- a sampler coupled to the current distribution circuit;
- and
- a quantizer coupled to the sampler of the second stage.
An apparatus for pipelined analog-to-digital conversion, the apparatus comprising:
- a first stage comprising:
- a sampler configured to obtain a sample of an analog signal;
- and
- a quantizer coupled to the sampler;
- a second stage comprising:
- a sampler;
- and
- a quantizer coupled to the sampler of the second stage;
- and
- means for distributing at least one current to the sampler of the first stage and the sampler of the second stage based on the sample to discharge the sampler of the first stage and charge the sampler of the second stage.
A method for operating a pipelined analog-to-digital converter, the method comprising:
- sampling an analog signal to obtain an analog voltage on at least one capacitor of a first stage of the pipelined analog-to-digital converter;
- comparing the analog voltage to another voltage to produce a comparison signal;
- quantizing the analog voltage to produce a digital value for the first stage based on the comparison signal;
- and
- transferring an indication of the analog voltage to a second stage of the pipelined analog-to-digital converter based on the comparison signal at least partially during the quantizing of the analog voltage.
An apparatus comprising:
- a pipelined analog-to-digital converter comprising:
- a first stage comprising:
- a sampler configured to obtain a sample of an analog signal;
- a time-to-digital converter;
- and
- a comparator comprising an input and an output, the input coupled to the sampler and the output coupled to the time-to-digital converter and the sampler;
- and
- a second stage comprising:
- a sampler coupled to the output of the comparator and to the time-to-digital converter.
An apparatus comprising:
- a pipelined analog-to-digital converter comprising:
- a first stage comprising:
- a sampler;
- a quantizer coupled to the sampler;
- and
- a current distribution circuit coupled to the sampler;
- a comparator coupled between the sampler of the first stage and the current distribution circuit, the comparator configured to control application of at least one current by the current distribution circuit and a second stage comprising:
- a sampler coupled to the current distribution circuit;
- and
- a quantizer coupled to the sampler of the second stage;
- and
- a wireless interface device comprising the pipelined analog-to-digital converter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.