Microprocessor-assisted calibration for analog-to-digital converter

A method for assisting a time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter, the method comprising:

• executing, by a microprocessor on-chip with the time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter, instructions stored on-chip to calculate coefficients for calibrating the time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter;
• processing, by dedicated circuitry, signals in the time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter;
• recording, by the dedicated circuitry, measurements of the signals in a memory accessible to the on-chip microprocessor;
• and
• writing, by the on-chip microprocessor, the coefficients to calibration circuitry for adjusting one or more signals in the time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter and correcting one or more errors in the time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter, wherein the coefficients are determined by the on-chip microprocessor based on the measurements and the instructions.

A system on-chip with a time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter for assisting the time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter, the system comprising:

• first circuitry for generating measurements by processing a plurality of samples of signals in the two or more analog-to-digital converters and recording the measurements in an on-chip memory accessible by a microprocessor on-chip with the time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter;
• a microprocessor for executing instructions to carry out arithmetic logic for processing the measurements and calculating correction terms for calibrating the time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter;
• memory for storing instructions and data associated with the arithmetic logic;
• and
• an interrupt arbiter including second circuitry for generating an interrupt signal to the microprocessor in response to receiving one or more signals from the first circuitry indicating measurements are ready.

A time-interleaved data converter comprising:

• two or more data converters operating in a time-interleaved fashion;
• circuitry for processing signals of the two or more data converter and recording measurements based on the signals in a memory accessible by the microprocessor;
• and
• a microprocessor on-chip with the two or more data converters for executing instructions stored on-chip configured to execute computations to calculate one or more coefficients based on the measurements;
• wherein the microprocessor is further configured to write the one or more coefficients usable to correct a signal in the time-interleaved data converter.