Analog-to-Digital Converters and Their Applications in Radio Receivers Rapid advances in hardware development of analog-to-digital converters (ADCS) have paved the way for development of radio receivers using digitization at the IF, and in some cases, at the RF. The constraints placed on these receivers due to hardware limitations of these devices are discussed and some examples of high-speed, state-of-the-art ADCs are given. Jeffery A. Wepman ‘et or so IEEE Commanicains Mapaine «May 195 ‘advances in technology provide increasing faserandlessexpe digital haware, more of the ‘itional analog funtion of a radio receiver will be replaced wih soft ware or digital hardware. The ult mate goalinradiorocsherdesgnistoctetly igtize the RF signal atthe output of the ceive ante ‘sand hence implement ll ceiver Tunctins in tithe digit hardwareorsotware,Trendsinreei fr design have evolved toward this soa by incor porating digitieation closer and closer to the Feceive antenna fr stem at increasingly higher Frequenciesandwidertandwaths Applistions for these receivers are expected to increase rapa in areas such as mobile cellular, stelite. and per Sonal communications services (PCS) systems ‘The analos-lo-dgital converter (ADC) isa eycomponentinthese radiareceners ADCsmost bllen used for wideband digitization atthe RF or Ware organized as shown in Fig. 1 Key parame- ersof ADCs are effected by specific ADC ctcult cements. For example, accurasy and linearity are primarily determined by the sample-and-hold et uty, while jitter inte sampling clock ean intro- {duce noise inthe desired output ofthe ADC, The {quantizer establishes the exoutiono the ADC. For {given burst rate, the butlers limit the sustain able throughput, Thivarile discussessomeothe key parameters for ADCS used in Fado reoeiverapplicttions, The requirement, practical limitations, and patent pecblems for ADCS are als diseussed, Cansersion ‘rma eed mi ace pride sme ‘ample of arent, case docs sich “enfcanion pl recreation onde bs the National Telecommuncaons ond Informa ‘aamtsraton nor dre pb th he ate or ‘pment denied neces he et ova fr ‘euro Partherore cumple of chet Fed salaried o Bal ch hey Iepresent ona sempling of hat alae smethodsof practical ADCssuch slash, successive “approximation, ima-delta, bandpass igmardelts, ndsubranging are nar presentedhere Adseusson ‘ofthese techniques ean be found in {i} Sampling Methods and Analog Filtering Tis apie acca of rita importance in radio reetvers using digitization athe RE ‘or IF, The content of the resting sampled sen ‘naveiorm fs highly depenent on the restionship between the sampling rate employed and the minimum and maximum feequency components fof the analog input signal. Some common sam- pling techniques thatuilize « uniform spacing femcenthesamplesinlide Nyquist sampling ver sampling, quadrature sampling, and bandpass “impling(alwocalleddownsamplingor dict down. conversion) Sampling echniqueswith nonuniform Spacing between the samples do exist, but they steootwidelyusedunthereforearenotconsiered inthis are ‘Any Lime a continuous-time analog signal is uniformly sampled, the spectrum of the orginal ‘gna ()srepestedatintoger mulplesofthesan- pling frequency (ie, FU) Becomes periodic). This {san inherent effec of sampling und cannot be avoided. This phenomenon is shown graphically in Fig. 2. Figure 22 shows the specitum ofthe iginalanalog signal FY). Figure 2bshowsthe spec trum ofthe sampled signal ,() using sampling fate otf ree Nyquist Sampling The general sampling theorem for sampling a banelimited analog signal (a signal having notre ‘quency components above a certain frequency Fr) fequires that the sampling rate he atleast te times the highest frequency component of the analog signal py. This ensures ha the ori inal signal can be reconstructed exactly from the ‘mples,A sampling rate of two times the highest frequeney component of the analog signal is ren. 4s0e990400 195 © ECE 39called the Nyquist sampling rate. Figute 2b shows sncramol of sampling fenliicd ena with maximum Feoquency of fngy a the Nyquist rate (r= Ba) Note thatthe copie of the spectrom ‘of the analog signal Pf) that are present in the Spectrum ofthe sampled signal FQ) do not over 1p. As the sampling rate i increased beyond the Nyguist rate, the copies of the spectrum ofthe analog signal FU) that are present inthe spec: Teun ofthe sampled signal Ff) ae spread even Fecther apart. Thi shown i Fig. 26 Sampling & handlimited signal at rates equal to or greater than the Nyquist rate guarantees tha spectrum ‘overlap (ote called aliasing) doesnot occur and thatthe original analog signal ean be reconstruct. ed exactly [2 3) Out-of-Band Energy “Two practical problems arise when sampling at the Nyguis eae: defining what a Bandlimited sis- fal truly int practical sense and analog flter- Ing before the ADC stage. A theoetiealy defined oh | ser poses as el emia | Saree | ovanuzer—| outers || ies 1 {© Figure 1. Elements of ADCs ust for ident dgitcation a te RE oe TE WFigure 2 Specinam of a) a baled cominoustime analog sgl ) a ou ‘Me igual sampled at f= yar} the signal sampled af, > bandlmitedsignalisasigna withnofrequencycom- ponents above certain frequency. When consid- tring real signals such as an RF signal atthe Input of a radio receiver, hewever, signals ofa frequencies ae always present. It's matter of the ampitade of hese requencis that important. particular therelative ampiitodof the undesied nals tothe desired signal ivimportant. When Gigtizing an RF oF IF signal atthe Nyquist rate Ina radio receiver, undesired signals (above One- half the sampling rete) of sufficiem amplitude ‘can create spectrum averlap and distort the ‘esited signal This phenomenon silustrated in Fig. 3. Figure 3 shows the spectrum ofthe ane Jog inpot signal with its desired and.undesired component I this sigh is sampled at two times the highest requency in the deived signal the resulting spectrum ofthe sampled signal Fi) is ‘howtnin Fig 3b. Note that specteum oveslap has ‘curred her (ie. the spectrum ofthe undesired ‘Signal occurs within the spectrum af the desired Signal. This causes distortion in the reconsteuct- ti desired signal. ‘Thiseffect raises an important question: What isthe relative amplitude of the signals occurring bone one-half ofthe sampling rate at which dis {ortion ofthe desired signal due to spectrum ‘overlap hogins to predominate the distortion due {ADC nonlinearities? Nonlinearties inthe [ADC cause spurious responses inthe ADC out put spectrum, Distortion ue to spectrum overlap fan be said to predominate distortion due ‘ADC nonlineattes when the undesired signals appearing inthe Nyquist band (DC to one-half the sampling rate) de o spectrum overlap ‘exceed the largest spurious response of the ADE ‘Sue to nonlinearities, Therelore, undesired si nals appearing i the Nyquist band de to spec trum overlap must be lower in poser then the Targest spurious response ofthe ADC. In other ‘words, distortion ofthe desired signals predom: hated by ADC nonlinearities (and pot spectrum fverlap) if signals higher in frequency than 2 fre lower in power than the largest spurious response ofthe ADC. Thiscambe quite asiingeat requirement, Depending upon the specifi ype fof radia sytem, ii possible that this require ment canbe reed, “Todetermine way to“relan” this requirement, the following questions should be asked: How much distortion ofthe desire signals olerable? Does the hundwidth and frequency content of both the desired inal inthe Nygse band and the wd ‘iced signals above the Nyquist band effect the tlislortion of the dested signal? These questions fre hes answered by considering the details of the Specific radho communication spstm, such a the type of sour information (oie dat video, et), ‘sired signal bandwidth, modulation and coding techniques, undesired signol characteristics (hande Width, power and typeof signal, an finaly, the Performance criterion used to evaluate the qual {yf the reception of the desired signal Realizable Anti-Aliasing Filters Analog fitering before the ADC tage & intimate Felated tothe definition of banding. Where thedefinitionofbandlimiting dealswiththe content ‘ofthe signal that maybe present analog filtering bolorethe ADCreprevenisasignal processingstage 0 BEE Communications Magazine # May 1098here certain equenses can be atenuated, 1s important vo know Doth the signals that ean be present before filtering andthe amount of ater Hationthatth iter oferstordliferent frequensin With knowledge of bath ofthese, the true spe tram of the signal to be digitized can be dete tine Samiplingat he Nogut at presensalara And often impractical demand on the filter used before digitization (anti-aliasing filter). Ideally, an antialiasing filter placed betare an ADC ‘Would pass all of the devired frequencies up to Some ctl frequency and prove infinite ater ation for eequeaetes above the esol requency ‘Then sampling a the Nygust rate woud be two times the cao requeney and no spot over lap would occur. Unfortunately. practically real se ters cannot provide tis ype of “bickwall™ Fesponse. The attenuation of Fal iter increases ‘more gradually fromtticcutftiequeney tothe sop band. Thetetore fora given eutft frequency on a real filter. sampling at we times this eto fre- ‘quency wil produce some xpsctrum overlap, The ‘eeper the transition from the passband tothe op band ind the more attendation inthe stp band, the less the smpled signal wil be distorted by spectrum overlap. In genera, more complicat titers are require to achieve steeper tans. {onsand higher attengation in the stop band ‘Therefore, more complicated iter are eqeired to reduce the dstrtan tthe samped sigma doe te spectruim overlap fora given sampling rate Limtations onthe practical mplementationo ans log filters make high-order steep rollot Filter. dfculttoncalze. Alo asthe steepest rll isinereasec. the phase response tends to become ‘more nonlise. Thiscanereate distortion of the esired recive signa since diferent Frequencies Within a signal ear be delayed in time by diferent mounts (i, phase shifted by amounts not pro portional frequency), Oversampling Eases Requirements on the Anti-aliasing Filter Sampling steitesgrester than the Nyquist sampling tate isclled oversampling. One of the bones of ‘versumpling i thatthe copies ofthe spectrum of the analog signal F) that ae present in he spe trumof the sampled signal) become neretsingy Separated the sampling rates increased beyond the Nyquist rate, Foran analog signal with ihventrequcncycontentandgivenantralasng {erith a eatoft frequency of sampling atthe Nyquist rae (Iwo times the cutoff frequency) produces a certain amoont of distortion due to Shctum oer, Wher sampling sts higher rate, sSSimplet steals iter witha more gradual {eanston fom psstand 10 stop and a es slop brand attentaton eanbe used without any ncresne Inthe dtoron dc to pecan overlap. Therefore, ‘oversampling can minimize the requirements of the antratesing iter. The tadeot, of couse is ‘that increasingly faster ADCS are required to di Hae relative’ hw troguency signal Quadrature Sampling Reduces Required Sampling Rate In quadratre sampling the signal to be tized split into ty signals. One of these signals mult pike by asian dnenoonver itt 8 zeracentr Frequency sa form the nspase compement of the TEE Communications Maize * May 1995 a en ® L {Sigure 3, Spcram fo) «continuous tine anal ial wih odd and ines component an) the seta sone a ‘riginalsignal The other signaismultipliedbya90- dlgree phase-shifted sinusoid to downeonvert it toa zero center tequeney and form the quadrature. phase component ofthe origina signal Each of These components veeupis only one-half ofthe hunt of the onginal signa and can be sim pled at one-half the sampling rate required lo {he original signal. Therefore, quadrature sam ling reduces the requied sampling rate hy a fac forariwo atthe expense fusing two phase-locked [ADCS instead of one, Bandpass Sampling for Direct, Downconversion Sampling at rates mer than, cn i allow foran cat ecamtrucon of i ormation on tent ofthe analog signa ifthe signal band pats signal An deal bandpass goal hat no Frequency somponents low a cea requency Jiand above a feta equens) fy Foraband {is signal he mins sequenenis onthe ‘plligrate to allow for exse ecansruction ae thal he samplingrate be at east ew ces ‘he bond pf te oa To ema hat fpecirm ovelip does ot cost when sampling FBicsare bower tro umes he Bundi ofthe tndpassgnl und wotimes he highest reqcncy inthe bandpassiga, the sampling equeney as at Dh cy ¢ 2h eR were Kis ested ong values tha iy ha (i) and i, 5 (3) ‘Bandpass sampling canbe used to downcon, ‘ert sghal from a bandpass signal at an RF or IF toabandpass signal ata omer F Since the bandpass Sianals repeated at integer mulipies of the sam pling frequency selecting the appropriate spec repli he orignal bandpass sian poses 1 dwsconversion anetion Deke aBandpass sampling holds promise for radio receivers that digitize directly at the RF or IE, since the desired input signals to radio receivers are normally bandpass Bandpass sampling holds promise for radio receivers that digitize deal at the RF or TF snce the deste input sghas to aio reewers are noe mally bandpass signals, Theoretialy, bandpass “irpliag slows sampling ates o be mich lower tam those required by sampling at two oF more timesthe highest frequency contencothe bandpass Spal, This means that ADCs with slower suming rates (andtherefore patently higher performance, lever powereonsumptin,orlower cost) maybe used, ‘An important practical imitation. bowever that the ADC must sil be abe to effeetnely operate sm the highest frequency component in the signal ‘Thispectcatonisusualy givens the analog nput hand forthe ADC. Conventional ADCs 3 ‘designed to operate om signals having maximum frequencesofene althesamplingrat- Performance ‘ofthe ADC typically degrades withincessinginput frequency. Whenusing ADCSforbandpasssamping applications. thespeafiationsoftheconvertr must beetumined to determine the bohavior at higher ffequency inputs. In adliton, when bandpass at pling, stringent requirements on analog bandpass Filters (steep rllotf) ate needed to prevent dis tortion ofthe desitd signal from strong adjacent ‘channel signals Effects of Quantization Noise, Distortion, and Receiver Noise TT isscon asses th ronan etong {quantization noise, harmonic distortion, and ‘receiver agise. The ADCs best suited to RF and TF processing that have widespread avail the volt level f samt Other methods of quantization inclide logarithm (A-aw and yl), adaptive, tnd differential quantization, These methods are currently used in source coding. A discussion of ‘hese quantization techniques may be found i [1 Tn uniform quantization, the analog signal cannot be represented exacty with only 2 finite number of dicrete amplitude levels. Therefor Some ctror is introduced into the quantized si hal The eeor signals the diflerenee hetween the analog signal andthe quantized signal, Statistical Is, the errr signals ansumed tobe uniformly dis ‘oibuted within a quantization level Using this assumption, the mean squared quantization noise ower Py oe ae whote isthe quantationstepsive nd Ristheinput resitaneeotthe ADC [3] Inideal ADC thisrep ‘exentation of the quantization noise poser is ‘ocnrate to within a JB for input signals that a not correlated with the simpling cock, Upon the other hand the analog input into an ADCs perdi the eror signal also period ‘his peti error signal includes harmonics of the analog inp sgl and resus in harmonic i= tortion, Furthermore, harms that all ove is frequency appear in the Nyquist bapd nf commonly wie reduce this harmonic distortion. In ane imple mentation ofthis technique, thermal noise is Added atthe ADC input to provide a relatively Pes at noise power spectrum over the Nyquist band ‘width the thermal noise plus the quantization hoise combine sa thatthe quantization error is tunifoem, A simple way to implement this tech nique is to provide amplifier gain ta hoost the Feceiver note to, or several dB above, the level of the quantization noise. The implications ofthis reexamined next ‘Commercially salable ADCs typically have a full sale range (FSR) of 11020 V. The FSR of the ADC isthe difference between the maximiam tnd the minimum analog input voltages to the ‘ADC. Dividing the FSR by the numberof quani- ation levels 2, where Bis the eure of bits oF jes the quantization step size q. ation stp sie is 9.77 mV. To compute the qua tiation noise power, the elective input resistance bfthe ADC must be known, (Components in rach receivers typically have a 50-ohm input and output impedance. The input impedance of ADCs is usually higher than this andenotwellspectie’, Therefore wbentnterfacing an RF component with an ADC, ase necessary for digitization atthe RF or IF, this impedance ‘mismatch must be considered, A simple method bf impedance matehing isto place a 50-ohm ‘esistive load at the input ofthe ADC. This forces the effective input resistance of the ADC ta be close 1080 ohms. The quantization noise power fan then be computed. Assuming» Sl-ohm effec five input resistance tothe ADC in this exam. ple, the quantization naise power equals 38 ‘Bn, Fora noise limitedrecener thereceernoise potter Pa cane computed a the thermal noise pomer inthe given receiver bandwitls (BW) pls {he receler noise figure (NF). This given ae Poy = 17d + 10logyoB WHE) + NF CB), Forarecciverwitha lO-MHzBWandaG-aBNF, the receiver noise power is 98 dBm, Therefore to boost the veeeier noise tothe quantization noise power lve requires a gin of 6/48, Foran [ADC of higher resolution. less guin would be needed, singe the quantization noise power would Ihe smaifer. Also, wider receiver bandwidths and higher receiver noise figures would require less fain since the receiver noice power would be Tanger, Nevertheless, for most practical receiver sind ADC combinations, automatic gain contra is necessary to assure that the least significant bit (LSB) represents a uniform noise input while the peak power docs not exceed the ADC's FSR. Important Specifications 2 this section, theoretic to-noise ratio (SNR) due to quantization noise and aperture fir i discussed. Practical specifications frre |ADCsate then presented Theoretical Signal-to-Noise Ratio Specifications Forradireceiver applications whotetheamplitude ofthe desied signal falls within the ADC's FSR, Sind the bandvidth of the desited signal is equal tothe Nyquist bandwidth, the SNR of an ADC is ‘useful specification. The theoretical SNR of ‘ADCsis generally thought of as 68 (3B), where B TEE: Communications Mapaine* May 1998{isthe number of bits of resolution ofthe ADC. A more precise expression providing the maxim possible theoretial SNR ean be derived bared oo ome assumptions about the noise and the input Signal. First it assumed thatthe noise present |sdue to quantization error only. The amplitude ofthis quantaation nase Issued to be undo variable uniformly distibutedoverone quantization step. Assumiggasinusoidelinputwithanampitude equaltothePSRofthe ADC, the masimum possible ‘Meortical SNR is given as Sw 80284176414 5f-] (as) where fs the sampling frequency and fg the maximum frequeney ofthe input analeg signal {5,6} The commonly stated theoretical SNR of ‘68 (4B) isan approximation 1 this equation When fy = 2fna nd the 1.75 dB is neglected From this equation, note that asthe sampling Ire: ‘quencyisincretsedbeyoodthe Njgustt6 Ofna the SNR increases. Tis occurs hecause the qua. tzationnoise power which sixedandindependent ofbandwdth, Sspreadoatoveraninreasnghywidet ‘band asthe sampling frequency is increased. This lessens the amount af the quantiation noise that falls within the Nyquist band (DC 10 fn) Conse ‘quently, this means that oversampling inereases the maximum possible SNR. Such oversampling issometimes used 1 realize « greater maximimn 'SNRE than a ts appears possible. An sb ADC, ‘with a sampling rate of 20 Marples. for exam le, can provide 68 8 rather than 48 dB of mexi- mum SNR for 100 ki signals inthe passband if Appropriate digital fitering is used to recover ‘the 100 kHz signal Besides hein limite by the quantization step size (resolution), the SNR of the ADC i ls i ited by aperture iter. Aperture ters the vari tion nim ofthe exact siping stant. Aperture jitter can because externally ty jitter in the aa Pling clock, or internally since the sampling Switch does not open at preese times. Aperture iter causes a phase modulation of the sampled Signal and thus results in an additional noise ‘componntinthesampledsignal(7 The maximum “analog input frequency of the ADC i limited by this apentue iter since the SNR due to aper™ ture jter (SNR) degrades asthe input frequen. cy ncreases. The SNRRy is given ss where fs the aperture jitter ofthe ADC [8]. For Sampling atthe Nyquist rate, where f= yyy ‘odhthe SNR duetoquantzationnolse andthe SNR ‘due to apererejter ean be combined to ge the INR [5}- Distortion ofthe ADC output paso be introdueed beeause cach sam leis taken over a finite time period in ral sam ple and hold ciculs. This distortion occurs asthe Input signal varies over this ime perio, Practical Specifications for Real ADCs ‘The SNR in a teal ADC can be determined by measurig the residual erzor, Residual errors the combination of quantization noise random noise, and nonlinear distortion (i.e all ofthe MS sonal power Coan "°| quattonnontew | TaSpome ore Saar Spurovs tre | Ossred agra BW es | __MSsnol Power ymamerange | thon Nyqust BMS power oe aT (SFOR) i . Nise power rae |Desed signal spectrom ‘em contains many Foltpowe anaiog | Bondpess saring ‘onutew | Power special density rors ousoe eavency band | er spect dey nove side Wequeney bond ‘of nteh fier ange fom Frequency where cutput ampitade ft 368 Tes than mama? 2 Fora ullcale input ogra able 1. Summary of ADC pelicatons for radio receiver applications ‘undesired components of the output signal from the ADC). The residual error for an ADC is found by using a sinusoidal input into the ADC. ‘Anestimateof the int signals subtacted trom the output ofthe ADC and the remaining signal {stheresidualeror. The mean squared powerorthe fesidual errors then computed: The SNR then found by dividing the mean squared (MS) power ‘ofthe input signal by the mean squared power of the residual eto ‘Aspecitiation sometimes used for real ADCS instead ofthe SNR is the effective number of bits. This specification is defined asthe number of Disrequved manideal ADC sothatthemen squared ois pomerintheidea! ADCequas heme squared Dower ofthe residual emer the real ADC. ‘One dfinisonofthespuriousfreedyamicrange (SEDR) assumes sinosoldal pat to the ADC. Tn this ease, the SFDR isthe rai ofthe sinusoidal signal power to the peak power of the largest sp ‘ious signal in the ADC output spectrum. SPDR. Allows one to assess how well an ADC can sim: taneously detect avery small signal inthe pres. fence of aver Tare signal Hence, tisanimporant Specification for ADCS used in radio receiver applications, A common misconception is that the SEDR of the ADC is equivalent to the SNR fof the ADC. Infact, there i typically «large di Terence between the SEDR and the SNR of an ADC, The SNR isthe ratio between the signal power andthe poneroftheresdualeroe. TheSFDR, however, isthe ratio between the signal power and the peak power of only the largest spurious product Since the power of the residual tzor Includes quantization nose, random noise, and ‘nonlinear distortion within the entire Nyquist bn, the power ofthe residual ero ean be mich higher thanthe peak power ofthe largest spurious product Hence, the SPDR cin be much larger than the SNR "TheSEDR spcilicatonisuseul for applications when the desired signal bandwidth i smaller than the Nyquist bandwidth In tis case a wide band of frequencies s digitized and results in 1 the of and more accu) elle {he Signal Nese Pla Distortion Rao when (rin inclded with IEEE Communications Magazine * May 1955, 2Project ener MTable2. Exomples of caren highspeed ADC technol. ‘Sonal rocesing Technology piven SNR. The desired signal is then obtained by using a narrowband digital bandpass iter on this entire band of frequencies. The SNR Is Improved by this digital tering proces singe the [poner of the residual errr is decreased by file. {ng The SFDR speciation for the ADC becomes ‘ery important since a spurious component may Sil fallwithin the bandwith of the dial filter, find henee the SFDR, unite the SNR, does not secetsaily improve by the digital filtering pro cess. However several tecbnigues are avaiable {oimprove the SFDR. Dithering (discussed pre Viously) improves the SFDR of ADCS, Add ‘onal, post digitization processing techniques such as phase-plane compensation [9 state van Able compensation [10] snd projection filtering [ii] navetooon used to improve SFDR. Foran deat ADC, the masmium SEDR occurs ata full scale inptloel. fn practical ADCS, the ‘maximum SFDR occurs at tpput levels at feast, ‘Soveral dl below the fulleale input level This ‘ccurs because asthe input eves approach ful ‘Scale the response of the ADC becomes more ronlinetr and more distortion is exibted. Ad tml, de to random luctuations in the ampli. {ude of real inart signals, as the input signal evel lapproaches the FSR of the ADC, the probabil tthe signal amplitude exceeding the FSR Increases, This exes ditional distortion £08) tlipping. Therefore, iti extremely important (0 ‘void iu signal levels that closely approach the full-scale level in ADCS. Prediction of the SER. for practical ADCS is difiealt, therefore mea surements are usually required to characterize the SEDR of the ADC. In the preceding discussion on SEDR. a snu soidal ADC input signal was assumed. However, intermodulation distortion (IMD) due to mul tone inputs is important in ADCs used for wide ‘band radio receiver applications. To characterize this IMD due to multitone inputs, another d nition ofthe SFDR could be used. Tn this ease the SEDR isthe ratio of the combined signal power ofall of the multetone ins tothe peak power of the largest spurious signal inthe ADC ‘utpa spectrum. A current example of et eau tment lo generate multtone inputs produces up to 48 tone, ‘The noise power ratio (NPR) speciation is useful in applications such as mobile cellular Fadi, where the spectrum ofa signal tobe dig {ized consists of many narrowband channels and ‘here sujacent channel interference can degrade {stem performance. Particularly the NPB pro: ‘des information on how well an ADC ca lit ‘crosstalk hetwoen channel “The NPR is measured by wsing «noise input signal into the ADC. This noise signal has ala Spectrum that fe bandlinited toa frequency that Bless than one-half the sampling frequency ‘Additionally, a narrow band of frequencies is removed from the noise signal using @ notch fi fer, This noise spectrum is sed asthe input sig: nal tthe ADC. The frequeney spectrum ofthe ‘ip ofthe ADC i then determined. The NPR. Fethen computed by dividing the power spectral Sensi ofthe nose outside the feguency Band af the noteh ilterby the power spectral density of the noise inside the Frequency band ofthe not Fite a} ‘When using an ADC ins bandpass sampling application where the maximum input frequoaey imtothe ADC is actualy higher than one-half tae ‘sampling Frequency. the full power analog input ‘andvcth san importantspeafiation. Acommon definition of fullpower analog input bandwidth {although not universal) isthe range from DC 10 the frequency where the amplitude ofthe output ff the ADC fals fo dll Below the maximum ‘output level, This assomes a full sale input ip alto the ADC. Typically, the ADC is operated {inpa requencies bel this bandwith. Aside Fromful- power naloginpatandwidhiisinpor tant to eximine the behavior ofthe othe speci- ‘aon suchas SNR. SDR, andNPRatthe desired ‘peratingfrequencis since thse specifications may ‘ary with fequeney. Table {provides a summary oftheinportant ADCspecifcationstorradiorsei- fx applications ADC Applications Tradeoffs he performance of ADCs continues to improve att rapid rate. For radio receiver apples ions Using digtiaton atthe RF or TF, ADCe wth bath high sampling rates and high performance are ested, fortunately, there sa radeotThenween theserworequirements Asa generaltrend although fot always tue, the higher the performance of the ADC, the lower its maximum sampling ate whe Table2showssome examples ofeutrentigh- SpeedADC technology forvaious ADC resolutions. "When selecting an ADC for aspectic radio receiver application in addition to the sampling rate, one must consider cial specications hat characterize the ADC performance such asthe SNR, SFR, snd NPR" The ADC specifications most important for vatious ppliations are sted In Table 3. In certain applications such a chan- nelized PCS, the Universal Mobile Telecomau- ication Sytem (UMTS), the Future Pubic Land ‘MohileTelecommunieation System (FPLMTS). and mobile cellular systems, instead of digitizing the entire band with a singe high-speed ADC, parallel ADCs used 0 digitize narrower band Widths ute often practical ADC architectures. 18 Us case, ADCs with beter performance ean beased since the demands ofa high sampling cate sre relieve. Summary Tiss pression some the important factor hat must De considered whem using ADCS in radio receser applications “These lactorsinciade thechoiceofampling method. the amount an effects of out-of-band energy the analog itering required the effets ofquantzaion fois, receiver noite, and dsotion, an the rial ADC specifications for radio teceiver spplica- tions The diferences between Nyquist sampling ‘oversampling, and bandpass sampling Were dis fussed, Te vas shown that sampling at the Nyquist ‘ate peesensa large and often impoctcal demand ‘onthe antialiasing iter. Oversampling eases the requirements on the anti-aliasing iter A very ‘cep rlloff bandpass filter is required for band past sampling when there are strong signals pre Sent in adjacent channels. Quadrature sampling ‘was shown to reduce the required sampling rate hy factor of two atthe expense of using two Dhaserlocked ADCs instead of one, twas also Shown that in general some sort of gain contro {ereque for proper digatization of signals a the RF of IFin a receiver. ADC specifications of pa ticular importance to radio receiver applications Sich as SNR, SFDR, full power bandidth, and NPR were examined und tome examples of high speed state-olthe art ADCs were given. As ADC performance continues to improve diptization at the RF and IF in radio roosters, at inereasingly higher frequencies, willbe used in an increasingly broad range of applications Acknowledgments ‘The author woud like to thank Daniel Moulin of The MITRE Corpocation or providing thetableon critical ADC specifications and performance Issues for pial applications References — ig sn wi co ret ei ann i ine Sonr fear aut rao nae i Repos ay oink asad mh mA seu et med xcrm | Son | ermoniment insongmterence Net json oral tong SFOR for accurate detection of our evel — gran on enonnent wth fn aE | iene Taser) sana ree oeaavon | sion |ronics dupe wees | oreotage St eee CE eee “iaarmabie | st | tana ston To nce baw] espe Soe | arin cs Spscrm anal | Sh [Stang SADR for hgh fey SfOR__| memurerents Digtalcamaing | _ShR_|SNR for beter amplitude rexaluton Ssllocopes, | ONY | DNL far accurate representation oF ‘wavtorm Diet noninaiy ®NO he mama amount af decatonokany | fquantzaton tgp inthe ADE or the tore! able 3. Creal ADC speicaions and performance sues or apical application, on: Massusets one ancy Biography IEEE Communication Magarine » May 1995