IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,388,460
Granted Patent B2
US 12,388,460 · App. 18/206,550 · Granted Aug 12, 2025

Subranging ADC buffer cascade

Inventor: Andrew Joseph Thomas (Arlington, MA)
Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
H03M1/46H03M1/0614
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,388,460
App. No.
18/206,550
Granted
Aug 12, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) system, such as a subranging ADC, including a cascade of buffer circuits and signal processing circuitry to measure and cancel the distortion introduced by the buffer circuits. Thus, buffer circuits can be added to the signal path of an input signal without the detrimental effects, such as added distortion, that typically accompany the addition of buffers.

Claims (42)

1. A analog-to-digital converter (ADC) system with disturbance reduction, the ADC system comprising:

a first buffer to receive an input signal and to generate a first buffer output signal;

a second buffer to receive the first buffer output signal and to generate a second buffer output signal;

a first ADC component to generate a first digital signal based on the first buffer output signal;

a second ADC component to generate a second digital signal based on a difference of the second buffer output signal and the first output buffer signal; and

a signal processing circuit to generate a corrected digital output signal based on the first digital signal and the second digital signal.

2. The ADC system of claim 1 , wherein the first buffer introduces a first error component and the second buffer introduces a second error component, and

wherein the signal processing circuit to execute a function to subtract the second error component from the second digital signal.

3. The ADC system of claim 1 , wherein the signal processing circuit to performing dither or residue shaping.

4. The ADC system of claim 1 , wherein the signal processing circuit to average different regions of a span of the input signal to generate a table of corrections.

5. The ADC system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) component to convert the first digital signal to a converted buffer analog signal.

6. The ADC system of claim 5 , further comprising:

a subtractor to generate the difference of the second buffer output signal and the first output buffer signal based on the second buffer output signal and the converted buffer analog signal.

7. The ADC system of claim 6 , further comprising:

an amplifier to amplify the difference of the second buffer output signal and the first output buffer signal.

8. The ADC system of claim 1 , wherein the second buffer is provided in a delay circuit.

9. The ADC system of claim 1 , wherein the ADC system is a subranging ADC.

10. A analog-to-digital converter (ADC) apparatus with disturbance reduction, the ADC apparatus comprising:

a first buffer to receive an input signal and to generate a first buffer output signal;

a first ADC component to receive the first buffer output signal and to generate a first digital signal;

a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) component to generate a converted first buffer output signal based on the first digital signal;

a second buffer to receive the converted first buffer output signal and to generate a second buffer output signal;

a second ADC component to generate a second digital signal based on a difference of the second buffer output signal and the first output buffer signal; and

a signal processing circuit to generate a corrected digital output signal based on the first digital signal and the second digital signal.

11. The ADC apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first buffer introduces a first error component and the second buffer introduces a second error component, and

wherein the signal processing circuit to execute a function to subtract the second error component from the second digital signal.

12. The ADC apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the signal processing circuit to performing dither or residue shaping.

13. The ADC apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the signal processing circuit to average different regions of a span of the input signal to generate a table of corrections.

14. The ADC apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:

a switched capacitor circuit to selectively couple the first buffer output signal and the second buffer output signal to an amplifier.

15. The ADC apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the DAC includes a resistor string.

16. The ADC apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the ADC apparatus is a subranging ADC.

17. A subranging analog-to-digital converter (ADC) system comprising:

a first buffer to receive an input signal and to generate a first buffer output signal, wherein the first buffer introduces a first error component;

a second buffer to generate a second buffer output signal, wherein the second buffer introduces a second error component;

a first ADC component to generate a coarse estimate of the input signal;

a second ADC component to generate a digital signal based on a difference of the second buffer output signal and the first output buffer signal; and

a signal processing circuit to subtract the second error component from the first error component to generate a corrected digital output signal based on the digital signal and the coarse estimate.

18. The subranging ADC system of claim 17 , wherein the signal processing circuit to execute a function to subtract the second error component from the digital signal.

19. The subranging ADC system of claim 17 , wherein the signal processing circuit to performing dither or residue shaping.

20. The subranging ADC system of claim 17 , wherein the signal processing circuit to average different regions of a span of the input signal to generate a table of corrections.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 3, 2023
From: THOMAS, ANDREW JOSEPH
To: ANALOG DEVICES, INC.
Reel/Frame 065107/0065 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation In Part 17653614 · Mar 4, 2022
Related Publication 20230353164A1 · Nov 2, 2023
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