An 18-bit sigma –delta switched-capacitor modulator using 4-order single-loop CIFB architecture

Abstract Oversampling sigma–delta (Σ–Δ) analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are currently one of the most widely used architectures for high-resolution ADCs. The rapid development of integrated circuit manufacturing processes has allowed the realization of a high resolution in exchange for speed. Structurally, the Σ–Δ ADC is divided into two parts: a front-end analog modulator and a back-end digital filter. The performance of the front-end analog modulator has a marked influence on the entire Σ–Δ ADC system. In this paper, a 4-order single-loop switched-capacitor modulator with a CIFB (cascade-of-integrators feed-back) structure is proposed. Based on the chosen modulator architecture, the ASIC circuit is implemented using a chartered 0.35 μ m CMOS process with a chip area of 1.72 × 0.75 mm 2 . The chip operates with a 3.3-V power supply and a power dissipation of 22 mW. According to the results, the performance of the designed modulator has been improved compared with a mature industrial chip and the effective number of bits (ENOB) was almost 18-bit.