The Delta-Sigma Modulator [A Circuit for All Seasons]

Delta-Sigma modulators (DSMs) are a class of oversampling analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) that perform "quantization noise shaping," thus achieving a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). An efficient solution for resolutions above approximately 12 b, DSMs are extensively used in analog and RF applications. In this article, we study the fundamentals of this vast field.