Quantization Noise Shaping for Information Maximizing ADCs

Abstract: ADCs sit at the interface of the analog and digital worlds and fundamentally determine what information is available in the digital domain for processing. This paper shows that a configurable ADC can be designed for signals with non constant information as a function of frequency such that within a fixed power budget the ADC maximizes the information in the converted signal by frequency shaping the quantization noise. Quantization noise shaping can be realized via loop filter design for a single channel delta sigma ADC and extended to common time and frequency interleaved multi channel structures. Results are presented for example wireline and wireless style channels.