Multi-Step Incremental Analog-to-Digital Converters for Ultra-Low-Power Applications

Integrated sensor interface circuits require power-efficient high-accuracy data converters. Incremental A/D converters (IADCs) are often the best choice for these, since they can provide excellent energy efficiency, and are easily multiplexed, need only simple digital filtering, and allow low latency. By performing the conversion in multiple steps, the hardware can also be multiplexed among all steps. This lecture will give an overview of IADCs, with its focus on multi-step converters. Such converters may realize 16-bit operation with a single opamp and comparator.