Integrated AD and DA Converters
Integrerade AD/DA omvandlare

ETIN55F, 7.5 credits

Valid from: Autumn 2013
Decided by: FN1/Anders Gustafsson
Date of establishment: 2014-01-13

General Information

Division: Electrical and Information Technology
Course type: Course given jointly for second and third cycle
The course is also given at second-cycle level with course code: ETIN55
Teaching language: English

Aim

This course gives the PhD student a basic knowledge about two kinds of fundamental mixed-signal circuits, i.e. A/D and D/A converters, which are becoming increasingly important in modern electronic systems. While the largest part of signal processing is undoubtedly performed in the digital domain, very often the input and/or the output of the system is analog: as examples, we can mention the power amplifiers in digital audio, screens and monitors in digital video, and the antenna in radio communications, all applications that typically require high performance A/D and D/A converters. In fact, very diverse fields such as radio communications, wireline communications, hearing aids, and, in general, all kinds of embedded systems, are experiencing a very strong push to move the converters closer and closer to the user interface, in an effort to enter the robust and design-friendly digital domain as soon as possible. As a consequence, the performance of the A/D and D/A converters is a key parameter in the overall quality of many commercial ICs in terms of conversion speed, signal range, power consumption, and area.

Goals

Knowledge and Understanding

For a passing grade the doctoral student must

• be able to describe the theoretical basis of A/D and D/A converters, and particularly sampling and quantization;
• be able to describe the most important specifications for A/D and D/A converters,
• be able to describe different architectures and their advantages and disadvantages;
• be able to describe key components and circuits, and how they are implemented;
• be able to describe the main factors limiting a converter performance, and discuss alternative solutions to improve it.

Competences and Skills

For a passing grade the doctoral student must be able to design an A/D or D/A converter for a practical application, simulating it thoroughly at the component level with advanced CAD tools.

Judgement and Approach

For a passing grade the doctoral student must

• be able to orally communicate the results obtained from the laboratory experiments;
• be able to contribute sufficient fundamental information, so that a competent person in this area can document ideas, problems, and solutions.
• be able to sift through an extensive amount of material, as e.g. presented in books and manuals, and extract the most important data.

Course Contents

Theoretical background of A/D and D/A conversion; specifications for A/D and D/A converters; most common architectures for A/D and D/A converters; Nyquist-rate and oversampled A/D and D/A converters; circuits for A/D and D/A converters; state-of-the-art of A/D and D/A converters from current applications.

Course Literature

F, M.: Data Converters. ISBN 9780387324852.

Instruction Details

Types of instruction: Lectures, seminars, laboratory exercises, exercises

Examination Details

Examination format: Written report. Attending at least 10 lectures, approved labs and approved written lab reports are required to pass the course.
Grading scale: Failed, pass
Examiner:

Admission Details

Further Information

Course Coordinator: Pietro Andreani, pietro.andreani@eit.lth.se

Course Occasion Information

Contact and Other Information

Course coordinators: