AN OVERVIEW OF SIGMA-DELTA CONVERTERS

G. S. VISWESWARAN
PROFESSOR
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, DELHI
NEW DELHI 110 016
Email: gswaran@ee.iitd.ac.in
Telephone: (011) 2659 1077; (011) 2685 2525
1
 DOMAIN OF CONVERTERS

Sigma Delta

Successive Approx

Subranging/Pipelined

Flash

Signal bandwidth converted

2
 PCM NYQUIST RATE A/D CONVERTERS

E[n] is a sample sequence of a random process

uncorrelated with the sequence x[n].
The probability density of the error process is uniform
over the range of quantization error i.e over /2
The error is a white noise process

3
 PCM NYQUIST RATE A/D CONVERTERS

The variance of the noise power for a quantization

level  is given by

2 2
2
2  1  2V  1  2V 
Se     N
 N 
12 12  2  1  12  2 

This gives us an SNR

 Sx2   Sx2 
SNR  10 log    10 log    4.77  6.02N (dB)
 S2   V2 
 e  

4
 PCM NYQUIST RATE A/D CONVERTERS

In a Nyquist converter, the maximum signal to noise

ratio that can be obtained for a sinusoidal input with a
peak voltage of V is given by:

SNR  6.02N  1.76dB

 Every additional bit  6dB of SNR.

eg. Digital audio with signal bandwidth = 20kHz.

If desired resolution = 18 bits
 SNR  110dB.
5
 PCM NYQUIST RATE A/D CONVERTERS

What is the problem with getting 18 bits of resolution ?

1. Nyquist rate converters essentially obtain output

by comparing the input voltage to various reference
levels. These reference levels are obtained by a
process of reference division; using resistors or
capacitors. Any mismatch in the resistors/capacitors
results in loss of accuracy.
2. For an ‘N’ bit converter, the required matching of
elements is at least 1 part in 2N. Matching of
components to > 10 bits (or > 0.1 %) is difficult.
3. Nyquist rate converters require a sharp cutoff
anti-aliasing filter.
6
 OVERSAMPLED PCM CONVERTERS

Oversampled converters attempt to use relatively

imprecise analog components with additional digital
signal processing circuits to achieve high resolution.
This is done using
 Oversampling - the sampling frequency is much
higher than the signal frequency
7
OVERSAMPLED PCM CONVERTERS

8
 OVERSAMPLED PCM CONVERTERS

Noise spectrum when sampled at fS >> 2fB

 Assume quantization noise is uniformly

distributed, white and uncorrelated with the signal.
 Noise power folds back to –fS/2 to fS/2, 
oversampled converters have lower noise power within
the signal band.
 Out of band noise can be removed by a digital
filter following the PCM converter.

9
 OVERSAMPLED PCM CONVERTERS

We define Power Spectral Density of the output

random Process is given by

2 2
Pxy  Px (f) Hx (f) and Pey  Pe (f) He (f)

For an oversampled PCM converter |Hx(f)| = |He(f)| = 1.

White noise assumption states that Pe(f) = Se2(f)/fs
which implies Pey(f) = Sey2(f)/fs. Thus the in band noise
power is given by
fB fB
2 2  2fB 
Sey   Pey (f) df  2  Pey (f) df  Se  f 
 fB 0  S 
10
 OVERSAMPLED PCM CONVERTERS

We now see that the SNR ratio for this converter is

 S2   Sx2   Sx2 
 x  
SNR  10 log 2  10 log 2   10 log  2   4.77  6.02N  3.02 OSR (dB)
S   S 2f f   V 
 ey   e B S   

The spectrum of the (over) sampled signal can

represented as follows:

11
 OVERSAMPLED PCM CONVERTERS

 “16-bit resolution digital audio” Oversampled 8-

bit converter to be used. To get an SNR = 110dB with
fB = 20kHz, we need fS  2.64GHz.
This is still not good enough since the sampling
frequency is too high. Further improvement can be
obtained if noise shaping is used.

12
 NOISE SHAPED OVERSAMPLED
PCM CONVERTERS

We see that for an A/D converter the output is given in

general by Y(z) = X(z)Hx(z) + E(z)He(z)
We have seen OS PCM converter using | Hx(z)| = | He(z)| = 1.
We can however realize another converter using | Hx(z)| = 1
but choose He(z) to shape the noise spectrum to improve the
noise performance. Noise shaping or modulation further
attenuates noise in the signal band to other frequencies.
The modulator output can be low pass filtered to attenuate
the out of band noise and finally down sampled to get
Nyquist rate samples.

13
OVERSAMPLED NOISE SHAPING

14
 NOISE SHAPED OVERSAMPLED
PCM CONVERTERS

 Noise is high pass filtered to get additional

resolution
 Simplest z- domain high pass filter: 1 –z-1 We
want an output Y(z) that contains the sun of the input
and quantzation noise that is high pass filtered. i.e.
Y(z) = X(z) + (1-z-1)E(z)
or
= z-1X(z) + (1- z-1)E(z)

15
 NOISE SHAPED OVERSAMPLED
PCM CONVERTERS

1
1  z 1

Analog Digital

One possibility is to first integrate the analog input,

quantize it and then high pass filter it.

16
 FIRST ORDER  MODULATION

The naïve system proposed has its own problems. The

first problem is that since it is an open loop system,
the integrator will saturate. It also requires matching
between analog and digital portions of the circuit.
Y(z) = z-1X(z) + (1 – z-1) E(z)
Y(z) z 1
 X(z)  E(z)
1z 1
1z 1

 z 1  z 1
Y(z) 1  1 
 X(z)  E(z)
 1z  1z
1

z 1
Y(z)  (X(z)  Y(z))  E(z)
1z 1
17
FIRST ORDER  MODULATION

18
 FIRST ORDER  MODULATION

Linearized ‘z’ domain model gives

Hx(z) = STF = z-1
He(z) = NTF = 1-z-1
Assuming that the quantization noise is uncorrelated
with the signal,
Sxy(f) = Sx(f)Hx(f) 2
Sey(f) = Se(f)He(f) 2

19
 FIRST ORDER  MODULATION

If fB<< fS

1 2 2 f2
Sey (f)  4
fs 12 fs2

Thus we obtain the Noise Power as

fB
Pnoise   Sey (f)df
 fB

( 2 2 ) 1
Pnoise 
36 OSR3
20
Taking OSR to be of the form 2r we can obtain the
SNR as

 Sx2   2 
SNR  10 log   10 log   9.03r (dB)
 S2   3 
 e  

21
 FIRST ORDER  MODULATION

Noise power coming out of First Order Modulator for an OSR of 128.
22
 FIRST ORDER  MODULATION

Before we proceed to implement the transfer function

we need to look in to certain realizatios in the sampled
data domain. As the word  implies there is an
integration involved. In the continuous domain, this
requires resistance and capacitance.
As a designer we have the Capacity to Design but not
the Resistance.

23
 SWITCHED CAPACITOR CIRCUITS
DOYEN OF SAMPLED DATA DESIGNS

Sampled Signals:

 1  js t
xs (t)  x(t)  (t  kTs )  e
k   Ts k  

This gives a z transform


Xs (z)   x(kTs )z k
k  
24
 Realizing resistors for Sampled Data Circuits

i1 i2

The average value of current i1 or i2 is given by

1 T /2 1 T /2 1
i1   i
1 dt   dq1  C (V1  V2 )
T 0 T 0 T

This emulates a resistance of value R = T/C = 1/fC

25
OTHER REALIZATIONS OF R

26
SWITCHED CAP INTEGRATORS

27
 SWITCHED CAP INTEGRATORS

During 1

VC (nT  T / 2)  V1 (nT  T / 2)  V1 (nT )

s

During 2

Cs V1 (nT )   CF (Vo ((n  1)T)  Vo (nT )

Using z transforms, this reduces to

Vo (z)  (Cs / CF ) z 1 1
 H(z)  1
 H1 (z) z
V1 (z) (1  z )
28
 SWITCHED CAP INTEGRATORS

If  << 1/T, and using z = exp(jT) we get H(ejT) as

jT  Cs 1 1 1
H(e ) 
CFT j j RCF

This circuit is then an integrator with a delay using

the transformation s = (z-1)/T and is called the
Forward Euler Integrator.

29
 SWITCHED CAP INTEGRATORS

This is another integrator that gives a non inverting

integration at the output and uses the transformation
s = (1-z-1)/T and is called the Backward Euler
Integrator.
30
 SWITCHED CAP INTEGRATORS

The sampling capacitor Cs is now effectively Cs + CP,

thus making the realized resistance R = T/(Cs + CP),
different from the intended value --- needs
correction, look for parasitic insensitive
configuration.

31
SWITCHED CAP INTEGRATORS

32
 SWITCHED CAP INTEGRATORS

At 1 Cs gets charged to Vin(nT) and

During 2 Cs (Vin (nT ))  CF (Vo ((n  1)T)  Vo (nT )
Giving us
Vo (z) (Cs / CF ) z 1
 H(z) 
V1 (z) (1  z 1 )
33
 SWITCHED CAP INTEGRATORS

This configuration gives

Vo (z)  (Cs / CF )
 H(z) 
V1 (z) (1  z 1 )
34
 BACK TO SIGMA DELTA CONVERTERS

Implementation Imperfection in the first order sigma-

delta modulator

§ Finite op-amp gain

§ Capacitance mismatch
§ Incomplete settling

35
FINITE OPAMP GAIN

36
FINITE OPAMP GAIN

37
 FINITE OPAMP GAIN

Using charge conservations at the nth clock cycle, we have:

CSVI[n]- CSVd[n] = CF [Vo[n]+ Vd[n] – Vo[n-1] - Vd[n-1]]
CS CS
 Vo [n]  Vi[n]  Vo [n  1]  Vd[n]  Vd[n]  Vd[n  1]
CF CF
Using Vo[n] = Avd[n] and writing in z domain
CS 1
z
Vo (z) CF gz 1
 
Vin (z)   1  z 1
  1  
   1   
1  CS    A
1     
A  1  C   1  z 1 

  F 
 1  C
1  S

 
1  
 A CF 
  

1
1
1 A
for CS  CF , g ;  
2 2
1 1 38
A A
 FINITE OPAMP GAIN

Output of the modulator is now given by

H(z) E(z)
 Y (z)  X (z) 
1  H(z) (1  H(z))

gz 1 1   z 1
STF  and NTF 
1
1  (g  )z 1  (g  )z 1

where NTF denotes the noise transfer function and

STF denotes the signal transfer function,
NTF ‘0’ is shifted away from DC. Neglecting the
effect of the pole in the NTF,

39
 FINITE OPAMP GAIN

2 f
| NTF |2  | 1   z 1 |2z  e j ,  
fs
= 1 +2-2 cos 
2
For small  cos   1 
2
 Noise power at the output is then
f f
1 B 2 2 1 B 2 2
Pnoise   (1   ) df     df
fs  f 12 fs  f 12
B B

1 2 2 2
4 2
1
  (1  ) 
OSR 12 12 3 OSR3
40
 FINITE OPAMP GAIN

2
 1
1  CS
2  A 
(1  )  1  for 1
2 CF
 1 
 A
2
 1 
  1
 A   2
2 A
1  
 A

1 2 2
4 2
1
Pnoise  (1  )2 
OSR 12 12 3 OSR3
1 2 1 2 4 2 1
 2

OSR 12 A 12 3 OSR3
41
 EFFECT OF FINITE BANDWIDTH

CS
Vo CF

Vi  1 CS  S  CF  CS 
1   1   
   C


 A  CF  u  F 

42
 EFFECT OF FINITE BANDWIDTH

CS
Vo CF C
  Vo (t)  Vi S (1  e ut )
Vi s CF
1
u

Larger feedback factor  lower gain  faster setting

Settling determines maximum clock frequency
eg: CS = CF = 1pF   = 0.5
Assume u = 100 MHz
If we want setting to 1% error, time required 
14.6ns  clock frequency = 34MHz.

43
 TIME DOMAIN BEHAVIOUR

Y[n] = Y [n-1] + (X[n-1] – V[n-1])

if Y[n]  0
Y[n] = 1.0
else Y[n] = - 1.0
44
 TIME DOMAIN BEHAVIOUR

For example, for a DC input = , the time domain output

for the first six clock cycles is given by:
Y[n] V[n]
0 0.0
1 0.33 1

2 -0.33 -1

3 1 1

4 0.33 1

5 -0.33 -1

6 1 1

It can be seen that the average value of the output is 1/3

45
 TIME DOMAIN BEHAVIOUR (Non Linear)

§ Quantization error spectrum is not white; successive

output levels may be correlated.
§ Limit cycle oscillations that lead to tones in the output
eg. DC input X[n] = x
For a limit cycle of period T;
V[n] = V[n+T]
 Y[n] = Y[n+T]
Since the input is DC, the input to the integrator will
also be periodic.
46
 TIME DOMAIN BEHAVIOUR (Non Linear)

Now Y[n] – Y[n-1] = X – V[n-1].

Write this equation for ‘T’ time instances and add; we
get
T T
Y[T]  Y[0]   X   V[n  1]
i1 i1

1 T P N
but Y[T] = Y [0]  X   V[n  1]   V
T i1  T 

47
 PATTERN NOISE IN  MODULATOR

It should be clear that the  MODULATOR is

expected to give out the output equal to the DC input.
Only limited no. of levels are allowed to the output ,
therefore output has to toggle from one level to
another in order to keep average output equal to the
DC input.
For eg. Input=0.5 Levels allowed are 0 and 1
Then the output will toggle between 0 and 1. If
average is taken then the value of output of SDM is
0.5.
Therefore the output is oscillating with a frequency
half of that of fs. That means in frequency domain
the output will have tones at fs/2 and fs. 48
 PATTERN NOISE IN  MODULATOR

Similarly for dc level of 1/256, the output will have, one

one and 255 zeroes in 256 clocks (fs) this means the
output will oscillate at a frequency of (fs/256). Hence it
will have tones lying at multiples of this frequency. As the
dc level comes closer to zero the tonal frequency
decreases. The tones are completely harmless till they are
out of the signal bandwidth.
The thing to note over here is that these tones represent
noise as the information or signal is at 0 frequency rest of
the frequency components are noise. This effect is very
much prominent in I order modulators. Another important
fact is that the amplitudes of the tones decrease as they
come closer to the signal bandwidth. It is always better to
analyze them by using simulations. 49
 PATTERN NOISE IN  MODULATOR

The question to be asked is why are this tones dangerous

in the signal bandwidth? The answer to this question lies
in the fact that all the analysis made earlier on was
based on the white noise approximation and the problem
with the tones is that they are much above the expected
noise floor. Hence the true signal to noise ratio is much
lesser than what was expected from the analysis.

50
 PATTERN NOISE IN  MODULATOR

It’s generally said that the pattern noise is visible only

for slow moving inputs (not just DC). To understand
this more clearly assume the input signal is a sinusoid
with an input frequency of fm. If fm is a factor of fs
then every time a new period of the sine wave starts
the SDM will generate the same output as it generated
in the earlier period. This means the output will also be
changing with a frequency of fm. Hence the output will
have tones at the harmonics of the input sinusoidal
signal. If fm is very small then some of these harmonics
will lie in signal bandwidth and the SNR will be lesser
than expected.
51
 PATTERN NOISE IN  MODULATOR

Pattern Noise Reduces Effective Bits.

The frequency domain output of the SDM shows

tones and a noise floor. Consider them this noise to
be made of two components 1. Tones 2. Random
noise. Therefore in time domain these tones will give
rise to impulses (if a large number of tones exist in
the signal bandwidth). Since there is random noise,
the impulse train will have a slightly varying
magnitude but the frequency of repetition will be
equal to the fundamental frequency. When these
impulses are of the order of 2 or 3 LSBs. This
means ENOB is lesser then was expected.
52
 SECOND ORDER  MODULATOR

The 2nd order modulator has one delaying and one

non-delaying integrator. Note that the last loop with
the quantizer must have one unit of delay for
stability. The z-domain transfer function of the
second order modulator is given by:
Y(z) = z-1X(z) +(1-z-1)2 E(z)
NTF = (1-z-1)2
53
 SECOND ORDER  MODULATOR

We can calculate the in band noise power of a second

order  modulator to obtain
2 4 5
   1 
Pnoise   
12 5  OSR 
Giving us a noise figure of

 Sx2   4 
SNR  10 log   10 log   15.05r (dB)
 S2   5 
 e  

54
SECOND ORDER  MODULATOR

55
 INTEGRATOR OVERLOAD

In second order modulator with a single delaying

integrator, simulations show that the maximum
outputs of the two integrators increase as the signal
level increase. Very often, they are several times the
full scale analog input range. The following table
contains data from simulations. The output levels
indicated are the maximum levels at the output of the
two integrators.

56
 INTEGRATOR OVERLOAD

Input Ist integrator 2nd integrator

level (dB) output level level

-40 0.33 2.62

-20 0.96 2.77
-13.9 0.99 2.8
-10.45 1.09 3.03
-7.95 1.22 3.51
-6.02 1.33 3.99
-4.43 1.37 4.08
-3.09 1.49 5.38
-1.9 1.43 5.21

It is seen that the levels increase as the input value

increases. This reduces the dynamic range of the
modulation since the integrations will now saturate.
The 2nd order modulator can be modified as follows:

57
 INTEGRATOR OVERLOAD

The linearized transfer function is

Y(z) = X (z) . z-2 + (1 – z-1)2E(z)
The signal levels at the output of the integrators are
now the following

58
 INTEGRATOR OVERLOAD

Input Ist integrator 2nd integrator

level (dB) output level level

-40 0.33 2.62

-20 0.96 2.77
-13.9 0.99 2.8
-10.45 1.09 3.03
-7.95 1.22 3.51
-6.02 1.33 3.99
-4.43 1.37 4.08
-3.09 1.49 5.38
-1.9 1.43 5.21

The signal levels at the first integrator output is reduced.

However the second integrator output levels are still high.
§ The SNR in the two cases remains the same.
§ The circuit specifications are now more relaxed since there
are two units of delay in the loop. 59
 INTEGRATOR OVERLOAD

We need to reduce the output levels in the second

integrator. For this we need to alter the gain just before
the second integrator. Let us see the effect of altering
this gain.

60
 INTEGRATOR OVERLOAD

kz 1
[X(z)  Y(z)] 1
 E(z)  Y(z)
1z
kz 1  1  (1k)z 1 
 X(z)  E(z)  Y(z) 
1z 1  1z 1 
 
X(z)kz 1 E(z)(1  z 1 )
 Y(z)  1

1  (1  k)z 1  (1  k)z 1

Clock Output
cycle

2 1
3 1
4 -1
5 1
6 1
7 1
8 -1

61
 INTEGRATOR OVERLOAD

Therefore, even though the linearized transfer

function has changed, there is no change in the actual
output. This is because we have a two level quantizer,
the output of which depends only on the polarity and
not the magnitude of the input. The quantizer
effectively acts as an AGC and makes the overall gain 1.
The second integrator gain can be adjust to reduce
the integrator output levels. Typically it is made less
than one. For a gain of ½, the integrator output levels
are the following

62
 INTEGRATOR OVERLOAD

Signal Ist integrator 2nd integrator

level (dB) output level output level

-40 0.83 0.655

-20 0.96 0.69
-13.9 0.99 0.7
-10.45 1.09 0.75
-7.95 1.22 0.87
-6.02 1.33 0.99
-4.43 1.37 1.02
-3.09 1.49 1.34
-1.9 1.43 1.3

63
 CIRCUIT NOISE

The sizes of the input capacitors should be chosen both

on the basis of slow rate as well as thermal noise
considerations. Thermal noise is basically introduced by
non-zero resistance of the sampling switches.
The baseband component of this noise is approximately
proportional to (kT/C)(1/OSR) where ‘C’ is the sampling
capacitor. If the OSR = 256, C = 1pF , the noise power
will be 1.625 x 10-11 Joules. The total quantization noise
power in baseband at this OSR, with quantizer levels = 
1 is 5.9 x 10-12 Joules. Choose larger capacitance.

64
 SAMPLING JITTER

Sampling Clock Jitter results in non uniform sampling,

increasing total noise power in the quantizer output.
For a sinusoidal input with amplitude A and frequency fx

dX
X(t  )  X(t)  .
dt
 .2fx .A cos( 2fx t)

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 SAMPLING JITTER

If the jitter is assumed to be an uncorrelated

Gaussain random process (‘white’), with standard
deviation t, the average power of this error signal is

A2
P  (2fx)2
2
Since this is assumed to be white, the total error power
in baseband is

2 (2fx)2
P 
8 OSR

66
 IMPLEMENTATION IMPERFECTIONS

Supposing the two integrators have the

following transfer functions
g1 g2z 1
and
1
1  1z 1  2z 1

 g1  g z 1
2
(X(z)  Y(z)) 1
 Y  1
 E(z)  Y(z)
 1  1z  1  2z
g1g2z 1
 STF 
1  (1  a2  g2  g1g2 )z 1  1 ( a2  g2 )z 2
(1  1z 1 )(1  2z 1 )
& NTF 
1  (1  a2  g2  g1g2 )z 1  1 ( a2  g2 )z 2

67
 IMPLEMENTATION IMPERFECTIONS

Assume A1=A2 (the two opamp have the gain). Generally

we can neglect the effect of the denominator and
obtain NTF = (1 – z-1)2
2 1 4 2f
| NTF | | 1  z | | j ,  
z e fs
 (1  ) 4  2(1  )2 2  22

(1-)4 is the unshaped noise, 2(1-)2  2 is the 1st order

shaped noise and 2 4 is the 2nd order shaped noise.
To make sure we get second shaped, we need A  OSR.

68
 IMPLEMENTATION IMPERFECTIONS

Attenuation Maximum SNR (OSR =

Integrator 256) Input = -
Output levels 20dB

0.9 5.98, 9.9 70

0.8 3.56, 4.26 83.15

0.7 2.05, 1.86 84.73

0.6 1.29, 0.9 83.59

0.5 0.962, 0.693 86.69

0.4 0.693, 0.625 86.71

0.3 0.510, 0.589 85.93

0.2 0.34, 0.562 77.45

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 AD Converter
SIGNAL OUTPUTS OF  MODULATOR

71
  D/A CONVERTER

The sigma Delta D/A converter has a similar topology

to the A/D converter. Here the input digital signal
first goes through an interpolation filter, where it is
upsampled and low pass filtered. After this it is fed
to the modulator. The output of the modulator is a
single bit signal, that comes at rate much higher than
the Nyquist rate. The output of the modulator is
ample and held and low pass filtered to give the analog
output.

72
 D/A CONVERTER

73
  D/A CONVERTER

The input to the modulator is a 12 bit signal that is

upsampled. The clock rate is much higher than the
Nyquist rate. The modulator is a second order modulator
and the topology is the same as the A/D converter. All
numbers are in the 2’s complement form. A one bit
quantizer in this case, would simple keep the MSB and
throw out all the other bits. The D/D converter converts
the one bit quantized output to 14 bit positive or negative
74
number as shown.
AT LAST

75