A Multi-bit VCO-based Linear Quantizer with Frequency-to-current Feedback using a Switched-capacitor Structure

Abstract

In this letter, we present a new linearization method for a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO)-based quantizer in an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The nonlinearity of the VCO generates unwanted harmonic spurs and reduces the signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) of the VCO-based quantizer. This letter suggests a frequency-to-current feedback method to effectively suppress harmonic distortion. The proposed method decreases the harmonic spurs by more than 53 dB. And a VCO-based quantizer employing the proposed linearization method achieves a high SNDR of 74.1 dB.