Random noise test of analog-to-digital converters

Abstract

The random noise test of analog to digital converters recommended by the IEEE 1057 Standard for digitizing waveform recorders is studied. The heuristically derived expression presented for the estimation of the random noise standard deviation is experimentally validated. The standard suggests a triangular stimulus signal. Here we will show how to use a sinusoidal stimulus signal to carry out the test. The influence of stimulus signal offset and amplitude on the estimation error is also analyzed and an expression is presented to compute the minimum amplitude value that guarantees an upper bound on the estimator bias.