Springer Smart and Flexible Digital-to-Analog Converters (Analog Circuits and Signal Processing)

With proposals for new concepts in the flexibility and self-correction of DACs that should enable a range of functional and performance specifications, this book’s detailed coverage is ideal for seasoned professionals and newcomers to the field alike. Review From the reviews:“This is a very useful book on the state of the art in the field of digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) methods whose main aim is to advance the existing knowledge on efficient and robust high-performance current-steering DACs, and to investigate the concept of DAC flexibility. The authors focus on the accuracy and they stress DAC correction methods to achieve it and to provide high efficiency. … The list of references contains 94 items, most of them published recently.” (Vladimir Čadež, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1217, 2011) From the Back Cover Smart and Flexible Digital-to-Analog Converters proposes new concepts and implementations for flexibility and self-correction of current-steering digital-to-analog converters (DACs) which allow the attainment of a wide range of functional and performance specifications, with a much reduced dependence on the fabrication process. DAC linearity is analysed with respect to the accuracy of the DAC unit elements. A classification is proposed of the many different current-steering DAC correction methods. The classification reveals methods that do not yet exist in the open literature. Further, this book systematically analyses self-calibration correction methods for the various DAC mismatch errors. For instance, efficient calibration of DAC binary currents is identified as an important missing method. This book goes on to propose a new methodology for correcting mismatch errors of both nominally identical unary as well as scaled binary DAC currents. A new concept for DAC flexibility is presented. The associated architecture is based on a modular design approach that uses parallel sub-DAC units to realize flexible design, functionality and performance. Two main concepts, self-calibration and flexibility, are demonstrated in practice using three DAC testchips in 250nm, 180nm and 40nm standard CMOS. Smart and Flexible Digital-to-Analog Converters will be useful to both advanced professionals and newcomers in the field. Advanced professionals will find new methods that are fully elaborated from analysis at conceptual level to measurement results at test-chip level. New comers in the field will find structured knowledge of fully referenced state-of-the art methods with many fully explained novelties. About the Author Georgi Radulov was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 1978. He received the M.Sc. engineer (èíæ.) degree in electrical engineering in 2001 from the Technical University of Sofia (TU-Sofia), Bulgaria. In 2004, he received the degree Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) from Stan Ackermans Institute at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). He received his Ph.D. degree from TU/e in 2010.  From 1999 until 2001, he was a student assistant at ECAD Lab of TU-Sofia. Since August 2001, he is member of the Mixed-Signal Microelectronics (MsM) Group at TU/e. Since 2009, he is a part-time Assistant Professor at the Electrical Engineering faculty of TU/e and a part-time director of the micro-electronics consultancy company Welikan B.V. Georgi Radulov holds 2 US patents on current calibration. In 2008, he was awarded the Outstanding Student Paper of the IEEE conference APCCAS 2008, in Macau. Georgi Radulov has more than 20 publications on Digital-to-Analog Converters. Patrick John Quinn graduated in Electronic Engineering at University College Dublin with a B.E. degree in 1986 and M.Sc. (Eng.) degree in 1989. The M.Sc. thesis was entitled “Design and investigation of a direct conversion FM receiver and its application in mobile radio”. The research for the thesis was carried out in the Mobile Telephony group at Philips Semiconductors in Eindhoven. He received hi