Observations Concerning the Generation of Spurious Tones in Digital Delta-Sigma Modulators Followed by a Memoryless Nonlinearity

In mixed-signal systems, nonlinear distortion due to nonideal analog circuitry can act on quantized digital sequences, giving rise to spurious tones. In this brief, generation of spurious tones in digital delta-sigma modulators, followed by memoryless nonlinearity, is investigated. Inherent modulator periodicity that persists even with the use of least-significant-bit dither is identified.