A 79 dB-SNR 70 mW 18 MHz CCD front-end with fully-digital amplification scheme

This paper presents a fully monolithic 10 bit front end for CCD cameras which incorporates a 14 bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital programmable gain amplifier (DPGA). With the adoption of a fully-digital amplification scheme, it solves almost all the problems associated with the conventional front-ends and attains low-noise, low-power and robust gain characteristic. Test results show a 79 dB SNR (@gain=0 dB) with the power consumption of 70 mW @18 MHz.