A 10GS/s 5-bit Ultra-Low Power DAC for Spectral Encoded Ultra-Wideband Transmitters

A 5-bit 10 Gs/s DAC for Spectral Encoded UWB transmitters is presented. A test counter is integrated on-chip to facilitate performance measurement. The chip has dimensions of 1.0x1.5mm, and is implemented in a 0.18μm SiGe BiCMOS process. The DAC operates at conversion rates of over 10 Gs/s with a power dissipation of 12mW. Linearity results of the DAC at 5GS/s are presented, with the DNL < ±0.5LSB and INL < ±0.8LSB.