A Background Correlation-Based Timing Skew Estimation Method for Time-Interleaved ADCs

This paper presents a correlation-based all-digital background estimation method for timing skew mismatches in time-interleaved analog-to-digital converters (TI-ADCs). Exploiting the first-order approximation of an autocorrelation function of the digital output of each Sub-ADC, the timing skew mismatch between adjacent channels is identified, which can be used for analog or digital correction methods. The proposed estimation method has a low computation complexity and a simple implementation structure, because it basically only requires multiply-accumulate and average operations. In addition, the proposed method is not limited in the number of channels, does not need any pilot injection, is basically suitable for any bandlimited analog input signal, possess a large estimation range of mismatches and is immune against gain and offset mismatches to a certain extent. Simulation results of a four-channel TI-ADC behavioral model and measurement results from a commercial 12-bit 3.6-GS/s TI-ADC show the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed estimation method.