Meeting the analog world challenge. Nyquist-rate analog-to-digital converter architectures

To bring digital processing and its benefits to bear on real-world applications, the analog signal of interest must be translated into a format a digital computer can utilize. This is the function of the analog-to-digital converter (ADC). After processing by a digital computer or digital signal processor (DSP), the resulting digital stream of information must be returned to its analog form by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The methods by which a digital code is generated within the ADC are diverse. We introduce three popular Nyquist-rate ADC architectures used today: the counter ramp ADC, the successive approximation ADC and the flash ADC.