IEC 60748-4-3:2006

INTERNATIONAL IEC
STANDARD 60748-4-3
First edition
2006-08
Semiconductor devices –
Integrated circuits –
Part 4-3:
Interface integrated circuits – Dynamic criteria
for analogue-digital converters (ADC)

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INTERNATIONAL IEC
STANDARD 60748-4-3
First edition
2006-08
Semiconductor devices –
Integrated circuits –
Part 4-3:
Interface integrated circuits – Dynamic criteria
for analogue-digital converters (ADC)

 IEC 2006  Copyright - all rights reserved
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– 2 – 60748-4-3  IEC:2006(E)
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.3
INTRODUCTION.5

1 Scope.6
2 Normative references .6
3 Terms and definitions .6
4 Characteristics .7
5 Measuring methods .9
5.1 Dynamic testing with sinusoidal signals .9
5.2 Dynamic tests with wideband signals.22
5.3 Linearity error of a linear ADC (E ) (E ) (E ) .24
L L(adj) T
5.4 Differential linearity error (E ) .30
D
Annex A (informative) Mathematical derivations.32
Annex B (informative) Wideband signal generation and analysis.35

Bibliography.36

Figure 1 – Test arrangement for measurements on ADCs under dynamic conditions.9
Figure 2 – Test arrangement for measurements on ADCs, using wideband signals .22
Figure 3 – Record size versus total noise, for various numbers of records, ramp waveform
input .25
Figure 4 – Record size versus total noise, for various numbers of records, sine wave input 28

Table 1 – Confidence level versus range of variable (in standard deviations).12

60748-4-3  IEC:2006(E) – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
___________
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES –
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS –
Part 4-3: Interface integrated circuits –
Dynamic criteria for analogue-digital converters (ADC)

FOREWORD
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International Standard IEC 60748-4-3 has been prepared by subcommittee 47A: Integrated
circuits, of IEC technical committee 47: Semiconductor devices.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
47A/750/FDIS 47A/758/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

– 4 – 60748-4-3  IEC:2006(E)
The list of all the parts of the IEC 60748 series, under the general title Semiconductor devices
– Integrated circuits, can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the maintenance result date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in
the data related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed;
• withdrawn;
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
60748-4-3  IEC:2006(E) – 5 –
INTRODUCTION
The use of ADCs has increased significantly in the last few years with the large increase in
the use of digital signal processing. The majority of the processing of analogue signals now
takes place in the digital domain, and this requires high precision in the conversion of signals
from the analogue to the digital form. Consequently, the characterization of ADCs is of great
importance.
IEC 60748-4 contains measuring methods for ADCs in which the test conditions are either
static or change very slowly. However, some of the characteristics of an ADC can change to
some degree with the rate of change of the input signal, and there are other characteristics
that cannot be measured except under dynamic conditions. Consequently, a set of dynamic
tests is required in order to obtain the response of an ADC when operated under dynamic
conditions.
The output of a dynamic test consists of the set of output code values obtained during the
test. This record, being the sequence in time of a set of values, gives information in the “time-
domain”. The result of applying the Fourier Transform to the record is information that is in the
“frequency domain”, and this contains the spectrum of the output over the range of
frequencies of interest. In particular, distortion, noise and spurious output frequencies can
then be evaluated.
This International Standard introduces a set of dynamic methods, which are now coming into
use in industry and which rely mostly on measurements made with sinusoidal input signals,
and of which the results are suitable for analysis in the frequency domain. It also includes a
further dynamic method that uses a wide-band input signal. For the reasons explained below,
industry has shown great interest in this particular method.
Linearity errors of an ADC are dependent on the amplitude of the input signal and its rate of
change. Not so well known is that linearity errors also depend on the instantaneous amplitude
distribution, i.e. amplitude probability density function (APDF) of the input signal. This source
of error is usually a result of localized heating effects in the integrated circuit and is
dependent on ADC architecture and internal circuit layout.
Single-frequency signals have an APDF concentrated at the extremes and therefore
exaggerate the effect of errors at the ends of the input range compared to those nearer the
centre. Conversely, a wide-band signal has an APDF concentrated more around the centre of
the input range. A wide-band signal is much closer to the typical input signal in the majority of
ADC applications than a single-frequency signal. Therefore, measurements made with such a
signal will give more realistic error estimates.
A wide-band signal can be generated from a pseudo-random binary sequence. Although such
a signal appears to be noisy, it contains only a set of defined frequencies and is therefore
suitable for measuring errors.

– 6 – 60748-4-3  IEC:2006(E)
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES –
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS –
Part 4-3: Interface integrated circuits –
Dynamic criteria for analogue-digital converters (ADC)

1 Scope
This part of IEC 60748 specifies a set of measuring methods and requirements for testing
ADCs under dynamic conditions, together with associated terminology and characteristics.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 60748-4:1997, Semiconductor devices – Integrated circuits – Part 4: Interface integrated
circuits
IEC 60268-10:1991, Sound system equipment – Part 10: Peak programme level meters
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following definitions, in addition to those found in
Chapter II, Clause 2, Terms for category II of IEC 60748-4:1997, apply.
3.1
coherent sampling
process in which the output record contains samples taken from an integral number of input
cycles of a repetitive waveform
NOTE In general, this process is limited to the case where the number of input cycles and the number of samples
in the record have no common factors.
3.2
equivalent-time sampling
coherent sampling in which consecutive samples of a repetitive waveform, acquired from
multiple repetitions of the waveform, are assembled and re-arranged to produce a single
record of samples that represent a single repetition of the waveform
NOTE This process is normally used only when the spectrum of the input waveform contains significant amounts
of energy at frequencies above half the sampling frequency. It has the r
...