Modern Component Families and Circuit Block Design

Chapter 3

Data Converters

3.1 Introduction

Modern design trends use the power and precision of the digital world of components to process analog signals. However, the link between the digital/processing world and the analog/real world is based on analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter ICs, which generally are grouped as the data converters.

Until about 1988, engineers have had to stockpile their most innovative A/D converter (ADC) designs, because available manufacturing processes simply could not implement those designs onto monolithic chips economically. Prior to 1988, except for the introduction of successive approximation and integrating and flash ADCs, the electronics industry saw no major changes in monolithic ADCs. Since then, manufacturing ...