100.5 dB SNDR Analog Front-End With a Resistor-Based Discrete-Time Delta-Sigma Modulator for Eliminating Switching Noise and Harmonics

Abstract

This paper presents a high-resolution analog front-end (AFE) circuit operating in the 25 kHz signal bandwidth. The AFE consists of a capacitively-coupled chopper instrumentation amplifier (CCIA) and a third-order delta-sigma modulator (DSM). Signal distortion often occurs at the junction of CCIA and DSM, so the resistor-based discrete-time DSM (RB DT-DSM) is proposed to solve this problem. Both conventional DT-DSM and the proposed RB DT-DSM are designed and compared through simulations and chip measurements. When a conventional DT-DSM is used, a switched-capacitor integrator with a large capacitor and switch are connected to the CCIA output node, so large switching noise, significant charge injection, and a long settling time occur at the CCIA output, resulting in harmonic distortions. Therefore, CCIA requires more power consumption to reduce the settling time for conventional DT-DSM architectures. On the other hand, when the proposed RB DT-DSM is used, only a resistor and a small switch are connected to the CCIA output. Due to this novel interface technique, the switching noise is very small at the CCIA output, and the settling of the CCIA becomes fast. As a result, it is possible to effectively eliminate harmonic distortions while reducing the power requirement of the CCIA. Both the conventional and proposed AFE circuits were manufactured by a 0.18-mu m complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process. The conventional AFE shows a peak SNR of 101.1 dB and a peak SNDR of 91.2 dB. The proposed AFE with RB DT-DSM shows a peak SNR of 101.3 dB and a peak SNDR of 100.5 dB, which verifies the significant reduction in harmonic distortions.