A 75.9dB-SNDR 2.96mW 29fJ/conv-step ringamp-only pipelined ADC

A high resolution pipelined ADC that performs precision amplification using only ring amplifiers is presented. Several enabling techniques are introduced, namely parallelization via the use of Composite Ring Amplifier Blocks and a new ringamp topology designed for high-precision use. The 15b ADC achieves 75.9 dB SNDR and 91.4 dB SFDR at 1.2 V supply and 20 Msps conversion rate. Total power consumption is 2.96 mW, resulting in a Figure-of-Merit of 29 fJ/c-step.