command redstonf asen al advanced s--etc asureyof … · size, cost, power requirement, and...

30
966 ARM yMISSILE COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC FIG 9/5 ASUREyOF ANALOS TO 0151 A. C~lERTFR TECHNOLOGY FOR RADAR AP--ETC(U) " A a 2 B E JONES E1LASEnD rMPEEE _ TRShDEE5-hEEE N *fl .j

Upload: others

Post on 03-Jun-2020

1 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

966 ARM yMISSILE COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC FIG 9/5ASUREyOF ANALOS TO 0151 A. C~lERTFR TECHNOLOGY FOR RADAR AP--ETC(U)" A a 2 B E JONES

E1LASEnD rMPEEE _ TRShDEE5-hEEE N*fl .j

Page 2: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

TECHNICAL REPORT RE'-82-8

A SURVEY OF ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL

CONVERTER TECHNOLOGY FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS

Billy E. JonesAdvanced Sensors DirectorateUS Army Missile Laboratory

MARCH 1982

v n~saQdtarld Araerlml, ^AmbA~rMa ~~

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

DTICfb J SELECTE

OCT 6 1982 N

B

gm F0 IMl. I JUL ?9 PREVIUS EDITION 1S OUS1OLETE 0 0 0 5

QUA0

Page 3: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

DISPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS

DESTROY THIS REPORT WHEN IT IS NO LONGER NEEDED. DO NOTRETURN IT To THE ORIGINATOR.

DISCLAIMER1

THE FINDINGS IN THIS REPORT ARE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS ANOFFICIAL DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY POSITION UNLESS SO DESIG-NATED B y OTHER AUTHORIZED DOCUMENTS. H

TRADE NAMES

USE OF TRADE NAMES OR MANUFACTURERS IN THIS REPORT DOESNOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFICIAL INDORSEMENT ORt APPROVAL OFTHE WSE OF SUCH COMERCIAL HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE.

Q

Page 4: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

UNCLASSIFIEDSECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE (When Data Entered)

REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE BEFORE MPT GFORM

1. REPORT NUMBER 12. GOVT ACCESSION NO. 3. RECIPIENT'S CATALOG NUMBERE-82-8 /Wp _j,

4. TITLE (and Sublte) S. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED

A SURVEY OF ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTERTECHNOLOGY FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS Technical Report

S. PERFORMING ORG. REPORT NUMBER

7. AUTORm.) S. CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMBER(&)

Billy E. Jones

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT, PROJECT, TASK

Commander, US Army Missile Command AREA & WORK UNIT NUMBERS

ATTN: DRSMI-RERedstone Arsenal, AL 35898

It. CONTROLLING OFFICE NAME AND ADDRESS 12. REPORT DATECommander, US Army Missile Command 29 March 1982ATTN: DRSMI-RPT I3. NUMBER OF PAGES

Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898 21U4. MONITORING AGENCY NAME & AODRESS(If dlllerent from Controlling Office) IS. SECURITY CLASS. (of thl report)

Unclassified

IS&. DECLASSI FICATION/ DOWNGRADINGSCHEDULE

16. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT (of this Report)

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

17. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT (of the abstract amtered In Block 20, lf dlfferit hot Repot)

I. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

It. KEY WORDS (Continue an reverse side If necessary and Identift by block number)Analog-to-digital converter

Sample and hold devices

26. ASS RACT (Cbtbnw ms ever 86 N neweeemy MW iblit? by block uuumubem')The first section of this report discusses sample-and-hold devices (SHD)

which are required prior to the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in most radarapplications. The SHDs discussed had acquisition times of 10 psec or less.Plots of SHD droop rate and aperture uncertainty versus acquisition time arepresented. The next section contains details on a variety of commercial off-the-shelf ADCs that have sampling rates greater than 100 KHz.

DD i 1j03% .' nfow Or INOV SS SOLMTE UNCLASSIFIED

SECURITY CLAIFICATION OF THIS PAO& (Wm Data aimted

Page 5: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

UNCLASSIFIEDSECUNITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE(Whn Des gter.")

20. Abstract (Continued)

They are compared by resolution, sampling rate, packaging, logic family,size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, briefdescriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed, and a resolution versussampling rate comparison of non-commercial ADCs being manufactured by radarhouses and their suppliers is presented. The performance envelopes of thecommercial and non-commercial ADCs are then overlayed on the estimated 1988Radar and ELINT resolution and sampling rate requirements.

UNCLSIFIEDS6CUITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGErS('he. Da*a Enbe..

Page 6: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

CONTENTS

Page

I. INTRODUCTION ............................................. 2

II. SAMPLE AND HOLD DEVICES .................................. 3

III. ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTERS ............................. 4

IV. IONCOMMERCIAL A/D CONVERTERS ............................ 16

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author acknowledges Drs. Don Burlage and Eugene R. Billiam, whose1978 report "Survey of Analog-to-Digital Converter Technology for RadarApplications," prepared for the Technical Co-Operation Program Subgroup KTP-3is updated by this report.

Accession 'or

NTIS CF &lFPTTC .,13 ]L

Just - f : m:t if-_.---

(ow) Availability Codes

O519Avail and/orDist Special

Page 7: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

I. INTRODUCTION

Continuing advances in digital technology for application to radar signalprocessors are placing an increasing burden on the conversion of analog videosignals to digital signals. Operating speeds and storage densities of digitallogic are increasing to such a degree that the processing of wider video band-widths and dynamic ranges, respectively, is beginning to be limited by thesampling rates and bits of resolution available in Analog-to-Digital (A/D)converters. This paper is an attempt to assess the limitations on the state-of-the-art of A/D Converter technology and' determine the potential fornear-term improvements.

Information on A/D converter technology was obtained by contacting over237 manufacturess by letter in Canada, the UK, and tha US, by discussions withradar manufacturers and by reviewing other A/D converter surveys. From thesecontacts, the 26 manufacturers listed in Table 1 provided information on A/Dconverters suitable for radar applications with a 100 KHz or greater samplingrate. While there were a number of suppliers that did not respond to the sur-vey, there were 51 manufacturers that responded with data on AID converterswith sample rates less than 100 KHz, syncro-to-digital resolvers, voltage-to-frequency converters, or delta modulators none of which were included in theinvestigation.

TABLE I. SUPPLIERS OF AID CONVERTERS APPLICABLE TO RADAR*

I. ADAC Corp 10. HYBRID Systems 19. Preston Scientific

2. Analog Devices 11. ILC Data Device 20. RCACorp

3. Analogic 21. Teledyne12. Intech Philbrick

4. Burr-Brown13. LeCroy 22. TRW LSI Products

5- Computer Labs14. Micro Networks 23. TRW El ectronic

6. Datel-Intersil Systems15. Mostek

7. Dynamic 24. WestinghouseMeasurements 16. Phoenix Data

25. Zeltek8. Ferranti 17. Plessey

26. Motorola9. Hughes Aircraft 18. Precision Monolithics

*These numbers will serve as the key to suppliers on the graphical summariespresented in this paper.

2

Page 8: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

The first section of this report is concerned with sample-and-hold devices(SHD) whiai are requir-rd rior to the A/D converter in most radar applicationsdue to the relative bandwidth of the signals being digitized and the conver-sion speed of the A/D converter. Such a device ideally is needed to instan-taneously sample the video voltage ind hold it at a constant level while theAID converter accurately converts the voltage to a digital representation.Errors and limitations of available SHD's are presented. The next gention,which is the emphasis of the paper, contains details on the variety ofavailable off-the-shelf A/D converters. They are compared by resolution,sampling rate, packaging, logic family, size, cost, power requirement,accuracy and temperature stability. Finally, following the two sections oncommercially available devices are brief descriptions of the A/D converters ina developmental status.

II. SAMPLE AND HLD DVICES

The Sample-and-Hold Device (SHD) in its basic form consists of a switchfollowed by a capacitor. When the switch is closed under control of a samplecommand, the SHD output will follow the changing analog input signal until ahold command occurs. At this time, the switch will open and the device willhold the voltage on the capacitor subject to capacitor and switch leakage.Input and output amplifiers and other sophisticated circuity are employed tominimize switching and leakage effects. However, a number of SHD errors mu:tstill be considered.

Important SHD parameters are illustrated in Figure I which shows a typi-cal input signal and the resulting error sources. The acquisition time, whichis the length of time after the sample command until the output is trackingthe input within some specified accuracy, is a basic limitation on the conver-sion cycle time of the SHD/AID converter cascade. Acquisition time must besignificantly less than the desired cycle time to leave time for the analog-to-digital conversion during the hold mode. The other two errors illustratedare limitatiuns on A/D converter accuracy. Aperture time is the length of

B% AI.E AND M4OLD 0-loty DIEVICE OUTPUT . %-DOGNAL - APIRTURE

TIME /

/ /

/ . I I j

I I

ACOUST'ON -- o4 R"- ATET, I

/ IIMOLD I I HOLD

SALE MALECONVERSION

1-=CYCLE TIME

Figure 1. Effect of Sample and Hold Parameters on Output Waveforms.

3

Page 9: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

time between the hold command and the time when the sampling switch is comple-tely open. This time delay is not an error source itself since it can beeliminated by applying an early hold command if the delay is constant fromcycle to cycle. Unfortunately, it is not constant and the resulting variationbetween the minimum and maximum aperture time to be expected is defined as theaperture uncertainty time. This time variation results in a voltage uncer-tainty at the SHD output. Another voltage error at the output is due to theleakage of the capacitor voltage during the hold mode. A parameter defined asthe output droop rate, usually in mV/msec, is used to specify this error.

The aperture uncertainty and output droop rate for available SHD's aregiven in Figures 2 and 3 as a function of the device acquisition time.Numbers under each point correspond to the appropriate supplier listed inTable I and the symbol indicates the SHD package, i.e., Dual-In-Line Package(DIP) or module. The DIP's are either monolithic or hybrid integrated circuitsand the modules are either Printed-Circuit (PC) boards or potted circuits.Burr Brown and Micro Networks, do not provide aperture uncertainty values forsome of their SHD's; however, their marketing offices provided an estimate.All output droop rates were not available. Consequently, for a few points onFigure 2 there won't be a corresponding point plotted on Figure 3.

There are easily recognizable patterns on the error curves, namely, fastacquisition times correspond to both low aperture uncertainties and high drooprates. Conversely, the slow devices have high uncertainty errors but betterdroop characteristics. These tradeoffs result from a compromise that must bemade during the capacitor hold circuitry design, i.e., large capacitancelimits the slewing rate during acquisition but a small capacitance has largerdroop characteristics. For tie modern radar which might require a 10 MHz AIDconversion rate, the corresponding cycle time to 100 nsec limits the SHDselection to only a few devices. Fortunately, many of the high performanceA/D converters for radar are supplied with an internal SHD eliminating theselection problem. For example, the Computer Labs 25 nsec acquisition timeSHD is used internally in the construction of their 5 and 10 MHz convertersdescribed in the next section.

III. ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTERS

The majority of A(D converters for radar applications employ either thesuccessive-approximation technique, the parallel flash technique or an itera-tion or a variation of either technique. These techniques are discussedbriefly in this section but the converter specifications are described in moredetail.

A. Implementation Consideration

The successive-approximation converter compares the unknown input voltagewith a quantized estimate of the input and successively changes bits of theestimate until the difference between the two is within a voltage quantumcorresponding to the Least-Significant-Bit (LSB) of the converter. In orderto make the comparison, a high precision Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) isused to convert the binary estimate to an analog voltage which is subtractedfrom the unknown input in an analog comparator circuit. The polarity of thiserror voltage controls which bits of the binary estimate are changed at eachsuccessive step in the approximation.

!4

Page 10: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

I-

00

N o

c 00 O0

N 0

-0 N

13-

0 C4.

No w P40 0-

o'n OtoI~DdN

ol LO

POW) Os"VU3N 0 UV~d

Page 11: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

o MODULE(10.000)14.0001 12 0 DIP

1 3o 05.12 2 ( ) QUANITY(5.0001

13

500

6

0 13100 11 2,

6 6 6 6(2)

211( 20 0 0 o-W 6 5 11

00> 10 5 as 6C. 0o 40 5 - 0 1 occ 21 5 140

I-2 -

12 O3 O0 Le 141.0 000

19 19 1912 4

0 Do0.5 - 21 1014 0140

14

0.2 3 18

00D0.1 2 25

00.05

0.02 3 Is

0.011 1 I0.01 0.02 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.5 1.0 2 5 10

AQUISITION TIME (p SEC)

Figure 3. Sample and Hold Output Droop Rate.

6t

Page 12: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

The parallel-approximation technique, sometimes defined as the fleshapproach, is a simultaneous conversion which employs (2N-i) analog comparators,where N is the number of bits of desired resolution. The unknown inputvoltage is applied to each comparator with the other input being a precisionreference voltage. The (2N-I) reference voltages correspond to the (2N-1)switching points between the voltage extremes of the AtD converter rated inputrange. Consequently, for any unknown input, only one set of adjacent com-parators will exist with one having its reference voltage exceeding theunknown and the other having the unknown exceeding the reference voltage. Thelocation of this pair directly defines the output binary estimate.

Of the two types, the successive-approximation converter inherently has aslower conversion time which increases as the resolution increases. As aresult, the use of a SHD is imperative for high resolution, successive-approximation conversion of wide bandwidth signals. On the other hand, theparallel cnversion is so fast that recently developed parallel converters donot require SHP's for a significant bandwidth of input signals. The problemwith this technique, however, is that the number of comparators, rt "rencevoltages and interconnections increases exponentially as the reol .,.n inbits increases.

These tradeoffs between speed and resolution requirements he, esultedin many converters using a combination of the two techniques. Th .,-calledserial-parallel, or subranging ADC's, employ at least two paralle C sta-ges, a DAC, and an analog subtractor. The first M most-significan its ofconversion are determined in parallel using one of the parallel stages, thnwith the M-bit DAC this voltage is subtracted from the unknown input voltage,and the second parallel stage is used to convert the difference voltage toobtain the L least significant bits. This technique significantly reduces theamount of parallel hardware required while maintaining stage delays at a mini-mum. For an 8-bit converter, this technique requires only 30 comparators (15per stage) as opposed to 255 for an all-parallel case. However, advances inintegrated circuit fabrication have made 8 and even 9 bit (requiring 511 com-parators manufactured by TRW) parallel converters available in a dual-in-linepackages.

B. Comparison of A/D Converter Resolution, Speed, and PackagingConsiderations

As discussed above, the design of an A/D converter involves a tradeoffbetween resolution and speed. Since modern radar systems require both resolu-tion and speed, it is apparent that AID converter selection for radar applica-tions is not a simple task. Presented in Figures 4, 5, and 6 are graphicalrepresentations of this resolution and speed tradeoff for three classes of A/Dconverters.

In the first class, Figure 4, are converters constructed with monolithicor hybrid integrated circuit technologies and packaged in dual-in-line packa-ges. Device technologies CMOS, TTL and ECL are represented. Devices rangefrom 0.1 MNz, 12 bit, TTL, hybrid, successive approximation AID converter to a100 MHz, 6 bit, ECL, monolithic, parallel AID converter. On the balance morethan half of the devices operate at sampling rates at or above I MHz. In mostcases, additional circuitry such as SHD's, and buffer amplifiers, as well aspower supplies are required. However, because of their compact dual-in-line

7r

L ~.- ___ ____ ____

Page 13: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

w C

> aOU

ou a-0 u42

0wh 00 q4z >N f

(A Wi -LI

<0- -Z0d )- -

o D. 0

ON N

C4 a.

olo<

-4-

In

oNo

t

C4-

04 V :

iSkiS? NamOilom3

Page 14: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

ow

0.

4-

zuo

2>>

094e

DIV 00

to N

IU)8 NU)O

Page 15: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

- -' oNO SHD INCLUDEDYBV SlID INCLUDED

T' UNCONVENTIONAL OR UNSPECIFIED1 ii Vig mg LINEARITY ACCURACY

I)OUANITY

19 19 19 55

19 19 19 5 5

t 1 19 5 5

510 V VV p(3) (2)

19 19 19 7 57 5

gg V v v V7vYv/It 19 19 r'5 5(541 14

'719 ~ ~ V1 Vi/% 5 5

0.1 0.2 0.5 1.0 2.0 5.0 10 20 50 100 200SAMPLING RATE (MHz)

Figure 6.Discrete AID Converters.

10

Page 16: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

packaging they have a definite potential for radar systems especially in air-borne applications such as missile seekers. Another advantage is their closeconnection with the exploding high-volume field of microprocessor technology.Developmental funds are being invested into this class of converters becauseof their commercial appeal and these same high-volume applications areexpected eventually to reduce their cost similarly to the history of micropro-cessor devices. Fifty-six devices are in this category as opposed to 29 threeyears ago.

The modular class of converter in Figure 5 contains the largest varietyof devices and manufacturers of any of the three classes. The technologies ofECL and TTL were represented in the converters surveyed. There are a numberof low resolution (4 and 8 bit) A/D converters with high sampling rates and anumber of high resolution (13 to 16 bits) converters with sampling rates lessthan 1 MHz. However, modular converters still aren't in abundance at thepopular radar requirements of 5 to 10 MHz sampling rates and resolutions of 8to 13 bits; however, this survey found 11 devices in this range with four ofthese having either 10 or 12 bit resolution as opposed to 7 total previously.

The last class, the rack-mounted discrete component A/D converter

assemblies and subassemblies of Figure 6, provides the widest variety of con-verters for radar applications. Most of these are complete converters, i.e.,power supplies, buffer amplifiers, sample-and-hold devices, and, in some con-verters, built in test equipment. The Computer Labs AfD converters dominatethe 5 to 10 MHz range of sampling rates and, as a result, seem to be the pre-valent supplier of commercial ADC's for radar applications. It should benoted, however, that A/D converters developed by radar manufacturers in-housespecifically for their systems do not appear on these commercial productcharts.

The bounds on resolution and sampling rates for each class of convertersare superimposed in Figure 7*. By comparing the classes in pairs, an insightcan be gained as to the relative merits of each. For example, DIP converterscan replace modular devices except for the high-resolution, low-speed region(A) (where the modular and PCB converters dominate all types) and the medium-resolution, high-speed region (B). Similarly the modular converter canreplace the discrete converter assemblies except for 13 bit resolution above0.5 MHz region (C). The monolothic and hybrid DIP converters clearly dominatein the low-resolutions, high-speed region (D) although some discreteassemblies are available near 100 MHz.

C. Comparison of A/D Converter Cost, Size, Power and AccuracyConsiderations

The cost ranges of commercial A/D converters are illustrated inFigure 8 for the three packaging classes as a function of sampling rate. Theindividual numbers on the cost chart in this case do not refer to manufac-turers but are the converter bits of resolution. As would be expected, theDIP products are the most economical, ranging from $40 to $750 in single quan-tity lots. Modules that overlap the DIP's in performance are approximately in

*No attempt has been made to verify any specifications stated in this survey.

In some cases, typical parameters are even compared against minimumperformance numbers because of a lack of data on specification sheets.

11

Page 17: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

I ~ MODULAR

15 A ASSEMBLIES

13-I

'10-

0wU9-

6-

5-

0.1 0.2 0.5 1.0 2 5 10 20 50 100

SAMPLE RACE (MHZ)

Figure 7. AID Converter Performance Bounds.

12

Page 18: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

cc

2 Z

2 00

ca &

V 0

C40 0

0*00 V 0

40)

(suvioo sn iso

* , .13

Page 19: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

this same price range. The minimum price for modules is about $200 with pri-ces extending to about $4000. The price of discrete converters assembliesstart at about $2000 and extend to about $14,000. Prices in all groupsincrease with sample rate and resolution. Generally low-speed, medium-resolution, and high-speed, low-resolution devices form the price floor.

The size and power requirements of the previously discussed convertersare summarized by the ranges given in Table 2. There is nothing unexpectedin the range of sizes or in power consumptton. The ECL converters were themost power consuming followed by TTL then CMOS. The ECL monolithic deviceswere mainly found in the non commercial catagory. For all classes and logic

TABLE 2. RANGE OF A/D CONVERTER SIZE AND POWER REQUIREMENTS

DIP Modular Discrete

Size Volume 0.7-6.4 cm3 15.2-2058 cm3 1420 cm3 -0.065 m3

Package 16-40 pin Module or DIP's PC card subassembly

Type DIP and/or modules or rack mountedon PC card assembly

Power CMOS 1.5 to 180 mW ....

TTL 0.4 to 3.0 W 0.5 to 18.5 W 36 to 110 W

ECL 0.45 to 3.9 W 10 to 42 W 25 to 145 W

families the A/D converter with the lowest resolution/ speed product had thelowest power requirement and the highest product had the highest powerrequirement.

The absolute accuracy of an A/D converter is defined as the differencebetween the theoretical analog input required to produce a given digital out-put code and the actual analog input that produces the same code. Three errorsources that cause this difference are gain error, offset error, and nonli-nearity error. The gain error is defined as the difference in slope betweenthe actual input/ output transfer function relationship and the ideal charac-teristic whereas the offset error, sometimes called zero error, is the displa-cement of this transfer function from the origin along the analog input axis.In most converters, these two errors can be adjusted to zero leaving only thenonlinearity error. Nonlinearity is the deviation of the actual transferfunction from a straight line drawn between the end points of the input/outputtransfer function. When the gain and offset errors are zero, the nonlinearityerror is often defined as relative accuracy. Since a nonlinear transfer willresult in the generation of signal harmonics, especially clutter harmonics,this A/D converter error is one of the more important. The maximum oonli-nearity deviation is normally specified to be within + 1/2 LSB at 25 C andmost A/D converters in this survey met this specification.

14

Page 20: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

One other accuracy specification of importance is differential nonli-nearity, defined to be the deviation from I LSB of any quantum interval, or"step," in the transfer function. Ideally, the differential nonlinearity iszero. If the differential nonlinearity error is greater than + I LSB, atleast one quantum interval is greater than I LSB in width, then a digital out-put code will be missing. Some manufacturers inicate no missing codes overthe temperature range by specifing "guaranteed monotonic" or "guaranteed nomissing codes". Most A/D converters in the survey met this specification,although some only met it at 250C. Converters that were quoted as havingeither a relative accuracy error of greater than + I,& LSB, a differentialnonlinearity error of greater than +1 LSB or if neither error was specifiedthen the device is indicated with shaded symbols in Figures 4, 5 and 6. Whenmore than one manufacturer number is associated with a shaded symbol, themanufacturer's code of the high error AID converter is underlined. An impor-tant conclusion that can be drawn from accuracy specifications on these chartsis that 14, 15, and 16 bit converters are less likely to meet the normallinearity error criteria than are the lower resolution devices.

Data on accuracy specifications are usually presented as room temperaturevalues. Only a few AID converters specified the Cemperature coefficients overthe full military temperature range (-55 to 1250 C). These devices are markedwith an * on Figures 4, 5, and 6. Finally, temperature stability coefficientsare the accuracy parameters of interest. In general, temperature specifica-tions are expressed in parts-per-million of the full scale input voltage per0 C (PPM/ C), the percent of full scale/C, or as a fraction of +1 LSB C.Tabulated in Table 3 are the gain, offset and linearity temperature coef-ficients, illustrating the range of values found quoted. To use the tem-perature parameters, 250C is subtracted from or added to the highest or lowestoperating temperature respectively, to be expected in the application ofinterest. The difference or sum is multiplied by these coefficients and addedto the 250C error numbers.

TABLE 3. TEMPERATURE STABILITY PARAMETERS

Nonlinearity Monotonic & NoGain Tempco Offset Tempco Tempco Missing Codes Over(PPN/'C) (PP/'C) (PPM/'C) Temp Range

Beat +10 to +30 +7 to +25 +2 to +5 -550C to 1250CADC's

Worst* +30 to +50 +25 to +50 +5 to +40 000 to 500CADC'.

*Except for those that did not satisfy the +1 LSB differential nonlinearitylimit even at 250C.

Other significant A/D converter parameters are input vol .- ge ranges andoutput digital codes, but no attempt was made to tabulate either of these. On

15

Page 21: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

many converters these are options and, as a result, any individual A/D con-verter on the summary charts might be available with two or three inputvoltage ranges and a similar number of output codes. Input ranges availablewere typically 0 to 1, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 V (or the inverse polarities, e.g., 0to -1 V) for the unipolar devices and +1, +2.5, +5, +10 V for bipolar inputs.Outputs codes included binary, offset binary, twO's complement binary,inverted binary and others. Converters with binary-coded-decimal outputs werethe only ones deleted from the charts since this code normally is not com-patible with radar processors.

IV. NONCOMMERCIAL A/D CONVERTERS

The A/D converters of most interest to this investigation were not thoseon the open-market, but ones in development or in military systems. Althoughit is difficult to obtain detailed specifications on these types of devices,an attempt was made to at least determine the trends of converters in adevelopmental status. Resolution and sampling rates of AfD converters knownto be in some stage of development are illustrated in Figure 9. In the com-mercial field, there are further developments of converters for waveformrecorder applications of 10 bits at 20 MHz and 8 bits at 10C MHz.

One A/D converter development program is currently being funded by the USDepartment of Defense. Its objective is to develop high speed convertersusing GaAs technology. Since the contract just began in the fall of 1981there is no progress to report. However, one of the products of the contractproposal phase was Figure 10. This figure presents the projected 1988 A/Dconverter resolution and sampling rate requirements for radar and electronicintelligence applications (ZLINT). It also compares these requirements to the1978 Production radar requirements. The 1988 requirements are predicted toincrease by about an octave at 15 bits to an order of magnitude at 6 bits forthe most demanding radars and almost two orders of magnitude for the mostdemanding ELINT hardware. An assessment of how well devices currentlyavailable or in development will satisfy the projected requirements may beobtained from Figure 11, which superimposes the three commerical and the non-commerical performance envelopes on the projected requirements.

The surprise comes from the DIP performance envelope, which has greatlyextended in the low resolution region since 1978. However, it does not extendinto the projected 1988 requirements. The discrete converter assembly enve-lope overlaps projected requirements in the 10 to 13 bit resolution region andthe modular envelope overlays them in the 9 to 12 bit region. Devices indevelopment fully satisfy the 8 to 10 bit requirements and satisfies mostradar requirements down to the 5 bit region. However, the most demanding 4 to8 bit applications must continue to wait for A/D converter hardware develop-ments, as also must the projected high resolution 14 to 15 bit applications.

Motorola Inc, Government XLectronics Division, Scottsdale Arizona, isdeveloping an emitter-coupled-logic successive approximation 10 bit, 40 mega-sample per sec A/D converter that could also be operated as an 8 bit, 50 mega-sample per sec converter. A high speed 8 to I and 16 to 1 multiplexer isbeing tested which could be used with this A/D converter. Motorola is alsodeveloping, with discrete parts, a medium resolution (4 to 8 bits) 100 Mhz AIDconverter using a one bit feed-forward pipeline architecture. The device is

16

Page 22: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

0

04

.0, w

I..

00

AI 13

or)W4

N j(Sill)NOI.Ll1OII

17d

Page 23: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

C

aCO.=0

ZZ0

- 0

(silo)

18*

Page 24: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

0 2 ILUU

m~ 0LU

C.4 44oo C.)0

LU d

eL 0.4

0 6 o

*U wPa

* 0.4* ~1 cui

mfrj c0 0. 44

*

'0 LO

000

00 00

4w cm CD 0 t

19 ; Z

Page 25: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

designed to be connected before detection where signal statistical propertieswill allow certain AID converter stages to be AC coupled. When GaAS FET tran-sistors were used, the sampling rate was extended to 1000 MHz.

Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA, is working to extend their AfDconverter building block resolution to 12 bits and the sampling rate to 250MHz at lower resolutions. They are using dielectrically isolated emitter-

coupled-logic technology and a 5 bit quantizer as a basic element. Hughes isalso working to develop an AID converter using GaAs technology. Theirprogress with GaAS to date is limited to design, simulation, manufacture, testand evaluation of a comprehensive test circuit and some critical components.

Harris Corporation, Melbourne, FL, is developing a 16 bit 50 KHz mono-lithic successive approximation A/D converter. The digital-to-analog con-verter portion of the design has been successfully demonstrated with asettling time of 2 usec. A paper on this design effort is scheduled for pre-sentation at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in 1982.

Westinghouse, Defense and ELectronic Systems, Baltimore, MD, is deve-loping an 8-bit 100 MHz AID converter on a printed circuit board. The con-verter will be coupled with memory and a microprocessor controller forautocalibration and fault detection.

20

Page 26: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

DISTRIBUTION

No. ofCopies

CommanderUS Army Materiel Development & Readiness CommandATTN: DRCCG 1

DRCRD 15001 Eisenhower AvenueAlexandria, VA 22333

CommanderBallistic Missile Defense Systems CommandATTN: BMDSC-HRP. 0. Box 1500Huntsville, AL 35807

DirectorBallistic Missile Defense Advanced Technology CenterATTN: ATC-R 2P. 0. Box 1500Huntsville, AL 35807

CommanderUS Army Electronics Research & Development CommandATTN: DRSEL I

DRCPM-MALR IFort Monmouth, NJ 07703

US Army Materiel Systems Analysis ActivityATTN: DRXSY-MPAberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005

lIT Research InstituteATTN: GACIAC I10 West 35th StreetChicago, IL 60616

DRCPM-MDE, Mr. Evans 1

-HAE, Mr. Ams I-ROL, Mr. Bishop 1

DRSMI-R, Dr. McCorkle 1

-RE, Mr. Lindberg 1

-REO I

-REG 1

-RER, Mr. Low 1Mr. Jones 25

-RE, Record Set I

-RG 1

-RD 1

-LP, Mr. Volgt I

-RPR 15

-RPT, Record Copy IReference Copy 1

21

Page 27: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

No. ofCopies

Hughes Aircraft Co.M. S. D428P. 0. Box 92426Los Angeles, CA 90009

TRW Inc.ATTN: Mr. Hank Di Mond1 Space ParkBldg R6/Room 1106Redondo Beach, CA 90278

WestinghouseATTN: Mr. Richard HardenP. 0. Box 746M. S. 296Baltimore, MD 21203

Motorola, Inc.Government Elec. Div.Scottsdale, AZ 85252

Harris CorporationATTN: F. R. CooperP. 0. Box 883Melbourne, FL 32901

Analog Devices, Inc.P. 0. Box 280Norwood, MA 02062

ADAC Corporation700 Tower Office ParkWoburn, MA 01801

Analogic Corporation1 Audubon RoadWakefield, MA 01880

Computer Labs Inc.505 Edwardia DriveGreensboro, NC 27409

Datel/Intersil, Inc.11 Cabot Blvd.Mansfield, MA 02048

22

Page 28: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

No. ofCopies

Dynamic Measurements6 Lowell AvenueWinchester, MA 01890 1

Ferranti Elecs. Ltd.Semiconductor Div.Fields New Road Chadderton,Oldham, Lancashire OLP 8NP, England

Gould Inc., Biomation Div.4600 Old Ironsides Dr.Santa Clara, CA 95050

Hewlett-PackardCorporate Div.1501 Page Mill RoadPalo Alto, CA 94304

Hybrid Sys. Corp.Crosby Dr.Bedford Research ParkBedford, MA 01730

ILC Data Device Corp.105 Wilbur PlaceBohemia, NY 11716

Intech, Inc.282 Brokaw RoadSanta Clara, CA 95050

LeCroy Rsch Sys of California, Corporate1806 Embarcadero RoadPalo Alto, CA 94303

Micro Networks Corp.324 Clark S .Worcester, MA 01606

Moste)KCorporation1215 Crosby Road, Box 169Carrollton, TS 75006

Phoenix Data Inc.3384 W. Osborn RoadPhoenix, AZ 85017

23

... . . . - . -' . ,o , '. , " '-: i .. .. .. . itm

Page 29: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

No. ofCopies

Plessey Semiconductors Ltd.Kembrey StreetSwindon, Wiltshire SN2 68AUnited Kingdom

Precision Monolithics1500 Space Park DriveSanta Clara, CA 95050 1

Preston Scientific805 E. CerritosAnaheim, CA 92805 1

RCA Solid State DivisionRt. 202Somerville, NJ 08876 1

Teledyne PhilbrickAllied Dr. Rt. 128Dedham, MA 02026 1

TRW LSI ProductsATTN: Pat Peairs 1P. 0. Box 2472La Jolla, CA 92038

US Philips Corp.Signetics Corp.811 E. Arquest AveP. 0. Box 9052Sunnyvale, CA 94086 1

Zeltex, Inc.940 Detroit Ave.Concord, CA 94518

US Air Force Avionics LaboratoryATTN: Mel St. JohnAFWAL-AADEWright-Patterson AFB, OH 46433

24SU.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1982--646-116/763

Page 30: COMMAND REDSTONF ASEN AL ADVANCED S--ETC ASUREyOF … · size, cost, power requirement, and temperature stability. Finally, brief descriptions of ADCs in developnent are discussed,

x-,l, 26 ,,l -A