The Nyquist criterion: a useful tool for the robust design of continuous-time ΣΔ modulators

This paper introduces a figure of merit for the robustness of continuous-time sigma-delta modulators. It is based on the Nyquist criterion for the equivalent discrete-time (DT) loop filter. It is shown how continuous-time modulators can be designed by optimizing this figure of merit. This way modulators with increased robustness against variations in the noise-transfer function (NTF) parameters are obtained. This is particularly useful for constrained systems, where the system order exceeds the number of design parameters. This situation occurs for example due to the effect of excess loop delay (ELD) or finite gain bandwidth (GBW) of the opamps. Additionally, it is shown that the optimization is equivalent to the minimization of H_infinity, the maximum out-of-band gain of the NTF. This explains why conventional design strategies that are based on H_infinity, such as Schreier’s approach, provide quite robust modulator designs in the case of unconstrained architectures

Modeling and Energy Optimization of LDPC Decoder Circuits with Timing Violations

This paper proposes a "quasi-synchronous" design approach for signal processing circuits, in which timing violations are permitted, but without the need for a hardware compensation mechanism. The case of a low-density parity-check (LDPC) decoder is studied, and a method for accurately modeling the effect of timing violations at a high level of abstraction is presented. The error-correction performance of code ensembles is then evaluated using density evolution while taking into account the effect of timing faults. Following this, several quasi-synchronous LDPC decoder circuits based on the offset min-sum algorithm are optimized, providing a 23%-40% reduction in energy consumption or energy-delay product, while achieving the same performance and occupying the same area as conventional synchronous circuits.Comment: To appear in IEEE Transactions on Communication