In the field of radio receivers, down-conversion methods usually rely on one (or more)
explicit mixing stage(s) before the analog-to-digital converter (ADC). These stages not
only contribute to the overall power consumption but also have an impact on area and can
compromise the receiver’s performance in terms of noise and linearity. On the other hand,
most ADCs require some sort of reference signal in order to properly digitize an analog
input signal. The implementation of this reference signal usually relies on bandgap
circuits and reference buffers to generate a constant, stable, dc signal. Disregarding this
conventional approach, the work developed in this thesis aims to explore the viability
behind the usage of a variable reference signal. Moreover, it demonstrates that not only
can an input signal be properly digitized, but also shifted up and down in frequency,
effectively embedding the mixing operation in an ADC. As a result, ADCs in receiver
chains can perform double-duty as both a quantizer and a mixing stage. The lesser known
charge-sharing (CS) topology, within the successive approximation register (SAR) ADCs,
is used for a practical implementation, due to its feature of “pre-charging” the reference
signal prior to the conversion. Simulation results from an 8-bit CS-SAR ADC designed in
a 0.13 μm CMOS technology validate the proposed technique
