A High-Performance Sigma-Delta Modulator in 0.18μm CMOS Technology

Sigma-Delta (∑∆) modulators are commonly used in high-resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). In this paper, a high-performance modulator targeted for ultra-high-frequency (UHF) radio-frequency identification (RFID) zero-intermediate frequency (ZIF) receivers is designed in standard 0.18μm CMOS technology. The modulator has been designed with switched-capacitor (SC) integrators employing gain-boosted operational amplifiers, voltage comparators and nonoverlapping clock generators to satisfy such requirements as high gain, low voltage and wide bandwidth. The behavioral-level modeling and circuit-level design are carried out with MATLAB/Simulink and Cadence/SpectreRF, respectively. Ultimately, the high-speed and low-power realization of a second-order single-bit modulator with an oversampling ratio (OSR) of 32 is presented. Simulation results shown that, from a 1.8V supply, operated at a sampling frequency of 64MHz, a dynamic range of 53.4dB over a signal bandwidth of 1MHz is achieved.