A pixel-level A/D converter for the imaging array of an advanced interferometer

The objective of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of pixel-level analog-to-digital conversion as a solution for the imaging array of the advanced interferometer project at Lincoln Laboratory. Six different pixel-level analog-to-digital conversion methods are examined. Four of the conversion methods are discarded after preliminary analysis because accuracy requirements cannot be met given the high-speed and area constraints. Two of these conversion techniques (voltage-to-frequency and sigma-delta). are further analyzed because they show promise to fit in a 60 [mu]m x 60 [mu]m area and be able to perform 14-bit, analog-to-digital conversion at frame rates of 5000 Hz. As a result of the analysis, the voltage-to-frequency converter is also discarded because comparator inconsistencies degrade the accuracy below specifications. The sigma-delta converter individually meets the imaging array requirements, but high power supply dissipation, large parasitic capacitance and noise introduce by other converters make pixel-level sigma-delta conversion impractical with current technology.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• Tadayyon, Shahram (Shahram Tadayyon), 1975-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• James Roberge.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9476

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/9476