Wideband A/D Converter Front-End Design Considerations: When to Use a Double...

Wideband A/D Converter Front-End
Design Considerations
When to Use a Double Transformer Configuration
By Rob Reeder [[email protected]]
Ramya Ramachandran
Consider the input, x(t), to the transformer. It is converted into a
pair of signals, x1(t) and x2 (t). If x(t) is sinusoidal, the differential
output signals, x1(t) and x2 (t), are of the form
x1 (t ) = k1 sin(ω t )
x 2 (t ) = k2 sin(ω t − 180° + ϕ ) = − k2 sin(ω t + ϕ )
(1)
The ADC is modeled as a symmetrical third-order transfer
function:
BACKGROUND
Transformers are used for isolation and to convert signals from
single-ended to differential. A factor often overlooked when
using transformers in the front-end circuitry of high-speed A/D
converters is that they are never ideal. With sinusoidal input
signals, any imbalance introduced by the transformer delivers an
imperfect sinusoidal wave to the input of the ADC, and results in
overall data-conversion performance worse than the ADC could
otherwise provide. We consider here the effects of input imbalances
on ADC performance and provide examples of circuitry to achieve
improved results.
About Transformers
The wide variety of available models from many manufacturers
can make transformer selection a confusing process. The challenge
is compounded by the differing approaches taken by suppliers
in specifying performance; they often differ in the choice and
definitions of the parameters they specify.
h(t ) = a0 + a1 x (t ) + a2 x 2 (t ) + a3 x 3 (t ) (2)
Then
y(t ) = h( x1 (t )) − h( x 2 (t ))
y(t ) = a1 [ x1 (t ) − x 2 (t ) ] + a2  x12 (t ) − x 22 (t )  + a3  x13 (t ) − x 23 (t ) 
(3)
Ideal Case—No Imbalance
When x1(t) and x 2 (t) are perfectly balanced, they have the
same magnitude (k1 = k 2 = k) and are exactly 1808 out of
phase ( = 08). Since
x1 (t ) = k sin(ω t )
x 2 (t ) = − k sin(ω t ) (4)
y(t ) = 2a1k sin(ω t ) + 2a3k 3 sin 3 (ω t ) (5)
Some key parameters to consider when selecting a transformer
to drive a particular ADC are insertion loss, return loss,
magnitude imbalance, and phase imbalance. Insertion loss is a
guide to the bandwidth capability of the transformer. Return loss,
also useful, allows the user to design the termination to match
the transformer’s response at a particular frequency or band of
frequencies—especially important when using transformers with
greater than unity turns ratios. We will focus here on magnitudeand phase imbalance, and how they affect the ADC’s performance
in high-bandwidth applications.
Applying the trigonometric identity for powers and gathering
terms of like frequency,
Theoretical Analysis
Now suppose the two input signals have a magnitude imbalance,
but no phase imbalance. In this case, k1  k2, and  = 0.
Even with a wide bandwidth rating, the coupling between the
transformer’s single-ended primary and differential secondary,
though linear, introduces magnitude- and phase imbalances.
When applied to a converter (or other differential-input device),
these imbalances worsen even-order distortion of the converted (or
processed) signal. While usually negligible at low frequencies, this
added distortion in high-speed converters becomes significant at
roughly 100 MHz. Let us first examine how the magnitude- and
phase imbalance of a differential-input signal, particularly the
second-harmonic distortion, affect the performance of an ADC.
x1(t)
x(t)
h(t)
ADC
x2(t)
h(t)
Figure 1. Simplified block diagram of the ADC front end
using a transformer.
Analog Dialogue 40-07, July (2006)
(6)
This is the familiar result for a differential circuit: even harmonics
cancel for ideal signals, while odd harmonics do not.
Magnitude Imbalance
x1 (t ) = k1 sin(ω t )
(7)
x 2 (t ) = − k2 sin(ω t ) Substituting Equation 7 in Equation 3 and again applying the
trigonometric power identities,
(
)
(
))
(
a
3a
y (t ) = 2 k12 − k22 + a1( k1 + k2 )+ 3 k13 + k23
4
2
−
y(t)
XFMR

 a3k 3 
3a3k 3 
y(t ) = 2  a1k +
sin(ω t ) − 
sin(3ω t )

 4 
4 
( (
a2 2
k1 − k22
2
cos 2ω t −
( (
a3 3
k1 + k23
4
)) sin ωt
))
sin 3ω t
(8)
We see from Equation 8 that the second harmonic in this case
is proportional to the difference of the squares of the magnitude
terms, k1 and k2, viz.,
2nd harmonic ∝ k12 − k22 http://www.analog.com/analogdialogue
(9)
Phase Imbalance
Assume now that the two input signals have a phase imbalance
between them, with no magnitude imbalance. Then, k1 = k2,
and   0.
x1 (t ) = k1 sin(ω t )
(10)
x 2 (t ) = − k1 sin(ω t + ϕ ) Substituting Equation 10 in Equation 3 and simplifying,

3a k 3 
y(t ) =  a1k1 + 3 1  ( sin ω t + sin ω t cos ϕ + cos ω t sin ϕ )

4 
a k 2
(11)
−  2 1  ( cos 2ω t − cos 2ω t cos 2ϕ + sin 2ω t sin 2ϕ )
 2 
The noise floor, second harmonic, and third harmonic here
reflect the composite performance of the converter and front-end
circuitry. The converter distortion coefficients (a2 and a3) and
noise were computed using these measured results, combined
with the 0.0607 dB of magnitude imbalance and 148 of phase
imbalance at 170 MHz, specified for a standard 1:1 impedance
ratio transformer.
These coefficients are used in Equation 8 and Equation 11 to
compute y(t), while the magnitude- and phase imbalances are
varied in the ranges 0 V to 1 V and 0 degrees to 50 degrees,
respectively (the imbalance ranges of a typical transformer in
the 1-MHz-to-1000-MHz range), and observe the effect on the
second harmonic. The results of the simulations are shown in
Figure 4 and Figure 5.
a k 3
−  3 1  ( sin 3ω t − sin 3ω t cos 3ϕ + cos 3ω t sin 3ϕ )
 4 
–80
–85
From Equation 11, we see that the second-harmonic amplitude is
proportional to the square of the magnitude term, k.
(12)
Observations
A comparison of Equation 9 and Equation 12 shows that the
second-harmonic amplitude is more severely affected by phase
imbalance than by magnitude imbalance. For phase imbalance,
the second harmonic is proportional to the square of k1, while
for magnitude imbalance, the second harmonic is proportional
to the difference of the squares of k1 and k2. Since k1 and k2 are
approximately equal, this difference is small.
As a test of the validity of these calculations, MATLAB code was
written for the model described above to quantify and illustrate the
impact of magnitude- and phase imbalances on harmonic distortion
of a high-performance ADC with a transformer input (Appendix A).
The model includes additive white Gaussian noise.
DYNAMIC RANGE (dB)
2nd harmonic ∝ k12 0.1MF
0.1MF 336
+AIN
AD9445
366
INPUT
Z = 506
3pF
366
0.1MF
ADC
INTERNAL
INPUT Z
336
–AIN
0.1MF
2k6
Figure 2. Front-end configuration of the AD9445 with
transformer.
0
DEVICE: AD9445-125
DEVICE NO.: 051107a
AVCC: 5V
DVCC: 3.3V
ENCODE: 125MSPS
ANALOG: 45.303MHz
SNR: 72.87dB
SNRFS: 73.89dBFS
UDSNR: 0dB
NF: 28.85dB
SINAD: 72.65dB
FUND: –1.024dBfs
IMAGE: 0dBc
2ND: –93.15dBc
3RD: –87.78dBc
4TH: –97.95dBc
5TH: –98.65dBc
6TH: –96.79dBc
WOSPUR: –95.65dBc+
THD: –85.75dBc
SFDR: 87.78dBc
NOISE FLOOR: –116.01dBFS
SAMPLES: 32768
WINDOWING: BH4
ANALOG INPUT = 170MHz
–10
–20
AMPLITUDE (dBFS)
–30
–40
–50
–60
–70
–80
3
–90
+
–100
65
2
4
–110
–120
–130
0
5
10
15
20 25 30 35 40
FREQUENCY (MHz)
45
50
55
60
Figure 3. Typical FFT of AD9445, 125 MSPS, IF = 170 MHz.
–100
–105
–110
SECOND HARMONIC
–120
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
MAGNITUDE IMBALANCE (V)
Figure 4. Harmonics plotted vs. magnitude imbalance only.
–80
SECOND HARMONIC
–85
–90
DYNAMIC RANGE (dB)
10nF
ANALOG
INPUT
–95
–115
The coefficients, ai , used in the MATLAB model are for the
AD9445, a high-performance 16-bit, 125-MSPS ADC. The
AD9445, in the front-end configuration shown in Figure 2, was
used to generate the FFT shown in Figure 3, from which the
coefficients were derived.
XFMR
ADT1-1WT
1:1 Z
THIRD HARMONIC
–90
–95
THIRD HARMONIC
–100
–105
–110
–115
–120
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
PHASE IMBALANCE (Degrees)
Figure 5. Harmonics plotted vs. phase imbalance only.
Figure 4 and Figure 5 show that (a) the third harmonic is
relatively insensitive to both magnitude- and phase imbalance,
and (b) that the second harmonic deteriorates more rapidly
with phase imbalance than with magnitude imbalance. Thus,
to achieve better performance from the ADC, a transformer
configuration with improved phase imbalance is needed. Two
feasible configurations, the first involving a double balun,
and the second a double transformer, are shown in Figure 6
and Figure 7.
Analog Dialogue 40-07, July (2006)
BALUN
1:1 Z
INPUT
AD9445 using a single transformer input (Figure 10) and a
double balun input (Figure 11) show that this is indeed the
case; a +10-dB improvement in SFDR is seen with a 300-MHz
IF signal.
OUTPUT
OUTPUT
0
BALUN
1:1 Z
DEVICE: AD9445
DEVICE NO.:1
AVCC: 5V
DVCC: 3.3V
ENCODE: 125MSPS
ANALOG: 32.195MHz
SNR: 71.17dB
SNRFS: 72.95dBFS
UDSNR: 83.92dB
NF: 28.89dB
SINAD: 67.28dB
FUND: –1.779dBfs
2ND: –70.93dBc
3RD: –75.29dBc
4TH: –102.18dBc
5TH: –96.69dBc
6TH: –94.24dBc
WOSPUR: –91.85dBc+
THD: –69.55dBc
SFDR: 70.93dBc
NOISE FLOOR: –115.07dBFS
SAMPLES: 32768
WINDOWING:BH4
–10
–20
–30
XFMR
1:1 Z
INPUT
XFMR
1:1 Z
AMPLITUDE (dBFS)
Figure 6. Double balun configuration.
OUTPUT
–50
–60
–70
–130
5
10
15
20 25 30 35 40
FREQUENCY (MHz)
45
50
55
60
0
DEVICE: AD9445
DEVICE NO.:1
AVCC: 5V
DVCC: 3.3V
ENCODE: 125MSPS
ANALOG: 32.195MHz
SNR: 71.71dB
SNRFS: 72.13dBFS
UDSNR: 84.79dB
NF: 29.71dB
SINAD: 67.01dB
FUND: –0.415dBfs
2ND: –81.55dBc
3RD: –69.27dBc
4TH: –96.23dBc
5TH: –82.63dBc
6TH: –92.43dBc
WOSPUR: –82.63dBc+
THD: –68.81dBc
SFDR: 69.27dBc
NOISE FLOOR: –114.24dBFS
SAMPLES: 32768
WINDOWING: BH4
–10
–20
–30
SINGLE XFMR
DOUBLE XFMR
DOUBLE BALUN
AMPLITUDE (dBFS)
AMPLITUDE IMBALANCE (dB)
0
Figure 10. Single transformer input, FFT of AD9445.
125 MSPS, IF = 300 MHz.
3.5
3.0
–40
–50
–60
3
–70
–80
2
5
+
–90
6
4
–100
–110
2.5
–120
2.0
–130
–140
1.5
1.0
0
100k
1M
10M
100M
1G
FREQUENCY (Hz)
Figure 8. Magnitude imbalance from 1 MHz to 1000 MHz.
70
60
0
5
10
15
20 25 30 35 40
FREQUENCY (MHz)
45
50
55
60
Figure 11. Double balun input, FFT of AD9445.
125 MSPS, IF = 300 MHz.
0.5
SINGLE XFMR
DOUBLE XFMR
DOUBLE BALUN
50
Does this mean that to achieve good performance one must
couple two transformers or two baluns onto the ADC’s front
end? Not necessarily. The analysis shows that it is essential to
use a transformer that has very little phase imbalance. In the
following examples (Figure 12 and Figure 13), two different single
transformers were used to drive the AD9238 with a 170-MHz IF
signal. These examples show that there is 29-dB improvement in
second harmonic when the ADC is driven by a transformer that
has improved phase imbalance at high frequencies.
40
1
0
ENCODE: 62MHz
SAMPLES: 16384
ANALOG: 15.8784MHz
–10
–20
30
–30
–40
20
AMPLITUDE (dB)
PHASE IMBALANCE (Degrees)
6
4
–120
0.1µF
The imbalances from these configurations were compared using
a vector network analyzer on specially designed characterization
boards. Figure 8 and Figure 9 compare the magnitude- and
phase imbalance of these configurations with that of a single
transformer.
4.0
+
5
–100
–140
4.5
3
–90
Figure 7. Double transformer configuration.
5.0
2
–80
–110
OUTPUT
0.1µF
–40
10
0
100k
1M
10M
100M
1G
FREQUENCY (Hz)
–60
3
–70
4
–80
+ 5
6
–90
SNR: 61.1dBc
SNRFS: 61.67dBfs
THD: –50.96dBc
SINAD: 50.56dBc
SFDR: 51.57dBc
NOISE FLOOR: –100.8dB
–100
Figure 9. Phase imbalance from 1 MHz to 1000 MHz.
–110
The above figures clearly show that the double configurations
have better phase imbalance at the cost of slightly degraded
magnitude imbalance. Therefore, using the results of the above
analysis, it appears that the double-transformer configurations
can be used to achieve better performance. FFT plots of
–130
Analog Dialogue 40-07, July (2006)
2
–50
FUND: –0.567dBfs
2ND: –51.02dBc
3RD: –70.71dBc
4TH: –82.33dBc
5TH: –83.9dBc
6TH: –88.86dBc
–120
0
3.1
6.2
9.3
12.4 15.5 18.6 21.7
FREQUENCY (MHz)
24.8
27.9
31.0
Figure 12. Single transformer input, FFT of
AD9238. 62 MSPS, IF = 170 MHz @ –0.5 dBFS,
second harmonic = –51.02 dBc.
1
0
ENCODE: 62MHz
SAMPLES: 16384
ANALOG: 15.8746MHz
–10
–20
FUND: –0.504dBfs
2ND: –80.56dBc
3RD: –77.09dBc
4TH: –98.55dBc
5TH: –88.81dBc
6TH: –95.01dBc
–30
AMPLITUDE (dB)
–40
–50
–60
–70
3
–80
2
+ 5
4
–90
6
–100
SNR: 62.81dBc
SNRFS: 63.31dBfs
THD: –75.21dBc
SINAD: 62.57dBc
SFDR: 77.24dBc
WOSPUR: –87.21dBc
NOISE FLOOR: –102.4dB
–110
–120
–130
0
3.1
6.2
9.3
12.4 15.5 18.6 21.7
FREQUENCY (MHz)
24.8
27.9
CONCLUSION
The phase imbalance of a transformer can worsen the secondharmonic distortion when the transformer is used as a front
end for processes (such as A/D conversion, D/A conversion,
and amplification) with high-IF inputs (>100 MHz). However,
by employing a pair of transformers or baluns, significant
improvements can be readily achieved, at the cost of an additional
transformer and extra PC board space.
Single-transformer designs can achieve adequate performance if
the design bandwidth is small and a suitable transformer is chosen.
However, they do require a limited matching of bandwidth, and
they can be expensive or physically large.
In either case, choosing the best transformer for any given
application requires detailed knowledge of the transformer’s
specifications. Phase imbalance is of particular importance for
high-IF inputs (>100 MHz). Even if it is not specified in the
data sheet, most transformer manufacturers will provide phaseimbalance information upon request. A network analyzer can be
used to measure the transformer’s imbalances as a check, or if the
information is not readily available.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Ravi Kummaraguntla, Andy Morgan,
and Chad Shelton for their help in the theoretical analysis and for
their lab support.
1.Reeder, Rob, “Transformer-Coupled Front End for Wideband
A/D Converters,” Analog Dialogue, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 3-6, 2005.
2.Mini-Circuits Data Sheet ADT1-1WT.
3.Pulse Data Sheet CX2039L.
4.Mini-Circuits Application Note: “How Transformers Work.”
5.The Mathworks Matlab program.
6.Analog Devices Data Sheet AD9445.
7.Analog Devices Data Sheet AD9238.
8.M/A-COM Data Sheet TP101.
9.Sprague-Goodman Data Sheet GLSB4R5M102.
% Matlab code to study the effect of magnitude
and phase imbalance of input
% signals on the output
% Oct 19, 2005
clear all; close all;
% Error terms that
magnErrdB = 0; %in
phaseErr = 50; %in
sd_noise = 100e-6;
can be set by the user
dB
degrees
%std dev of noise
31.0
Figure 13. Single transformer input, FFT of
AD9238. 62 MSPS, IF = 170 MHz @ –0.5 dBFS,
second harmonic = –80.56 dBc.
FURTHER READING
APPENDIX A
MATLAB code used in this experiment:
% Convert dB magnErr to voltage level
magnErr = 10^(magnErrdB/20);
% Coefficients
a0=0; %dc offset
a1=0.89; a2=0.00038; a3=0.0007; %coefficients
of 1st,2nd,3rd harmonics
%to match AD9445
typical FFT
fin = 100; %input freq - does not affect
calculations
t = 0:1:2047;
%Input signals
x1 = 0.5*sin((t/2048)*2*pi*fin);
x2 = 0.5*(magnErr)*sin(((t/2048)*2*pi*fin)-pi(phaseErr*pi/180));
%Each differential signal multiplied by the
transfer function
y1 = a0 + a1*x1 + a2*x1.^2 + a3*x1.^3;
y2 = a0 + a1*x2 + a2*x2.^2 + a3*x2.^3;
%Output
y = y1 - y2;
noise = sd_noise*randn(1,length(y));
y = y + noise;
% figure; plot(1000*t(1:80),x1(1:80),1000*t(1:8
0),x2(1:80),1000*t(1:80),y(1:80));
%Take the FFT
fft_y = fft(y/1024, 2048);
Pyy = 10*log10(fft_y.*conj(fft_y));
freq_axis = 0:1:1023;
% figure; plot(freq_axis, Pyy(1:1024), ‘-d’);
% title(‘Frequency content of the output’);
% xlabel(‘Frequency (Hz)’);
% axis tight;
%Print fundamental and 2nd, 3rd harmonics
f = Pyy(101)
h2 = Pyy(201)
h3 = Pyy(301)
Analog Dialogue 40-07, July (2006)