Abstract
This letter introduces a novel two-step Single Slope Analog-to-Digital
Converter (SS-ADC) architecture featuring high 3-bit and low 7-bit
quantization stages. It reuses the programmable gain amplifier (PGA) as
the Multiplying Digital-to-Analog Converter (MDAC) for residue
amplification, enhancing resource efficiency. A on-demand column-level
MDAC calibration mechanism without redundant bits corrects coarse
quantization errors and ensures accurate residue amplification. These
innovations significantly improve speed, accuracy, and robustness,
achieving an SNR of 59 dB, along with DNL and INL within 1.5 LSB, which
is suitable for high-performance CMOS image sensors.