The Application Wavelet Transform Algorithm in Testing ADC Effective Number of Bits

In evaluating Analog to Digital Convertors, many parameters are checked for performance and error rate. One of these parameters is the device Effective Number of Bits. In classical testing of Effective Number of Bits, testing is based on signal to noise components ratio (SNR), whose coefficients are driven via frequency domain (Fourier Transform) of ADC's output signal. Such a technique is extremely sensitive to noise and require large number of data samples. That is, longer and more complex testing process as the device under test increases in resolutions. Meanwhile, a new time - frequency domain approach (known as Wavelet transform) is proposed to measure and analyze Analog-to-Digital Converters parameter of Effective Number of Bits with less complexity and fewer data samples.

In this work, the algorithm of Wavelet transform was used to estimate worst case Effective Number of Bits and compare the new testing results with classical testing methods. Such an algorithm, Wavelet transform, have shown DSP testing process improvement in terms of time and computations complexity based on its special properties of multi-resolutions.