An analysis of nonlinear behavior in delta - sigma modulators

This paper introduces a new method of analysis for deltasigma modulators based on modeling the nonlinear quantizer with a linearized gain, obtained by minimizing a mean-square-error criterion [7], followed by an additive noise source representing distortion components. In the paper, input signal amplitude dependencies of delta-sigma modulator stability and signal-to-noise ratio are analyzed. It is shown that due to the nonlinearity of the quantizer, the signal-to-noise ratio of the modulator may decrease as the input amplitude increases prior to saturation. Also, a stable third-order delta-sigma modulator may become unstable by increasing the input amplitude beyond a certain threshold. Both of these phenomena are explained by the nonlinear analysis of this paper. The analysis is carried out for both dc and sinusoidal excitations.