Measuring Volterra kernels of analog to digital converters using a stepped three-tone scan

Volterra theory can be used to mathematically model nonlinear dynamic components such as analog-to-digital converter (ADC). This paper describes how frequency domain Volterra kernels of an ADC are determined from measurements. The elements of Volterra theory are given and practical issues are considered, such as methods for signal conditioning, finding the appropriate test signals scenario and suitable sampling frequency. The results show that for the used pipeline ADC, the frequency dependence is significantly stronger for second order difference products than for sum products and the linear frequency dependence was not as pronounced as that of the second order Volterra kernel