Amplitude estimation of a sine wave with unknown offset in A/D conversion processes

This paper deals with the application of the analytical model of quantization in order to characterize the uncertainty in the estimation of the amplitude of a sine wave with unknown offset through the discrete Fourier transform. It is shown that the conventional noise model of quantization in this case can lead to an underestimation of the uncertainty. The proposed analytical results are validated by means of numerical simulations. The topic has specific significance in applications based on high-speed low-resolution ADCs, where quantization is a significant source of uncertainty.