Estimation of the Effective Number of Bits of ADCs using the Interpolated DFT method

This paper deals with a procedure for a high accuracy estimation of the Effective Number Of Bits (ENOB) of an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC). According to this procedure the ADC output sine-wave parameters are determined by means of the Interpolated Discrete Fourier Transform (IpDFT) method. A criterion for the selection of the window to be used in the IpDFT method is given in the paper. Moreover, a constraint on the number of acquired samples that ensures accurate ENOB estimates with a high confidence level is derived. Finally, the accuracy of the proposed procedure is compared with the ones used in the existent standards for ADCs testing by means of both computer simulations and experimental results.