High-performance ADC linearity test using low-precision signals in non-stationary environments

This work describes a linearity test strategy for ADCs that uses stimuli with precision much lower than the ADC resolution and tolerates environment nonstationarity. This approach can be applied to testing ADCs of very high performance, such as 16-bit or higher resolutions and more than 1 MSPS sampling rates, to which there is hardly a well-established solution for full-code test. Simulation and experimental results show that a 16-bit ADC can be tested to 1-LSB accuracy by using input signals of 7-bit linearity in an environment with more than 100 ppm per minute nonstationarity. The proposed method can also help control the cost of ADC production test, extend the test coverage and enable built-in self-test and test-based self-calibration