Sampling and Reconstruction of Piecewise Constant Signals by Parallel CR-Network

Piecewise constant (PWC) waveforms consisting of amplitude-modulated edges (AMEs) are an important signal family in optical communication technology. The sampling of PWC signals by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) requires an extremely high sampling rate. In this paper, we show that PWC signals can be measured and reconstructed using a parallel capacitor-resistor network (PCRN). The reconstruction of the amplitudes and arrival times of p AMEs occurring during one sampling period is possible using 2 p parallel CR-filters whose outputs are simultaneously sampled. The PCRN significantly reduces the sampling rate of the ADC, and the reconstruction algorithm is manageable on microprocessor and very large scale integration circuits. We describe several variations and applications of the PCRN sampling scheme.