Design and Evaluation of Frequency-Agile Multi-Standard Direct RF Digitizing Receivers for Automotive Use

This paper presents the design and evaluation of a ΣΔ-modulator based analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for direct RF digitization within a multi-standard vehicular connectivity architecture. Upcoming trends and changes which will require new architecture concepts for connectivity in the automotive domain are discussed. Hardware requirements are derived. Based on these goals, a reconfigurable ADC is designed with capabilities of digitizing all relevant wireless services for vehicular use within the frequency range of 600 MHz to 6GHz. A performance assessment is done based on evaluation of the signal to noise ratio within a realistic use case where multiple services at different frequencies are successfully digitized.