System and method for self-calibrating a multi-bit delta-sigma analog to digital (a/d) converter during operation of the a/d converter

Abstract

A system and method for calibrating an analog to digital (A/D) converter. The A/D converter includes an internal D/A converter, wherein the internal D/A converter includes a plurality of current generators, and wherein one or more of the current generators may produce linearity errors in the A/D converter. The A/D converter includes a switching element connected to the internal D/A converter. During calibration, the switching element operates to adjust connections to the current generators in the internal D/A converter one or more times according to different switching patterns, thereby causing different ones of the current generators to be stimulated by an input to the A/D converter. This avoids the necessity of using a complex and costly waveform generator input during calibration, which would normally be required to ensure that all of the current generators in the internal D/A converter are stimulated. Rather, a much simpler input can be used in calibrating the A/D converter, thereby reducing cost. A plurality of output digital signals from the A/D converter are recorded during calibration, wherein these recorded signals contain linearity error information associated with the respective current generators. This linearity error information may be extracted and used in calibrating the A/D converter.