High Performance Rad Hard Analog to Digital Converter Architectures

Orora Design Technologies proposes to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of a template-based solution to the design of high-performance radiation-hardened analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). Research will be focused on innovatice architectures for a Delta-Sigma ADC of 2.5 MSPS data rate at 16-bit or greater resolution with 250mW or less power consumption, and a pipelined ADC of 180MSPS data rate at 14-bit or greater resolution with 540mW or less power consumption. Baseline radiation goals are 300Krad total dose, and single-event latchup immune and single-event upsets with LET greater than 15, and bit error rates less than 1E-10 errors/bit-day. The output of this research is template-based architectures and a behavioral model library that captures expert radiation-hardening design techniques and can be adapted to different design performance requirements and fabrication processes. In addition, a set of enabling computer-aided design tools will be developed in a mainstream EDA design environment and can be used by avionic electronics designers. The technical novelty of this research consists of (a) joint optimization of architectures, processes, and circuits for varying applications and radiation hardness, (b) hierarchical radiation-aware parametric behavioral modeling, and (c) adaptive design templates.