Most oscillators that rate jitter are rated between 12 kHz and 20 MHz. This is due to historical reasons related to optical communications and is not applicable to most other practical cases. Performance may, in fact, fall apart beyond these limits, so take care not to be lured in without careful examination. # B0 y; m& E; o- i g
For many oscillators where close-in phase noise dominates, the lower limit has the most impact on the published figure. While this expression is convenient, as it yields a single number useful for calculation of ADC SNR degradation, it is not as informative as the spectral density. / S' w) K5 q7 y2 U3 Y
For example, two oscillators having different spectral content may have the same jitter over the same integration limits but may not produce the same SNR. Elevated wideband noise may not produce a poor jitter spec, but will degrade SNR. Close-in phase noise causes the fundamental signal to spread into adjacent frequency bins of an FFT, thereby reducing dynamic range, whereas broadband phase noise will uniformly elevate the noise floor throughout the entire Nyquist zone, thus reducing the overall SNR performance of the ADC.
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Jitter does not affect SFDR unless the clock also contains spurs. The lower frequency limit of integration should correspond to the frequency resolution of any manipulations of the sampled data as the size of an FFT increases, for example. # f! b1 \: X! d; A! z4 q
Understanding the effect of clock jitter on high-speed ADCs (Part 2 of 2)
* T1 {% F! J* G" A; x8 ADerek Redmayne & Alison Steer, Linear Technology Corp.8/14/2008 12:00 PM EDT(You can read
Part 1 here)
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The application determines the needs, not the ADC
7 u$ B/ O( y+ }9 w, Y8 `Applications which are receiving weak signals which are in close proximity to strong tones, such as.static reflections in Doppler ultrasound, radar, and RFID, are sensitive to close-in phase noise. Conversely, when digitizing a CCD output, jitter generally doesn't matter due to the low slew rate at the point in time at which sampling occurs. Video applications are also not very sensitive. For example, in HDTV the sample window is approximately 6400 psec (time per pixel).
$ b8 b, D: ? jHigh symbol-rate communications applications are generally not sensitive to close-in phase noise, and may not be overly sensitive to the effects of wideband phase noise. High crest-factor waveforms (WCDMA OFDM) with relatively even power distribution have a low RMS power level, and also require headroom, so will not elevate the noise floor as much as a full amplitude single tone. However, higher-order modulation types, such as QAM and M-nary phase modulation, are more susceptible to noise and have more narrow carrier-recovery loop bandwidths for the same symbol rates as, for example, QPSK used in CDMA systems.
( f# s( T0 f, Y- q: R/ rA digital radio where strong interferers (single tones) may appear in close proximity, or may be much stronger than the signal of interest, is generally demanding in terms of close-in phase noise, and may be sensitive to wideband phase noise. As any wideband signal source tends to have a high crest factor, and requires headroom for interferers, the nominal power at the ADC may be low. The characteristics of the band of interest must be taken into consideration in deciding on a clock source.
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Selecting an oscillator to drive high-speed ADCs
: i" ^6 s- A' C) X% H {8 O3 M) v& pMost oscillators will have close-in phase noise that will limit the dynamic range close to a strong fundamental. If close-in phase noise is important, based on your dynamic range requirement in proximity to strong tones, you may need a phase locked loop (PLL) to reduce the close-in noise of your oscillator source, or to lock your oscillator to an accurate frequency reference. The use of a PLL as a jitter cleaner essentially provides a very narrowband tracking filter.
$ @* d/ I9 b) t8 `: I GYour choice of oscillator will dictate your loop bandwidth, as well; your desired loop bandwidth will dictate the oscillator. A voltage-controlled crystal oscillator (VCXO) requires only a narrow loop bandwidth to track a stable reference. VCOs can provide wide tuning range, but need wider loop bandwidth in order to reduce their close-in phase noise to acceptable levels.
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If you only require a very restricted tuning range, perhaps locking to a reference oscillator, the use of a VCXO is the best option. If you need the octave tuning range of a VCO, and need low close-in phase noise, you may have a problem, especially if you need high divider ratios and low reference-comparison frequencies in your PLL.
Figure 4 shows a real VCXO phase noise plot, compared to a typical VCO.
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: E1 ^' s3 p8 `0 [. O3 @* g: E1 L) ~Figure 4: Comparison of VCXO versus hypothetical VCO phase-noise performance6 j9 m+ v' v) W
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; U1 `4 r j, W! \2 z7 C2 u: gThe optimal loop bandwidth for the PLL is suggested by the intersection of the noise density of the reference oscillator as multiplied by the center frequency, and the phase-noise plot of the VCXO or VCO. The example would suggest 2 kHz for the VCXO, and 300 kHz for the VCO. A 300 kHz corner requires a comparison frequency of at least 3 MHz, which suggests 5 MHz.
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The VCXO could be used with a comparison frequency as low as 20 kHz. If a lower frequency reference were used (high divide ratios) with the VCO, the intersection of the multiplied phase noise with that of the VCO would be at a lower frequency, substantially increasing the jitter. The use of an excessively low loop bandwidth with a lower multiplication ratio will cause the phase noise of a VCO to remain within the loop bandwidth. If your application is insensitive to close-in phase noise, and does not need to be locked to a reference, an XO can be used.
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Clock sources and clock architectures
2 w4 n" R+ F X! L4 K( S2 b' bA good clock can be compromised by routing it through an FPGA where internal crosstalk is prevalent. FPGAs often maximize their input/output connections (I/Os) at the expense of ground pins, resulting in ground bounce. If the FPGA is driving outputs at different rates, these will manifest themselves in any clock routed through the FPGA, and ultimately on the output of any ADC using that clock.
; u. q! x& v: C Q8 c( GA low-noise flip-flop clocked by the clean VCO signal can be used as a retiming stage to eliminate jitter when an FPGA is used to frequency-divide the VCO. The FPGA can be used to implement a narrow-band PLL for an external VCXO, with an external loop filter, and a loop-filter driver protected from reflected ground bounce from the FPGA. Do not use a digital lock loop (DLL) to produce a clock for an ADC unless you are over-sampling the audio band.
& ^6 y6 Y. }1 |3 i2 n2 T) |A good clock can also be compromised by routing it among digital signals. Any clock originating at any distance from the ADC must be routed through a conduit of copper and vias. Figure 5 shows examples of good and bad routing of clocks. The bad cases are where the clocks are within cavities shared with digital signals.
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: L4 h' q8 M/ [0 a/ E# uFigure 5: Example of good and bad layout for clock routing. 3 |2 {5 ?- q! p0 p/ z e9 h
(Click on image to enlarge)
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; G! }4 R: N e) d; cConclusion
: ]* B* r% l" Z1 f' DThe impact of jitter on ADC performance is a function of input frequency (slew rate), not sample rate. The choice of clock source will be determined by the application. Don't always believe the clock-source vendors. Test your clock sources with your ADC evaluation board before it is too late.
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