Hi guys,
my question is that how INL and DNL of ADC plays any part in an oscilloscope and what is the maximum DNL and INL allowed for the ADC. I was looking at the specs of Agilent DSO80000B scope, but I could not find any relationship whatsoever. The purpose of this question is for my thesis where I’m designing a 10GS/s ADC for a digital oscilloscope application and I couldn't find any literature on this issue. Does anybody know?:?:
My understanding is that the DNL must be less than ±0.25LSB so that the oscilloscope can resolve N bits that you want. INL determines the accuracy of the oscilloscope desired.
thanks for your response. what if accuracy is not #1 priority. I am aiming for the highest speed Scope. but im not sure what sets an acceptable range for INL and DNL. if you have any reference,i would really appreciate.
I was just checking some digital oscilloscopes from tektronics. They have parameters vertical resolution and vertical accuracy. DNL and INL affect these parameters. You will have some spec for your resolution. You can target ±0.25 LSB for DNL. If there is no resolution spec also then at least make it monotonic. DNL >-1 LSB. Do not target anything for INL right now. Go ahead and meet your speed spec.
DNL and INL are nonlinearities and affect the resolution like any other non linearities. They are like noise (though deterministic) and are unwanted thereby reducing the effective resolution. In order for DNL to have minimum effect, it should be targeted to be ±0.25LSB. If DNL is 1 LSB, then the resolution is reduced by 1 bit.