A 14-bit 500-MS/s DAC with digital background calibration

The linearity of current-steering digital-to-analog converters (DACs) at low signal frequencies is mainly limited by matching properties of current sources, so large-size current source arrays are widely used for better matching. This, however, results in large gradient errors and parasitic capacitance, which degrade the spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) for high-frequency signals. To overcome this problem, calibration is an effective method. In this paper, a digital background calibration technique for current-steering DACs is presented and verified by a 14-bit DAC in a 0.13 μm standard CMOS process. The measured differential nonlinearity (DNL) and integral nonlinearity (INL) are 0.4 LSB and 1.2 LSB, respectively. At 500-MS/s, the SFDR is 70 dB and 50.3 dB for signals of 5.4 MHz and 224 MHz, respectively. The core area is 0.69 mm2 and the power consumption is 165 mW from a mixed power supply with 1.2 V and 3.3 V.