G. Chiorboli et al., UNCERTAINTIES IN QUANTIZATION-NOISE ESTIMATES FOR ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTERS, IEEE transactions on instrumentation and measurement, 46(1), 1997, pp. 56-60
Estimates of quantization noise, obtained by stimulating an ideal anal
og-to-digital converter with a sine wave contained in the input range,
are affected by an appreciable uncertainty, which may affect SNR and
ENB specifications, especially in the case of low resolution devices.
The uncertainty can be eliminated, when possible, by the use of an inp
ut sine wave bringing the converter into saturation. The different eff
ects of additive noise on the noise estimates obtained by the various
test procedures are also discussed, showing, in particular, that quant
ization noise may be overestimated by histogram testing,vith a nonsatu
rating input sine wave, Therefore, any noise specification should clea
rly make reference to the test signal parameters and to the instrument
ation characteristics.