Analog-to-digital converters are key components of signal processing system
s, and may even dictate system architectures due to their limitations on sa
mpling rate and resolution. The state of the art for ADCs, including both e
xperimental converters and commercially available parts, is reviewed herein
, and the data imply that the performance measure, P = 2(SNRbits) . f(samp)
, is mainly limited by uncertainty in the sampling process (aperture jitter
) over a very wide range of sampling rates. For ADCs operating at multi-GSP
S rates, the speed of the device technology is also a limiting factor (due
to comparator ambiguity). Furthermore, technological progress as measured b
y P has been slow of late; the average improvement is only similar to 1.5 b
its for any given sampling frequency over the last eight years.