Research Article

Design and implementation of a platform for experimental testing and validation of analog-to-digital converters: static and dynamic parameters

¹ University of Carthage, National Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, INSAT, Research Laboratory “Materials, Measurements and Applications”, Centre Urbain Nord, BP676, 1080 Tunis Cedex, Tunisia
² University of Sfax, National Engineering School of Sfax, ENIS, Research Unit in Micro-Electro-Thermal Systems METS, BP 1173-3038, km 3.5, Sfax, Tunisia

^⁎ Corresponding author: nejm.sifi@fss.rnu.tn

Received: 11 December 2016
Accepted: 2 May 2017

Abstract

This paper presents an implementation of a data acquisition system for analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) using “Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW)” as software for data analysis. The designed and implemented platform allows interaction with the device under test through means of data acquisition and instrument controls. Developing custom tests in LabVIEW can result in reduced test time, which in turn will help reduce costs in testing. This system was developed for evaluation purposes of ADC's static and dynamic parameters (gain error, offset error, DNL, INL, SNR, SINAD, IMD, etc.) using single and multi-frequency signals. The virtual control and analysis instrument was created in “LabVIEW” environment to control test signals generation and data acquisition. The testing performance of the platform is demonstrated using the classical ADC circuit “ADC0804”. A comparison with experimental results obtained by CANTEST platform from Bordeaux University (France) is also presented to highlight our platform.