Stabilization of third-order, single-stage sigma-delta modulators (Q1306191)

The authors present a method for stabilizing high-order, single-stage \(\Sigma\Delta\) modulators, i.e. nonlinear systems comprising a linear filter and a quantizer in a feedback loop. The loop filter comprises cascaded integrators. Each time the value of the highest-order integrator exceeds a threshold, the integrator is cut off. The result is a lower-order \(\Sigma\Delta\) modulator which becomes unstable less easily or, in the case of reducing a third-order \(\Sigma\Delta\) modulator to a second-order one, is stable. Simulation results show that performance is in some respects better than with other methods. Implementation is easy, the required thresholds are close to those derived analytically using the variable gain method.