An empirical study of high-order single-bit delta-sigma modulators

Computer simulations are used to determine the stability limits of single-bit delta-sigma modulators up to order 8. It is found that none of the existing criteria for stability are adequate for design. Plots of the maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) achievable with a given modulator order and oversampling ratio (OSR) are presented. These graphs can be used to determine the modulator order and OSR required to achieve a given SNR or to check the tightness of (as yet unavailable) theoretical bounds.>