Optimization of Quantized Analog Signal Processing Using Genetic Algorithms and μ-Law

Digital mismatch calibration for quantized analog (QA) signal processing is proposed for the first time. Since the proposed calibration mechanism does not require uniform QA slicer levels, non-uniform quantization can be applied to improve the system performance. We propose two methods utilizing the genetic algorithm and $\mu $ -law to find non-uniform slicer levels offering superior performance compared to uniform levels. Simulations show that for a QA amplifier consisting of 32 slices, the signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) under a multitone input can be doubled by adjusting only the quantization levels while maintaining the same structure and same power, compared to uniform quantization levels that provide 54 dB of SNDR.