Current Steering DAC circuit error analysis

THE potential for a Current Steering Digital to Analog Converter to achieve high speed operation is unfortunately matched with a similar potential to exhibit nonlinear behavior. In this chapter the main problems, their nature and the signal errors they cause are investigated. Via the detailed explanation of the way errors are generated, some important properties will be recorded to prepare for the classification that follows in the next chapters. A coarse separation is made between amplitude and time domain errors. Time domain errors are the most relevant for high frequency linearity.