An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) including: a signal input adapted to receive an analog signal; a first reference voltage input adapted to receive a first reference voltage; a second reference voltage input adapted to receive a second reference voltage, the second reference voltage is different than the first reference voltage; a first delay circuit having a first delay input coupled to the signal input, a second delay input coupled to the first reference voltage input, a first delay output and a second delay output; a second delay circuit having a third delay input coupled to the signal input, a fourth delay input coupled to the second reference voltage input; a third delay output and a fourth delay output; a first comparator having a first comparator input coupled to the first delay output, a second comparator input coupled to the second delay output and a first comparator output; and a second comparator having a third comparator input coupled to the third delay output, a fourth comparator input coupled to the fourth delay output and a second comparator output.

A SAR ADC and an electronic device are disclosed. The SAR ADC includes a read clock generation circuit, configured to connect to a first output terminal and a second output terminal of a dynamic comparator, and generate a read clock signal for reading a first or a second comparison result based on the first and the second comparison result received from the dynamic comparator. The invention reads the comparison result using the read clock signal generated by grabbing the output of the comparator, and can improve the overall analog-to-digital conversion speed of the SAR ADC. Further, the present invention can detect the occurrence of metastable state of the comparator by judging that the output of the comparator has no pulse, and read the comparison result based on the backup clock generated by the operating clock of the comparator.

A flash analog to digital converter includes a voltage generator circuit, an encoder circuit, and first and second double differential amplifier circuits. The voltage generator circuit generates reference voltages according to first and second voltages. The encoder circuit generates a digital signal corresponding to an input signal according to first signals. The first double differential amplifier circuit compares the input signal with a first reference voltage in the reference voltages, to generate a corresponding one of the first signals. The second double differential amplifier circuit compares the input signal with a second reference voltage in the reference voltages, to generate a corresponding one of the first signals. A difference between the first voltage and the first reference voltage is less than that between the first voltage and the second reference voltage, and the first and the second double differential amplifier circuits have different circuit architectures.

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) having an input operable to receive an input voltage, V.sub.IN, and an output operable to output a digital code representative of V.sub.IN, the ADC including: a voltage-to-delay circuit having an input and an output, the input of the voltage-to-delay circuit coupled to the input of the ADC; a folding circuit having an input and an output, the input of the folding circuit coupled to the output of the voltage-to-delay circuit; and a time delay-based analog-to-digital converter backend having an input and a digital code output coupled to the output of the ADC, the input of the time delay-based analog-to-digital converter backend coupled to the output of the folding circuit.

A flash analog to digital converter includes a voltage generator circuit, an encoder circuit, and first and second double differential amplifier circuits. The voltage generator circuit generates reference voltages according to first and second voltages. The encoder circuit generates a digital signal corresponding to an input signal according to first signals. The first double differential amplifier circuit compares the input signal with a first reference voltage in the reference voltages, to generate a corresponding one of the first signals. The second double differential amplifier circuit compares the input signal with a second reference voltage in the reference voltages, to generate a corresponding one of the first signals. A difference between the first voltage and the first reference voltage is less than that between the first voltage and the second reference voltage, and the first and the second double differential amplifier circuits have different circuit architectures.

A semiconductor integrated circuit has a digital signal generator that generates a binary signal whose logic transitions at a timing according to a discharge amount of a second wiring which is discharged when multiplication data of first data stored in a memory cell and second data on a first wiring is a first logic; and a transition timing detector that detects a timing at which the logic of the binary signal transitions.

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) including: a signal input adapted to receive an analog signal; a first reference voltage input adapted to receive a first reference voltage; a second reference voltage input adapted to receive a second reference voltage, the second reference voltage is different than the first reference voltage; a first delay circuit having a first delay input coupled to the signal input, a second delay input coupled to the first reference voltage input, a first delay output and a second delay output; a second delay circuit having a third delay input coupled to the signal input, a fourth delay input coupled to the second reference voltage input; a third delay output and a fourth delay output; a first comparator having a first comparator input coupled to the first delay output, a second comparator input coupled to the second delay output and a first comparator output; and a second comparator having a third comparator input coupled to the third delay output, a fourth comparator input coupled to the fourth delay output and a second comparator output.

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) having an input operable to receive an input voltage, V.sub.IN, and an output operable to output a digital code representative of V.sub.IN, the ADC including: a voltage-to-delay circuit having an input and an output, the input of the voltage-to-delay circuit coupled to the input of the ADC; a folding circuit having an input and an output, the input of the folding circuit coupled to the output of the voltage-to-delay circuit; and a time delay-based analog-to-digital converter backend having an input and a digital code output coupled to the output of the ADC, the input of the time delay-based analog-to-digital converter backend coupled to the output of the folding circuit.

A method of converting an analog signal to a digital code, comprising: using a first comparator to receive an input signal and a first comparison signal, and to generate a first output as a function of the input signal and the first comparison signal; using a second comparator to receive the input signal and a second comparison signal, and to generate a second output as a function of the input signal and the second comparison signal; and using an interpolation comparator to receive the first and second outputs, and to generate a third output based on relative timing of the first and second outputs; further including multiplexing to permit a second-level comparator to receive timing signals from the interpolation comparator and only one of two dummy comparators.

An analog-digital converter includes a first analog-digital conversion unit configured to, during a first analog-digital conversion operation, sequentially charge each of n first differential node pairs, in response to a respective one of a differential sampling signal pair and first to (n−1).sup.th differential signal pairs among n differential signal pairs, in response to each of the n first differential node pairs being sequentially charged, sequentially generate each of n first differential data pairs, and sequentially generate each of n upper differential data pairs to be used as n-bit upper digital data, in response to a respective one of the sequentially-generated n first differential data pairs. The first analog-digital conversion unit is further configured to, during a second analog-digital conversion operation, simultaneously discharge each of the n first differential node pairs, in response to a n.sup.th differential signal pair among the n differential signal pairs.