Pipelined analog to digital converter that is configurable based on wireless communication protocol

摘要

A pipelined analog to digital converter (ADC) that is arranged to dynamically adapt its resolution and sampling frequency based on at least one of a determined mode of communication, communication protocol and the strength of a received wireless signal. Since some communication protocols are communicated with a relatively low number of bits (low resolution), the ADC provides for disabling at least a portion of its pipelined stages that provide the higher resolution bits if this type of protocol is detected. By lowering the ADC's resolution and/or frequency for a standby mode communication, a considerable amount of power can be conserved. Similarly, relatively high resolution communication protocol can be processed by the ADC by enabling sufficient pipelined stages to provide a higher resolution (number of bits).