Advances in semiconductor technology together with increased demand for complex IC solutions in wireless, consumer, health care or industrial applications have driven significant innovation in data converters during the last decade. While some very good introductory books on the traditional converters and related fundamental concepts are readily available, a coverage of modern advanced analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) converters and emerging ones is missing. Having to deal with several hundred academic papers and patents as well as tens of specialized monographs aimed at an audience of experts can be frightening and downright disorienting to many practitioners (including IC designers, system designers, and users of data converters) or graduate students attempting to gain insight into one of today's hottest IC areas. This book attempts to cover some of this knowledge gap, offering a bird's-eye view of the relevant principles, the competing requirements, architectures, and circuit techniques, and, perhaps, providing a vision for future developments in this field. It explains the motivations, ideas, and trends associated with the latest and most attention-worthy topics in data conversion of the last ten years or so.

It is assumed that the typical reader has mastered the basics of both analog/mixed signal design and data conversion. Each subject is introduced by a short summary of the key concepts at its base and complemented by several references guiding readers who might want to look more deeply at each topic.