Replica compensated heterogeneous DACs and methods

摘要

Digital to analog converters having a hybrid two-stage structure. The first stage is a differential segmented current DAC controlled by the MSBs (most significant bits) of input data. The second stage is a resistor string DAC controlled by the LSBs (least significant bits) of the input data to interpolate between the differential outputs of the first stage. The resistor string is directly connected to the current DAC without the need of buffer amplifiers. Instead, a replica circuit is used to prevent the second-stage resistor string from loading the first stage current DAC. Compensation techniques are described.