Delta-Sigma modulator

Abstract: A signal processor for 1-bit signals comprises an nth order Delta-Sigma Modulator (DSM) having an input 4 for receiving a 1-bit signal and an output 5 at which a processed 1-bit signal is produced by a quantizer Q. The quantizer Q receives a p-bit signal from a series of 5 signal integration stages. Each stage comprises a first 1-bit multiplier An coupled to the input 4, a second 1-bit multiplier Cn coupled to the output 5, an adder 6n which sums the outputs of the coefficient multipliers and an integrator 7n which integrates the output of the adder 6n. A final stage comprises a coefficient multiplier An+1 and an adder 6n+1. The adder 6n+1 sums the output of the coefficient multiplier An+1 and the output of the integrator of the preceding integration stage. The input signal is fed to all the stages except the final stage via a 1-bit delay. The output signal of the quantizer is fed back to the stages via a 1-bit delay. The final stage receives the input signal without delay and also receives from the preceding stage the integral corresponding in timing to the input bit received thereby.

Description: The present invention relates to a 1-bit signal processor comprising an nth order Delta-Sigma Modulator having a filter section where n is at least one. Preferred embodiments of the invention relate to processing audio signals but the invention is not limited to audio signal processors. Background to the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings of which Figure 1 is a block diagram of a known Delta-Sigma Modulator, Figure 2 is a block diagram of a previously proposed Delta-Sigma Modulator configured as an 3rd order (n=3) filter section and Figure 3 shows a noise shaping characteristic. It is known to convert an analogue signal to a digital form by sampling the analogue signal at at least the Nyquist rate and encoding the amplitudes of the samples by an m bit number. Thus if m = 8, the sample is said to be quantized to an accuracy of 8 bits. In general m can be any number of bits equal to or greater than 1. For the purpose of quantizing to only 1 bit, it is known to provide an analogue to digital converter (ADC) known either as a "Sigma-Delta ADC" or as a "Delta-Sigma ADC". Herein the term "Delta-Sigma" is used. Such an ADC is described in for example "A Simple Approach to Digital Signal Processing" by Craig Marven and Gillian Ewers ISBN 0-904.047-00-8 published 1993 by Texas Instruments. Referring to Figure 1 in an example of such an ADC, the difference 1 (Delta) between an analogue input signal and the integral 2 (Sigma) of the 1-bit output signal is fed to a 1-bit quantizer 3. The output signal comprises bits of logical value 0 and 1 but representing actual values of -1 and +1 respectively. The integrator 3 accumulates the 1-bit outputs so that value stored in it tends to follow the value of the analog signal. The quantizer 3 increases (+1) or reduces (-1) the accumulated value by 1-bit as each bit is produced. The ADC requires a very high sampling rate to allow the production of an output bit stream the accumulated value of which follows the analogue signal. The term "1-bit" signal as used in the following description and in the claims means a signal quantized to an accuracy of 1 digital bit such as is produced by a Delta-Sigma ADC. A Delta-Sigma Modulator (DSM) configured as nth order filter section for directly processing a 1-bit signal was proposed by N.M. Casey and James A.S. Angus in a paper presented at the 95th AES Convention 7-10 October 1993 New York, USA entitled "One Bit Digital Processing of Audio Signals" - Signal Processing: Audio Research Group, The Electronics Department, The University of York, Heslington, York YO1 5DD England. Figure 2 shows a 3rd order (n=3) version of such a DSM filter section. Referring to Figure 2, the DSM has an input 4 for a 1-bit audio signal and an output 5 at which a processed 1-bit signal is produced. The bits of the 1-bit signal are clocked through the DSM by known clocking arrangements which are not shown. The output 1-bit signal is produced by a 1-bit quantizer Q which is for example a comparator having a threshold level of zero. The DSM has three stages each comprising a first 1-bit multiplier a 1 , a 2 , a 3 connected to the input 4, a second 1-bit multiplier c 1 , c 2 , c 3 connected to the output 5, an adder 61, 62, 63 and an integrator 71, 72, 73. Each integrator has a delay of 1 bit period. The 1-bit multipliers multiply the received 1-bit signal by p bit coefficients A1, A2, A3, C1 C2, C3 producing p bit products which are added by the adders 61, 62, 63 and the sums passed to the integrators 71, 72, 73. In the intermediate stages the adders 62, 63 also sum the output of the integrator of the preceding stage. A final stage comprises another 1-bit multiplier a 4 connected to the input which multiplies the input signal by a p bit coefficient A4 and an adder 64 which adds the product to the output of the integrator 73 of the preceding stage. The sum is passed to the quantizer Q. Within the DSM, two's complement arithmetic may be used to represent the positive and negative p bit numbers. The input to the quantizer Q may be positive, quantized at the output as +1 (logical 1) or negative, quantized at the output as -1 (logical 0). As observed by Casey and Angus "a one bit processor .. will produce a one bit output that contains an audio signal that is obscured by noise to an unacceptable level and it is imperative the quantization noise is suitably shaped". The noise which obscures the audio signal is the quantization noise produced by the quantizer Q. The quantizer Q may be modelled as an adder which has a first input receiving an audio signal and a second input receiving a random bit stream (the quantization noise) substantially uncorrelated with the audio signal. Modelled on that basis, the audio signal received at the input 4 is fed forward by multipliers a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , a 4 to the output 5 and fed back by multipliers c 1 , c 2 , c 3 from the output 5. Thus coefficients A1-A4 in the feed forward path define zeros of the Z-transform transfer function of the audio signal and coefficients C1-C3 in the feed back path define poles of the transfer function of the audio signal. The noise signal, however is fed-back from the quantizer by the multipliers C 1 -C 3 so that coefficients C1-C3 define poles of the transfer function of the noise signal. The transfer function of the noise signal is not the same as that of the input signal. The coefficients A1-A4 and C1-C3 are chosen to provide circuit stability amongst other desired properties. The coefficients C1-C3 are chosen to provide noise shaping so as to minimise quantization noise in the audio band, as shown for example in Figure 3 by the full line 31. The coefficients A1-A4 and C1-C3 are also chosen for a desired audio signal processing characteristic. The coefficients A1-A4 and C1-C3 may be chosen by: a) finding the Z-transform H(z) of the desired filter characteristic - e.g noise shaping function; and b) transforming H(z) to coefficients. This may be done by the methods described in the papers "Theory and Practical Implementation of a Fifth Order Sigma-Delta A/D Converter, Journal of Audio Engineering Society, Volume 39, no. 7/8, 1991 July/August by R.W Adams et al." and in the paper by Angus and Casey mentioned hereinbefore and using the knowledge of those skilled in the art. One way of calculating the coefficients is outlined in the accompanying Annex. The DSM is clocked at the sampling rate of the 1-bit signal. For audio this rate may be in the range about 2.8kHz to about 2.8MHz, preferably 2.8224MHz. The DSM of Figure 2 has a final adder 64 coupled to the first adder 61 via only the quantizer Q and the feedback path. All the other adders are coupled via the integrator stages 71,72,73 each of which has a delay of one bit period. In an implementation in which the adders 61,62,63 take at least a major portion of a bit period in which to produce a settled sum, the adders 64 and 61 slow the operation of the circuit. According to the present invention, there is provided an nth order Delta-Sigma Modulator (DSM) where n is at least one, the DSM having: an input for receiving a 1-bit signal; a quantizer for requantizing a p-bit signal to 1-bit form, the requantized signal being the output signal of the DSM; and a plurality of signal combiners including: a first combiner for forming an integral of an additive combination of the product of the input signal and a respective first coefficient and of the product of the output signal and a respective second coefficient; at least one intermediate combiner each for forming an integral of an additive combination of the product of the input signal and a respective first coefficient and of the product of the output signal and a respective second coefficient, and of the integral of the preceding stage; and a final combiner for forming an additive combination of the product of the input signal and a respective first coefficient and of the integral of the preceding stage to form the said p bit signal which is requantized by the quantizer to form the 1-bit output signal; characterised in that: the said input signal is fed to the first combiner and intermediate combiners via a delay period corresponding to the delay period through a combiner, and to the final combiner without such delay period; the 1-bit output signal of the quantizer is fed-back to the combiners via an equal delay period; and the final combiner receives from the preceding combiner a p-bit signal advanced in timing by said delay period so that the advanced timing of said p-bit signal from said preceding combiner corresponds to the advanced timing of the said input signal received by the final combiner relative to the timing of the said input signal as fed to said first and intermediate combiners. Thus the DSM operates more quickly because the combiner of the final stage and the combiner of the first stage are separated by a 1-bit delay and compensating delays are provided elsewhere in the DSM. As a result the final and first combiners each have time to produce a settled result within a bit period without being delayed by awaiting a settled result from its previous combiner. The invention provides a Delta Sigma Modulator in which all the adders of the combiners are, in the feedback path, from the output of the final adder to the input of the final adder, separated by 1-bit delays. For a better understanding of the present invention, reference will now be made by way of example to Figures 4 to 7 of the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram of a Delta-Sigma Modulator (DSM) according to the present invention; Figure 5 is a block diagram of a modification of the DSM of Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a block diagram of an alternative DSM. The Delta-Sigma Modulator (DSM) of Figure 4 is a nth order DSM having n integrator sections and a final section. The DSM has an input 4 for receiving a 1-bit signal X(n) and an output 5 at which a processed 1-bit signal Y(n) is produced. The bits are clocked through the DSM by known clocking arrangements (not shown) at the 1-bit sampling rate which may be about 2.8MHz. The output signal is produced by a quantizer Q in the final stage. The quantizer Q receives a p bit signal which may be, for example, in two's complement form to represent positive and negative numbers. The quantizer may be a comparator having a threshold of zero. The quantizer quantizes positive signals as +1 (logical 1) and quantizes negative signals as -1 (logic 0). The quantizer Q is coupled to the output 5 via a 1-bit delay 8. In the description which follows, as above, a notation will be used in which a multiplier a n or c n is operable to multiply an input value by a coefficient An or Cn respectively. The first integrator section comprises a first 1-bit multiplier a connected to the input 4 via a 1-bit delay 6, a second 1-bit coefficient multiplier C1 connected to the quantizer output 5 via a 1-bit delay 8, an adder 61 which sums the outputs of the 1-bit multipliers a 1 and c 1 and an integrator 71 which integrates the output of the adder 61. The integrator has a delay of 1 bit period. The 1-bit coefficient multipliers a 1 and c 1 multiply the 1-bit signals by p-bit coefficients A1 and C1. Each of the intermediate integrator sections likewise comprises a first 1-bit coefficient multiplier a 2 to a 3 connected to the input 4 via the 1 bit delay 6, a second 1-bit coefficient multiplier c 2 , c 3 , connected to the quantizer Q via the 1 bit delay 8, an adder 62, 63, and an integrator 72, 73. The adders 62, 63 receive, in addition to the outputs of the coefficients multipliers, the output of the integrator of the preceding stage. The final section comprises a 1-bit multiplier a 4 connected directly to the input 4 to receive the input signal X(n) undelayed, an adder 64, and the quantizer Q. The adder is connected, not to the output of the delay element of the integrator 73 of the preceding stage, but to the input of that integrator's delay element. As shown in Figure 7 each integrator in Figure 4 comprises an adder 75 in series with a 1 bit delay element 74. The output of the delay element is fed back to the adder to accumulate the integral of the output of the adder 75 which receives the sum of the outputs of the coefficient multipliers. The adder of the integrator in Figure 7 is implemented separately from the adders 61-63 which sum the outputs of the coefficient multipliers of the stages. That it is not essential: the adder of the integrator may be implemented by the adder 61, 62 or 63. As discussed above the coefficients A1 to A4 and C1 to C3 may be chosen by the methods described in the above-mentioned papers. The coefficients are, of course, chosen to provide circuit stability. Referring to Figure 3 the coefficients are also chosen to provide noise shaping as indicated in solid line 31 in Figure 3 whereby noise in the region of the input signal 32 (in-band noise) is reduced. The coefficients A1 to A4 which operate on the input signal may be variable to vary the gain of the input signal. The adders 61, 62 , 63 and 64 are implemented in an example of the DSM by circuits which require at least a major portion of a 1-bit sampling period to add and produce a settled result: the adders are for example ripple-carry adders. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention as shown in Figure 4 the input signal X(n) is fed directly to the final stage and via the 1-bit delay 6 to the first and intermediate stages. In addition the 1-bit output signal Y(n) produced by the quantizer Q is fed back to the first and intermediate stages via a 1-bit delay 8. In addition the adder of the final stage receives the p-bit signal from its preceding stage not from the output of the delay of the preceding integrator but from the input of that delay. As a result the analysis set out in the Annex applies unchanged to the DSM of Figure 4. As a result the adder of the final stage receives its inputs early compared to the preceding stages because it receives its current bit of the input signal 1-bit period before the other preceding stages and also receives the corresponding bit from the integrator of the preceding stage 1 bit period early. Thus the addition it performs is settled and delivered by the compensating output delay 8 to the first stage. Referring to Figure 5 and as more fully described in co-filed UK application 9624671.5 (GB-A-2 319 931) a DSM may be constructed as a signal mixer. Two inputs 4a and 4b are provided; the input 4a is connected to each of the adders 61 to 64 by the coefficient multipliers a 1 to a 3 and the input 4b is connected to the same adders by further coefficient multipliers b 1 to b 3 . Figure 5 shows the arrangement for just one integrator stage. The delay 6 is not shown. Other forms of DSM may be provided. For instance the DSM may provide a Chebyschev filter characteristic. An example of such a DSM is shown in Figure 6 for order n=5. The DSM of figure 6 additionally comprises feedback coefficients alpha , beta , gamma etc. to provide the desired transfer characteristic. The analysis of the Annex would need to be modified to take account of the feedback coefficients. Where the coefficients A (and B) are variable a coefficient generator 10 is provided as shown in Figure 4. The coefficient generator 10 is responsive to a control signal CS to calculate the coefficients A1 to A4. The generator may comprise a microcomputer. ANNEX CALCULATING COEFFICIENTS This annex outlines a procedure for analysing a fifth order DSM and for calculating coefficients of a desired filter characteristic. A fifth order DSM is shown in Figure A having coefficients a to f and A to E, adders 6 and integrators 7. Integrators 7 each provide a unit delay. The outputs of the integrator are denoted from left to right s to w. The input to the DSM is a signal x[n] where [n] denotes a sample in a clocked sequence of samples. The input to the quantizer Q is denoted y[n] which is also the output signal of the DSM. The analysis is based on a model of operation which assumes quantizer Q is simply an adder which adds random noise to the processed signal. The quantizer is therefore ignored in this analysis. The signal y[n] = fx[n] + w[n] i.e. output signal y[n] at sample [n] is the input signal x[n] multiplied by coefficient f plus the output w[n] of the preceding integrator 7. Applying the same principles to each output signal of the integrators 7 results in Equations set 1. y [ n ] = fx [ n ]+ w [ n ] w [ n ] = w [ n -1]+ ex [ n -1]+ Ey [ n -1]+ v [ n -1] v [ n ] = v [ n -1]+ dx [ n -1]+ Dy [ n -1]+ u [ n -1] u [ n ] = u [ n -1]+ cx [ n -1]+ Cy [ n -1]+ t [ n -1] t [ n ] = t [ n -1]+ bx [ n -1]+ By [ n -1]+ s [ n -1] s [ n ] = s [ n -1]+ ax [ n -1]+ Ay [ n -1] These equations are transformed into z-transform equations as well known in the art resulting in equations set 2. Y ( z ) = fX ( z )+ W ( z ) W ( z )(1- z -1 ) = z -1 ( eX ( z )+ EY ( z )+ V ( z )) V ( z )(1- z -1 ) = z -1 ( dX ( z )+ DY ( z )+ U ( z )) U ( z )(1- z -1 ) = z -1 ( cX ( z )+ CY ( z )+ T ( z )) T ( z )(1- z -1 ) = z -1 ( bX ( z )+ BY ( z )+ S ( z )) S ( z )(1- z -1 ) = z -1 ( aX ( z )+ AY ( z )) The transform equations can be solved to derive Y(z) as a single function of X(z) (Equation 3) Y ( z ) = fX ( z ) + z -1 (1- z 1 ) ( eX ( z ) + EY ( z ) + z -1 1- z -1 ( dX ( z ) + DY ( z ) + z -1 1- z -1 ( cX ( z ) + CY ( z ) + z -1 1- z -1 ( bX ( z ) + BY ( z ) + z -1 1- z -1 ( aX ( z ) + AY ( z )))))) This may be reexpressed as shown in the right hand side of the following equation, Equation 4. A desired transfer function of the DSM can be expressed in series form Y ( z ) X ( z ) given in left hand side of the following equation and equated with the right hand side in Equation 4. Y ( z ) X ( z ) = α 0 + α 1 z -1 + α 2 z -2 + α 3 z -3 + α 4 z -4 + α 5 z -5 β 0 + β 1 z -1 + β 2 z -2 + β 3 z -3 + β 4 z -4 + β 5 z -5 = f (1- z -1 ) 5 + z -1 e (1- z -1 ) 4 + z -2 d (1- z -1 ) 3 + z -3 c (1- z -1 ) 2 + z -4 b (1- z -1 ) + z -5 a (1- z -1 ) 5 - z -1 E (1- z -1 ) 4 - z -2 (1- z -1 ) 3 - z -3 C (1- z -1 ) 2 - z -4 B (1- z -1 )- Z -5 A Equation 4 can be solved to derive the coefficients f to a from the coefficients α 0 to α 5 and coefficients E to A from the coefficients β 0 to β 5 as follows noting that the coefficients α n and β n are chosen in known manner to provide a desired transfer function. f is the only z 0 term in the numerator. Therefore f = α 0 . The term α 0 (1-z -1 ) 5 is then subtracted from the left hand numerator resulting in α 0 + α 1 z -1 ... +...α 5 z -5 - α 0 (1-z -1 ) 5 which is recalculated. Similarly f(1-z -1 ) 5 is subtracted from the right hand numerator. Then e is the only z -1 term and can be equated with the corresponding α 1 in the recalculated left hand numerator. The process is repeated for all the terms in the numerator. The process is repeated for all the terms in the denominator.

Claims: An nth order Delta-Sigma Modulator DSM, where n is at least one, the DSM having: an input (4) for receiving a 1-bit signal; a quantizer (Q) for requantizing a p-bit signal to 1-bit form, the requantized signal being the output signal of the DSM; and a plurality of signal combiners (61, 62, 63) including: a first combiner (61) for forming an integral of an additive combination of the product of the input signal (X(n)) and a respective first coefficients (A1) and of the product of the output signal (Y(n)) and a respective second coefficient (C1); at least one intermediate combiner (62, 63) each for forming an integral of an additive combination of the product of the input signal (X(n)) and a respective first coefficient (A2, A3) and of the product of the output signal (Y(n)) and a respective second coefficient (C2,C3), and of the integral of the preceding stage (61, 62); and a final combiner (64) for forming an additive combination of the product of the input signal (X(n)) and a respective first coefficient (A4) and of the integral of the preceding stage (63) to form the said p bit signal which is requantized by the quantizer (Q) to form the 1-bit output signal; characterised in that : the said input signal is fed to the first combiner (61) and intermediate combiners (62, 63) via a delay period (6) corresponding to the delay period through a combiner, and to the final combiner (64) without such delay period; the 1-bit output signal (Y(n)) of the quantizer (Q) is fed-back to the combiners (61, 62, 63) via an equal delay period (8); and the final combiner (64) receives from the preceding combiner (63) a p-bit signal advanced in timing by said delay period so that the advanced timing of said p-bit signal from said preceding combiner (63) corresponds to the advanced timing of the said input signal (X(n)) received by the final combiner (64) relative to the timing of the said input signal as fed to said first (61) and intermediate (62, 63) combiners. A DSM according to claim 1, wherein the said first coefficients (A1, A2, A3, A4) are variable. A DSM according to claim 2, further comprising means (10) for producing the variable first coefficients. A DSM according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein each combiner (61, 62, 63, 64) comprises a ripple-carry adder. A DSM according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein the DSM has a further input (4b) for receiving a further 1-bit signal and each combiner (61, 62, 63, 64) additionally combines the product of the further 1-bit signal with a respective further coefficient (B1, B2, B3, B4) with the aforesaid additive combination. An audio signal processor comprising a DSM according to any preceding claim.

Inventors: EASTTY PETER CHARLES, SLEIGHT CHRISTOPHER, THORPE PETER DAMIEN, EASTTY, PETER CHARLES, SLEIGHT, CHRISTOPHER, THORPE, PETER DAMIEN
Applicants: SONY UK LTD, SONY UNITED KINGDOM LIMITED
Application year: 1998
Main classification: H03M7
IPC codes: H03M3, H03M7