Patent ID: 7446686

Claim:
A method of operating a delta-sigma data converter comprising: receiving an input signal at an input of a delta-sigma modulator having a loop filter including a plurality of integrator stages, a quantizer for generating a quantized output code from outputs of the integrator stages, and a feed-back loop coupling a feed-back signal from the output of the quantizer to the input of the delta-sigma modulator; and converting the input signal to quantized output codes during a conversion period including a plurality of integrator cycles comprising: holding each of the plurality of the integrator stages in reset for at least one integration cycle at the start of the conversion period to maintain stability of the modulator over a wider range of levels of the input signal; and sequentially releasing each of the plurality of integrator stages from reset over a selected number of integration cycles to sequentially increase the order of the delta-sigma modulator at the start of the conversion period.