FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to digital microphone and other sensor assemblies and more particularly to digital sensor assemblies comprising a successive-approximation (SA) quantizer, SA quantizers for such sensor assemblies, and methods therein.

BACKGROUND

Digital microphones having a transduction element, like a micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) motor, that converts sound into an electrical signal conditioned or processed by an integrated circuit are known generally and used in cell phones, personal computers, smart speakers and internet of things (IoT) applications among other host devices and systems. Digital microphones and other sensors often comprise an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) having a successive-approximation (SA) quantizer that generates digital codes representative of sampled analog input signals during successive sampling periods. More specifically, for each sampled input signal the quantizer generates a corresponding multi-bit digital code that is output to a successive-approximation register (SAR) based on a search of quantization levels using successive-approximation logic, a switched-capacitive digital-to-analog converter (SC-DAC) and a comparator of the quantizer. However, these and other elements of the quantizer contribute significantly to power consumption of the digital sensor assembly.

