Minimum Unit Capacitance Calculation for Binary-Weighted Capacitor Arrays

The layout area and power consumption of a binary-weighted capacitive digital-to-analog converter (DAC) increases exponentially with the number of bits. To meet linearity targets, unit capacitors should be large enough to limit errors caused by various sources of noise and those due to mismatch. This work proposes a systematic approach for minimizing the unit capacitance value that optimizes the linearity metrics of a DAC, accounting for multiple factors that contribute to mismatch, as well as the impact of flicker and thermal noise.