Pipelined analog to digital converter

Abstract

A cell phone is provided that may be used with multiple radio formats, such as GSM and CDMA. The cell phone includes a receiver that receives radio signals and converts them into electrical signals. An analog to digital converter is connected to the receiver and converts an analog input to a digital output having an adjustable number of bits at an adjustable sampling frequency. A cell phone application specific integrated circuit is connected to the analog to digital converter, which is used to process the digital output to extract encoded telecommunications data in one of the supported radio formats.

1 - 20 . (canceled)  
   
   
       21 . An analog to digital converter comprising: 
 a converter circuitry having a plurality of inputs;    an output coupled to the converter circuitry; and    wherein an input signal applied to one of the plurality of inputs is sampled at a predetermined frequency corresponding to that input.    
   
   
       22 . The analog to digital converter of  claim 21  wherein the input signal applied to one of the plurality of inputs is sampled at a predetermined sample size corresponding to that input.  
   
   
       23 . The analog to digital converter of  claim 21  wherein the converter circuitry further comprises a plurality of cells, each cell coupled in series to at least one other cell.  
   
   
       24 . The analog to digital converter of  claim 23  wherein each cell comprises one of the plurality of inputs.  
   
   
       25 . The analog to digital converter of  claim 23  wherein selected cells each comprise one of the plurality of inputs.  
   
   
       26 . The analog to digital converter of  claim 21  further comprising a plurality of current ratings of the converter circuitry, wherein the current ratings is associated with one of the plurality of inputs.  
   
   
       27 . The analog to digital converter of  claim 23 , wherein each of the cells has an associated current rating.  
   
   
       28 . The analog to digital converter of  claim 27 , wherein the current rating of one of the cells is different from the current rating of at least one of the other cells.  
   
   
       29 . The analog to digital converter of  claim 23 , wherein each of the cells has an associated voltage rating.  
   
   
       30 . The analog to digital converter of  claim 29 , wherein the voltage rating of one of the cells is different from the voltage rating of at least one of the other cells.  
   
   
       31 . A method for converting a signal from analog to digital comprising: 
 receiving a signal at one of a plurality of inputs of a pipelined analog to digital converter; and    converting the signal to a digital format having one of a plurality of number of bits based on the selected input.    
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 31  wherein converting the signal to the digital format having one of the plurality of number of bits based on the selected input comprises converting the signal to the digital format having one of a plurality of resolutions based on the selected input  
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 31  wherein converting the signal to the digital format having one of the plurality of number of bits based on the selected input comprises converting the signal to the digital format having one of a plurality of sampling frequencies based on the selected input  
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 31  wherein converting the signal to the digital format having one of the plurality of number of bits based on the selected input comprises converting the signal to the digital format having one of the plurality of number of bits based on a selected power level.  
   
   
       35 . A pipelined analog to digital converter having a plurality of inputs comprising one or more of a resolution or a sampling frequency being different with respect to which of the two inputs to the ADC is active.  
   
   
       36 . The pipelined analog to digital converter of  claim 35  wherein the resolution is an analog to digital resolution.  
   
   
       37 . The pipelined analog to digital converter of  claim 35  wherein the resolution is an analog to digital resolution expressed as a number of bits in a sample size.  
   
   
       38 . The pipelined analog to digital converter of  claim 35  further comprising a plurality of stages, each stage having one or more inputs.  
   
   
       39 . The pipelined analog to digital converter of  claim 35  wherein each stage further comprises an output that is representative of either a digital one or a digital zero.  
   
   
       40 . The pipelined analog to digital converter of  claim 35  wherein each stage further comprises an output that is derived from the applied signal.