Abstract
A new method for selecting analog to digital (A/D) converters based on a generic figure of merit is described. First a figure of merit is introduced that includes both specifications and technology data and that has five generic parameters. The values of these generic parameters can be found by means of a fitting procedure using data from published designs. It is shown that the generic parameters have different values for different types of converters. Therefore the trade-off between speed, resolution, power dissipation and technology parameters depends on the type of converter. This trade-off can than be used to select a particular type of converter for a given application area.