Abstract

It has been established that a class of bandpass sigma delta modulators (SDMs) may exhibit state space dynamics which are represented by elliptical or fractal patterns confined within trapezoidal regions when the system matrices are marginally stable. In this paper, it is found that fractal patterns may also be exhibited in the phase plane when the system matrices are strictly stable. This occurs when the sets of initial conditions corresponding to convergent or limit cycle behavior do not cover the whole phase plane. Based on the derived analytical results, some interesting results are found. If the bandpass SDM exhibits periodic output, then the period of the symbolic sequence must equal the limiting period of the state space variables. Second, if the state vector converges to some fixed points on the phase portrait, these fixed points do not depend directly on the initial conditions.