The block diagram in this slide highlights a traditional high resolution SAR ADC signal chain where the ADC driver amplifier is powered by split supplies. The negative supply is required to maintain good distortion performance in the driver amplifier, even in so-called rail-to-rail output amplifiers, since the output transistors need to maintain a minimum voltage across them to maintain high levels of linearity. This additional negative supply rail dissipates power and is cumbersome to generate and route throughout the PCB. Given these limitations, power-conscious designs typically eliminate the need for the driver amplifier’s negative supply by attenuating the input signal and utilizing only a fraction of the full-scale input signal range. Such an approach relaxes the output swing requirement on the ADC driver amplifier. However, by utilizing only a fraction of the available codes and input signal range, the effective resolution of the system is reduced.