Analog to Digital Converters

Introduction of ADC

 What is ADC(Analog to Digital Converter)

 Why ADC is needed

 Application of ADC

 A/D conversion process

 What is ADC
 An electronic integrated circuit which
transforms a signal from analog (continuous)
to digital (discrete) form.
 Analog signals are directly measurable
quantities.
 Digital signals only have two states. For
digital computer, we refer to binary states, 0
and 1.
Why ADC is needed

 Microprocessors can only perform complex

processing on digitized signals.
 When signals are in digital form they are less
susceptible to the deleterious effects of
additive noise.
 ADC Provides a link between the analog
world of transducers and the digital world of
signal processing and data handling.
Application of ADC
 ADC are used virtually everywhere where an
analog signal has to be processed, stored, or
transported in digital form.
 Some examples of ADC usage are digital volt
meters, cell phone, thermocouples, and
digital oscilloscope.
 Microcontrollers commonly use 8, 10, 12, or
16 bit ADCs, our micro controller uses an 8 or
10 bit ADC.
 ADC process

Input analog Output digital

signal signal
uI(t) Quantizing Dn 1

…
&
S uI′(t) Encoding D1
C D0
S/H circuit

2 steps
 Sampling and Holding (S/H)

 Quantizing and Encoding (Q/E)

 Sampling and
Holding Continuous
Signal

 Holding signal benefits Sampling pulse

the accuracy of the A/D
conversion

 Minimum sampling rate

should be at least twice Sampled signal

the highest data

frequency of the analog
signal
Sampled and
held signal
 Quantizing and Encoding
Resolution:
The smallest change in analog signal that will result in a change in
the digital output.
Vr
!V = N
2
V = Reference voltage range
N = Number of bits in digital output.
2N = Number of states.
∆V = Resolution

The resolution represents the quantization error inherent in the

conversion of the signal to digital form
 Quantizing and Encoding
Analog Signal Digital output
in binary
• Quantizing:
Partitioning the reference signal
range into a number of discrete
quanta, then matching the input
signal to the correct quantum.
• Encoding:
Assigning a unique digital code
to each quantum, then
allocating the digital code to the
input signal.
!V = 1 V
1
!"#$%&%'(&")*$+"*$,)'-..,. = ± !V = ±0.5 V
2
Accuracy of A/D Conversion
There are two ways to best improve the accuracy of A/D
conversion:

 increasing the resolution which improves the accuracy in

measuring the amplitude of the analog signal.

 increasing the sampling rate which increases the

maximum frequency that can be measured.
 Accuracy of A/D Conversion
 Low Accuracy  Improved
Resolution

Resolution

Time Time
Types of A/D Converters
By: Todd Sifleet

 Dual Slope A/D Converter

 Successive Approximation A/D Converter
 Flash A/D Converter
 Delta-Sigma A/D Converter
 Other
 Voltage-to-frequency, staircase ramp or single
slope, charge balancing or redistribution, switched
capacitor, tracking, and synchro or resolver
 Dual Slope A/D Converter
 Fundamental components
 Integrator
 Electronically Controlled Switches
 Counter
 Clock
 Control Logic
 Comparator
 How does it work
A dual-slope ADC (DS-ADC) integrates an unknown input voltage (VIN) for
a fixed amount of time (TINT), then "de-integrates" (TDEINT) using a
known reference voltage (VREF) for a variable amount of time.

The key advantage of this architecture over the single-slope is that the final
conversion result is insensitive to errors in the component values. That is, any
error introduced by a component value during the integrate cycle will be
cancelled out during the de-integrate phase.
 How Does it Work Cont.
 At t<0, S1 is set to ground, S2 is closed, and
counter=0.
 At t=0 a conversion begins and S2 is open, and S1
is set so the input to the integrator is Vin.
 S1 is held for TINT which is a constant
predetermined time interval.
 When S1 is set the counter begins to count clock
pulses, the counter resets to zero after TINT
 Vout of integrator at t=TINT is VINTINT/RC is linearly
proportional to VIN
 At t=TINT S1 is set so -Vref is the input to the
integrator which has the voltage VINTINT/RC stored
in it.
 The integrator voltage then drops linearly with a
slop -Vref/RC.
 A compartor is used to determine when the output
voltage of the integrator crosses zero
 When it is zero the digitized output value is the
state of the counter.
 Dual Slope A/D Converter
Pros and Cons

PROS CONS
 Conversion result is insensitive  Slow
to errors in the component  Accuracy is dependent on the
values. use of precision external
 Fewer adverse affects from components
“noise”  Cost
 High Accuracy
 Flash A/D Converter
 Fundamental Components (For N bit Flash A/D)
 2N-1 Comparators
 2N Resistors
 Control Logic
 How does it work
 Uses the 2N resistors to form a ladder voltage divider, which
divides the reference voltage into 2N equal intervals.
 Uses the 2N-1 comparators to determine in which of these 2N
voltage intervals the input voltage Vin lies.
 The Combinational logic then translates the information
provided by the output of the comparators
 This ADC does not require a clock so the conversion time is
essentially set by the settling time of the comparators and the
propagation time of the combinational logic.
 Flash A/D Converter
Pros and Cons

PROS CONS
 Very Fast (Fastest)  Expensive
 Very simple  Prone to produce
operational theory glitches in the output
 Speed is only limited  Each additional bit
by gate and of resolution
comparator requires twice the
propagation delay comparators.
SIGMA-DELTA A/D Converter
Main Components
 Resistors

 Capacitor

 Comparators

 Control Logic

 DAC
 How does it work
 Input is over sampled, and goes to integrator.
 The integration is then compared to ground.
 Iterates and produces a serial bit stream
 Output is a serial bit stream with # of 1’s proportional to Vin

 With this arrangement the sigma-delta modulator automatically adjusts its

output to ensure that the average error at the quantizer output is zero.
 The integrator value is the sum of all past values of the error, so whenever
there is a non-zero error value the integrator value just keeps building until
the error is once again forced to zero.
 Sigma-Delta A/D Converter
Pros and Cons

PROS CONS
 High Resolution  Slow due to over
 No need for sampling
precision  Only good for low
components bandwidth
 ADC Types Comparison
ADC Resolution Comparison
Dual Slope
Flash
Successive Approx
Sigma-Delta

0 5 10 15 20 25
Resolution (Bits)

Type Speed (relative) Cost (relative)

Dual Slope Slow Med
Flash Very Fast High
Successive Appox Medium – Fast Low
Sigma-Delta Slow Low
 Successive Approximation ADC Circuit

•Uses a n-bit DAC to compare DAC and original analog results.

•Uses Successive Approximation Register (SAR) supplies an
approximate digital code to DAC of Vin.
•Comparison changes digital output to bring it closer to the input
value.
•Uses Closed-Loop Feedback Conversion
Successive Approximation ADC
Is Vin > ½ ADC range?

-
SAR DAC
VIN + Vref
0100
10000000
0000

If no, then test next bit Output

Process
1. MSB initialized as 1
2. Convert digital value to
analog using DAC
3. Compares guess to Closed-Loop
analog input
4. Is Vin>VDAC
• Set bit 1
• If no, bit is 0 and test
next bit
Successive Approximation
Disadvantages
Advantages
 Higher resolution
 Capable of high speed successive approximation
and reliable ADC’s will be slower
 Medium accuracy  Speed limited to ~5Msps
compared to other ADC
types
 Good tradeoff between
speed and cost
 Capable of outputting the
binary number in serial
(one bit at a time) format.
 Successive Approximation
Example

Example
 10 bit ADC

 Vin= 0.6 volts (from analog

device)
 Vref=1 volts

 Find the digital value of Vin

N=2n (N of possible states)

N=1024
Vmax-Vmin/N = 1 Volt/1024 =
0.0009765625V of Vref (resolution)
 Successive Approximation
 MSB (bit 9)
 Divided Vref by 2

 Compare Vref /2 with Vin

 If Vin is greater than Vref /2 , turn

MSB on (1)
 If Vin is less than Vref /2 , turn
MSB off (0)
 Vin =0.6V and V=0.5

 Since Vin>V, MSB = 1 (on)

Successive Approximation
 Next Calculate MSB-1 (bit 8)
 Compare Vin=0.6 V to V=Vref/2 + Vref/4= 0.5+0.25 =0.75V
 Since 0.6<0.75, MSB is turned off
 Calculate MSB-2 (bit 7)
 Go back to the last voltage that caused it to be turned on (Bit 9)
and add it to Vref/8, and compare with Vin
 Compare Vin with (0.5+Vref/8)=0.625
 Since 0.6<0.625, MSB is turned off
 Successive Approximation
 Calculate the state of MSB-3 (bit 6)
 Go to the last bit that caused it to be turned on (In this
case MSB-1) and add it to Vref/16, and compare it to
Vin
 Compare Vin to V= 0.5 + Vref/16= 0.5625
 Since 0.6>0.5625, MSB-3=1 (turned on)
Successive Approximation
ADC
 This process continues for all the remaining bits.