Analog to Digital Converters

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
Dn
uI(t) Quantizing

…
& 1
S C uI(t) Encoding
D1
D0
S/H circuit

2 steps
Sampling and Holding (S/H)

Quantizing and Encoding (Q/E)

 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.
 Quantization and Encoding
Amplitude x(t)
111 3.1867

110 2.2762
Quant. levels
101 1.3657

100 0.4552

011 -0.4552 boundaries

010 -1.3657

001 -2.2762 x(nTs): sampled values

xq(nTs): quantized values
000 -3.1867
Ts: sampling time
PCM t
codeword 110 110 111 110 10028-03-2018
010 011 100 100 011 PCM sequence 7
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.
 Types of A/D Converters

 Dual Slope A/D Converter

 Successive Approximation A/D Converter
 Flash A/D Converter
 Flash A/D Converter
 Fundamental Components (For N bit Flash A/D)
 2N-1 Comparators
 2N Resistors
 Control Logic
Flash A/D Converter
 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 of
by gate and resolution requires
comparator twice the comparators.
propagation delay
 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?

- DAC
VIN SAR
+ Vref
10000000
0100 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.
 Dual Slope A/D Converter
 Fundamental components
 Integrator
 Electronically Controlled Switches
 Counter
 Clock
 Control Logic
 Comparator

N=(Vi/Vref)2N
 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
 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