Digital to Analog Converter

Nov. 1, 2005
Fabian Goericke, Keunhan Park,
Geoffrey Williams
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Outline
 What is a DAC?
 Types of DAC Circuits
 Resistor-string DAC
 Binary weighted DAC

 R-2R Ladder DAC

 Specifications of DAC

 Errors
 Applications
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What is a DAC?
 A digital to analog
converter (DAC) is a
device that converts
digital numbers (binary)
into an analog voltage or
current output.
1 0 0 0 1 1 1
0 1 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 0 1 DAC

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What is a DAC?
Analog Output Signal

0000 0001 0010 0011 0100 0101 0110 0111 1000 1001 1010 1011
Digital Input Signal

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Types of DAC Circuits

1. Resistor String
2. Binary Weighted Resistor
3. R-2R Ladder

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Resistor String DAC

Components of a String DAC

• Resistor String  supply
discrete voltage levels
• Selection Switches 
connect the right voltage level
to op-amp according to input
bits
• Op-amp  amplifies the
discrete voltage levels to
desired range, keeps the
current low

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Resistor String DAC
Resistor String
Rtotal  8  R
I  VREF / Rtotal  VREF /(8  R )
Vn  Rn  I  n  R  I
Vn nRI n
  Vn   VREF
VREF 8 R  I 8

Example
VREF  8V
3
V3   8V  3V
8
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Resistor String DAC
Selection Switches

1 1 0  6V 1 1 1  7V

1 0 0  4V 0 0 0  0V

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 Resistor String DAC

Advantages:
• simple
• fast for < 8 bits

Disadvantages:
• high element count for higher resolutions, reason:
number of resistors: 2 n
number of switches: 2n  1
• slow for > 10 bits

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 Binary Weighted Resistor DAC
Basic Idea:
•Use a summing Vref
op-amp circuit R
Rf
•Use transistors to 2R
switch between 4R
high and ground - Vout
•Use resistors +
scaled by two to 2nR
divide voltage on
each branch by a
power of two

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Binary Weighted Resistor DAC

• non-inverting input on ground  virtual ground at

inverting input
• KIRCHHOFF’s current law and no input current into
op-amp  I1 + I2 = 0
•I1 = V1 / R + V2 / (2R) + V3 / (4R) + …

 V1 V2 V3 V4 
 Vout  R f  I 2  R f  ( I1 )   R f      ... 
 R 2 R 4 R 8R  11
Binary Weighted Resistor DAC

Most Least
significant significant
bit bit
Rf = R / 2

V V V V 
 Vout  R f  I 2  R f  ( I1 )   R f  1  2  3  4  ... 
 R 2 R 4 R 8R 
Vn = Vref, if bit is set Terms have less influence

Vn = 0, if bit is clear
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Binary Weighted Resistor DAC
 Advantages
 Simple
 Fast

 Disadvantages
 Needs large range of resistor values (2000:1 for 12-
bit) with high precision in low resistor values
 Needs very small switch resistances

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R-2R Resistor Ladder DAC
Vref Each bit controls a switch between
ground and the inverting input of the
op amp.

The switch is connected to ground if

the corresponding bit is zero.

0 0 0 0
4 bit converter

 Simplest type of DAC

 Requires only two precision resistance valuce (R and 2R)

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 R-2R DAC Example
 Convert 0001 to analog
V0
V1
V1 V0
Vref
V3 V2 V1 V0
=

1
Req  R
1/ 2 R  1/ 2 R

R 1
V0  V1  V1
RR 2

R 1
V1  V2  V2
RR 2

R 1
V2  V3  V3
RR 2
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 R-2R DAC Example
 Convert 0001 to analog

R
Vref 2R
V0

1
V0  Vref
8
R 1
Vout   V0   Vref
2R 16

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R-2R DAC Summary
 Conversion results for each bit
Digital bit Analog Conversion Vout  b3Vout ,3  b2Vout ,2
0001 Vout ,0  Vref /16
 b1Vout ,1  b0Vout ,0
0010 Vout ,1  Vref / 8
for
0100 Vout ,2  Vref / 4
b3b2b1b0 (bi  0 or 1)
1000 Vout ,3  Vref / 2

 Conversion equation for N-bit DAC

N Vref Vref
Vout   b( N i ) Resolution 
i
2
i 1 2N
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R-2R DAC Summary
 Advantages
 Only two resistor values
 Does not need the kind of precision as Binary
weighted DACs
 Easy to manufacture
 Faster response time

 Disadvantages
 More confusing analysis

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Specification of DAC
 Resolution
 Speed
 Settling time
 Linearity
 Reference voltage

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Specification - Resolution
 The amount of variance in output voltage for
every change of the LSB in the digital input.
 How closely can we approximate the desired
output signal(Higher Res. = finer detail=smaller
Voltage divisions)
 A common DAC has a 8 - 16 bit Resolution
VRef
Resolution  VLSB  N N = Number of bits
2
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Specification - Speed

 Rate of conversion of a single digital input to its

analog equivalent
 Conversion Rate depends on
 clock speed of input signal
 settling time of converter
 When the input changes rapidly, the DAC
conversion speed must be high.

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Specification – Settling Time
 The time required for the input signal voltage to settle to the
expected output voltage (within +/- ½ of VLSB).
 Ideally, an instantaneous change in analog voltage would occur
when a new binary word enters into DAC
 Fast converters reduce slew time, but usually result in longer ring
time.

tslew tring

tdelay
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Specification – Linearity
 The difference between the desired analog
output and the actual output over the full range
of expected values.

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 Specification – Linearity
 Ideally, a DAC should produce a linear relationship
between a digital input and the analog output, this is not
always the case.
Linearity(Ideal Case) NON-Linearity(Real World)

Analog Output Voltage

Analog Output Voltage

Desired/Approximate Output Desired Output

Approximate
output

Digital Input Digital Input

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Perfect Agreement Miss-alignment
Specification – Reference Voltage

 A specified voltage used to determine how each

digital input will be assigned to each voltage
division.
 Types:
 Non-multiplier DAC: Vref is fixed (specified by the
manufacturer)
 Multiplier DAC: Vref is provided via an external source

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Specification – Reference Voltage

 Full Scale Voltage

 Defined as the output when digital input is all 1’s.

N 1 Vref  2N 1 
V fs   1  Vref  
i 1  N 
i 0 2  2 

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Errors
There are a multiple sources of error associated with DAC

Common DAC Errors:

 Gain Error
 Offset Error
 Full Scale Error
 Non Linearity
 Non-Monotonic
 Resolution Errors
 Settling Time and Overshoot
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Gain Error
Gain Error: Deviation in the slope of the ideal curve and
with respect to the actual DAC output.
High Gain

High Gain Error: Step Analog Output Voltage Desired/Ideal Output

amplitude is higher than
the desired output

Low Gain Error: Step Low Gain

amplitude is lower than
the desired output

Digital Input
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Offset Error
Offset Error: Occurs when there is an offset in the output
voltage in reference to the ideal output.

Output Voltage Desired/Ideal Output

This error may be

detected when all input
bits are low (i.e. 0).

Positive Offset

Digital Input
Negative Offset

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Full Scale Error
Full Scale Error: occurs when there is an offset in
voltage form the ideal output and a deviation in
slope from the ideal gain.

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Differential Non-Linearity

Differential Non-Linearity: Voltage step size changes

vary with as digital input increases. Ideally each step
should be equivalent.
Analog Output Voltage

Ideal Output

2VLSB Diff. Non-Linearity = 2VLSB

VLSB

Digital Input 31
Integral Non-Linearity

Integral Non-Linearity: Occurs when the output voltage is

non linear. Basically an inability to adhere to the ideal
slope.
Ideal Output
Analog Output Voltage

1VLSB
Int. Non-Linearity = 1VLSB

Digital Input
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Non-Monotonic Output Error

Non-Monotonic Output Error: Occurs when the

an increase in digital input results in a lower
output voltage.
Analog Output Voltage

Desired Output
Non-Monotonic

Monotonic

Digital Input
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Resolution Errors
Poor Resolution(1 bit)

Vout
Desired Analog
signal
Does not accurately
approximate the desired

2 Volt. Levels
1
output due large voltage
divisions.

0 0
Digital Input
Approximate
output 34
Resolution Errors
Better Resolution(3 bit)

Vout
Desired Analog signal

111

110 110
Better approximation of
8 Volt. Levels 101 101
the of the desired output
100 100
signal due to the smaller
011
voltage divisions. 011

010 010

001 001

000
000

Approximate Digital Input

output
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Settling Time and Overshoot
Settling Time: The time required for the voltage to settle within +/-
the voltage associated with the VLSB. Any change in the input time
will not be reflected immediately due to the lag time.

Overshoot: occurs when the output voltage overshoots the desired

analog output voltage.
Analog Output
Voltage

+VLSB
Expecte
d -VLSB
Voltage

Time
Settling time 36
Common Applications
 Audio: Most modern audio signals are stored in
digital form (for example MP3s and CDs) and in
order to be heard through speakers they must
be converted into an analog signal
 Video:Video signals from a digital source, such
as a computer, must be converted to analog
form if they are to be displayed on an analog
monitor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital-to-analog_converter
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 References
 Alciatore, “Introduction to Mechatronics and Measurement
Systems,” McGraw-Hill, 2003
 Horowitz and Hill, “The Art of Electronics,” Cambridge University
Press, 2nd Ed. 1995
 http://products.analog.com/products/info.asp?product=AD7224
 http://courses.washington.edu/jbcallis/lectures/C464_Lec5_Sp-
02.pdf
 http://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~kphang/ece1371/chap11_slides.pdf
 Previous students’ lectures on DAC

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Questions?

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