Data - converter circuits A/D

and D/A
 A/D and D/A Converters

Analog to Digital Digital to Analog

What parts of your iPhone operation are Analog Your internet access: Analog ?
? / Digital Digital ?

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 ADC Conversion Process
Two main steps of process
1. Sampling and Holding
2. Quantization and Encoding

Analog-to-Digital Converter

Quantizing
and
Encoding
Sampling and Hold

t
Input: Analog Signal t
 A/D converter
Converts analog signals into binary words
 D/A Conversion
Normal Output from digital domain is staircase
Filtered to produce smooth Analog output

The analog samples at the output of a D/A converter are usually fed to a sample-and-hold circuit to obtain the
staircase waveform shown. This waveform can then be filtered to obtain the smooth waveform, shown in color. The
5 usually introduced by the filter is not shown.
time delay
A/D Converter Types

 Flash ADC

 Delta-Sigma ADC

 Dual Slope (integrating) ADC

 Successive Approximation ADC

 Flash ADC
 series of comparators, each one compares input to a

unique reference voltage.

 comparator outputs connect to a priority encoder circuit

produces binary output

 Flash Analog to Digital Converter
Fast – but more expensive :
Single cycle - Uses many Comparators in parallel with
different reference voltages
Digital
Analog

• 2N-1 comparators for N-bits

• Each reference voltage equivalent
to a quantization level
• Encoding logic produces word

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Flash ADC Circuit
 How Flash Works
 As the analog input voltage exceeds the reference

voltage at each comparator, the comparator outputs

will sequentially saturate to a high state.

 The priority encoder generates a binary number based

on the highest-order active input, ignoring all other

active inputs.
Flash ADC Output
 Flash
Advantages Disadvantages
 Simplest in terms of
 Lower resolution
operational theory
 Expensive

 For each additional output

 Most efficient in terms of
speed, very fast bit, the number of

 limited only in terms of

comparators is doubled
comparator and gate  i.e. for 8 bits, 256

propagation delays comparators needed

Successive Approximation ADC
 A Successive Approximation Register (SAR) is added to
the circuit. It reduces the conversion time from
milliseconds to microseconds.
 Instead of counting up in binary sequence, this register
counts by trying all values of bits starting with the MSB
and finishing at the LSB.
 The register monitors the comparators output to see if the
binary count is greater or less than the analog signal input
and adjusts the bits accordingly.
Successive Approximation ADC
Circuit
Output
 Successive Approximation
Advantages Disadvantages

 Capable of high speed and reliable

 Medium accuracy compared to other  Higher resolution successive

ADC types approximation ADC’s will
 Good tradeoff between speed and
be slower
cost
 Speed limited to ~5Msps
 Capable of outputting the binary
number in serial (one bit at a time)
format.
 ADC Applications
 ADC are used virtually everywhere where an analog

signal has to be processed, stored, or transported in

digital form
 Microphones

 Strain Gages

 Thermocouple

 Digital Multimeters
 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.
Principal components of DAC
 Typical Output

DAC

Output typical of a real, practical DAC

due to sample & hold

Ideally Sampled Signal

Types of DAC implementations

 Binary Weighted Resistor

 R-2R Ladder
Binary Weighted Resistor

•Start with summing op-

amp circuit
•Input voltage either high
or ground
•Adjust resistor weighting
to achieve desired Vout
Binary Weighted Resistor
• Details
– Use transistors to switch
between high and ground
– Use resistors scaled by two
to divide voltage on each
branch by a power of two
– V1 is MSB, V4 LSB in this
circuit
• Assumptions:
– Ideal Op-Amp
– No Current into Op-Amp
– Virtual Ground at Inverting
Input
– Vout = -IRf
 Binary Weighted Resistor

 Assume binary
B5
inputs B0 (LSB)
to Bn-1 (MSB)
B4
 Each Bi = 1 or
B3
0 and is
B2 multiplied by
B1
Vref to get
input voltage
B0

 Bn 1 Bn  2 B1 B0 
Vout   IRf   Rf Vref    ... n  2  n-1 
 R 2R 2 R 2 R
 Binary Weighted Resistor
 Example: take a 4-bit converter, Rf = aR

 B3 B2 B1 B0 
Vout  aVref     
 1 2 4 8 
 Input parameters:
 Input voltage Vref = -2V
 Binary input = 1011
 Coefficient a = ½

1  1 0 1 1  11
Vout    2         1.375V
2 1 2 4 8  8
 Binary Weighted Resistor
 Resolution: find minimum nonzero output

Rf Vref
Vmin 
R 2n-1
 If Rf = R/2 then resolution is
Vref
2n
 1 
and max Vout is Vmax  Vref 1  n 
 2 
 Binary Weighted Resistor
 Advantages
Simple
Fast
 Disadvantages
Need large range of resistor values (2048:1 for 12-bit) with
high precision in low resistor values
Need very small switch resistances
Op-amp may have trouble producing low currents at the low
range of a high precision DAC
 R-2R Ladder
 Circuit may be analyzed
using Thevenin’s theorem
B2
(replace network with B1
Rf
equivalent voltage source B0
and resistance)
 Final result is:
Rf n 1
Bi
Vout  Vref 
R i 0 2 n i

Compare to binary weighted circuit:

R n 1
B
V  V
out ref
f

R
 2
i 0
i
( n 1) i
 R-2R Ladder
 Resolution

Rf Vref
Vmin 
R 2n
Vref
 If Rf = R then resolution is
2n
 1 
and max Vout is Vmax  Vref 1  n 
 2 
 R-2R Ladder
 Advantages:
Only 2 resistor values
Lower precision resistors acceptable

 Disadvantages
Slower conversion rate
 Common Applications:
Function Generators

 Digital Oscilloscopes  Signal Generators

 Digital Input  Sine wave generation

 Analog Output  Square wave generation
 Triangle wave generation
 Random noise generation

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