ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTERS
specifications
PERFORMANCE FACTORS OF
ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTERS
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of ADC
The Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of an analog to
digital converter is defined as the measure of
ability of the converter to differentiate between
the desired signal and unwanted noise signal.
Mathematically, the SNR of an analog to digital
converter is expressed as the ratio of the power
of the electrical signal (that represents the
useful information) to the power of the noise
signal (that represents the unwanted
disturbances). SNR in dB is given below:
QUANTIZATION AND ENCODING
Quantizing - breaking down analog value is a
set of finite states
Encoding - assigning a digital word or
number to each state and matching it to the
input signal
Example:
You have 0-10V signals. Separate them into
a set of discrete states with 1.25V
increments.
QUANTIZATION AND ENCODING
Quantizing Outp Discrete Digital
ut Voltage equivalent
The number of possible states that State Ranges
the converter can output is: s (V)
N=2n
where n is the number of bits in the AD 0 0.00-1.25 000
converter
1 1.25-2.50 001
Example: For a 3 bit A/D converter,
N=23=8. 2 2.50-3.75 010
Analog quantization size:
Q=(Vmax-Vmin)/N = (10V – 0V)/8 = 1.25V 3 3.75-5.00 011
Encoding: 4 5.00-6.25 100
We assign the digital value (binary
number) to each state for the computer 5 6.25-7.50 101
to read
6 7.50-8.75 110
7 8.75-10.0 111
ACCURACY OF ADC
There are two ways to best improve 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.
RESOLUTION
The resolution defines the smallest voltage change
that can be measured by the ADC.
The resolution is the same as the smallest step size,
and can be calculated by dividing the reference
voltage by the number of possible conversion values.
For an n bit ADC the number of discrete digital levels that can
be produced is 2n.
The least significant bit (LSB) represents the smallest interval
that can be detected
Resolution (number of discrete values the converter
can produce) = Analog Quantization size (Q)
(Q) = Vrange / 2n,
where Vrange is the range of analog voltages which can
be represented
ADC- FULL SCALE RANGE
The span of input analog values that can be
resolved by the converter to a digital value is
called the full scale range.
Example: For a 2 bit converter with a
resolution of 1 V the full scale value is
FSR=1 LSB x 2n where n is the no of bits
of the converter
FSR=1Voltx4=4V
ADC- ERROR SPECIFICATIONS
Quantization Error: As the output is a finite
number of bits any ADC will have at best as
an error of ± (1/2)LSB
This inherent error is called quantization
error
If 1LSB is 1mV then quantisation error is
±0.5mV
Offset error: This error will shift the
characteristics of the converter.
It can be positive or negative and is generally
around ¼ LSB
ADC- ERROR SPECIFICATIONS
Gain Error: The gain error is a change in the
slope of the characteristics
This results in an FSR which is higher or
lower than the expected value.
ADC- ERROR SPECIFICATIONS
Nonlinearity Error:
The transfer characteristics is not a straight
line.
This is caused by offset or gain as input
changes
ADC- ERROR SPECIFICATIONS
Differential Nonlinearity Error: This
nonlinearity arises when the step size varies.
It can be defined as the difference between
the theoretical and actual step size of a given
input range division
ADC- ERROR SPECIFICATIONS
ADC-conversion time
A practical ADC requires a finite time to complete
conversion.
The instant at which the conversion starts to the
instant at which the output settles within the
error band. Its also known as settling time.
The reciprocal is called conversion rate