Digital-to-Analog Converter

DEC (EC 2011)

 Working with Analog Signal

Digital Systems Actuator

Transducer ADC DAC
(Computer)
To control
Physical Physical
variable variable
 Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC)
• Converts a given digital input vector D to proportional analog voltage,
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 .i.e. 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 ∝ 𝐷
• For example, VREF

D3
D2
Digital inputs, D 4-bit DAC Vout Analog output
D1
D0
D3 D2 D1 D0 Vout
0 0 0 0 0V
0 0 0 1 1V
0 0 1 0 2V
0 0 1 1 3V
0 1 0 0 4V
0 1 0 1 5V VREF = 15 V
0 1 1 0 6V
0 1 1 1 7V
1 0 0 0 8V
1 0 0 1 9V
1 0 1 0 10 V
1 0 1 1 11 V
1 1 0 0 12 V
1 1 0 1 13 V
1 1 1 0 14 V
1 1 1 1 15 V
 Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC)

VREF

D3
D2
Clock Binary Vout
D1 4-bit DAC CRO
Counter
D0
Resolution
• Also known as step size
• Smallest change in output voltage as a result of a change in input
pattern D
• Expressed as a percentage of full scale voltage
𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒
• % resolution = ( ൗ𝑉𝑅𝐸𝐹 ) × 100
= (1ൗ𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑠) × 100
= (1Τ2𝑛 −1) × 100 For n-bit DAC
• If n increases, % resolution decreases and accuracy increases.
Types of DAC
• Two different designs
• Weighted-resistor type

• Resistive ladder type (also known as R-2R ladder type)

• Weighted-resistor type is simple to analyze

• Resistive ladder type DAC is complex to analyze.

Weighted-Resistor type DAC
• N different resistance values for an N-bit DAC.
• Magnitude of the resistance values {𝑅, 2𝑅, 4𝑅, … , 2𝑁−1 𝑅}
• Uses an operational amplifier (OP-AMP)
• Inverting mode
𝑅𝑓
• 𝑉𝑜 = −( )𝑉𝑖𝑛
𝑅1
• Converting current to output voltage
• Major drawback
• Different resistor values for each bit of the digital input
4-bit Weighted-Resistor Type DAC
𝐷3 𝐷2 𝐷1 𝐷0
• 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 = −[ + + + ]𝑅𝑓
𝑅 2𝑅 4𝑅 8𝑅
𝐷2 𝐷1 𝐷0 𝑅𝑓
= −[𝐷3 + + + ]
2 4 8 𝑅
• 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 ∝ 𝐷
Resistive Ladder Type DAC
• Most widely used
• Requires only two different resistor values, R and 2R
• Also known as R-2R ladder type DAC
• (N+1) number of 2R and (N-1) number of R for any N-bit DAC
• Converts voltage to voltage
4-bit R-2R Ladder Type DAC
4-bit R-2R Ladder Type DAC
𝑉 𝑉 𝑉𝑉
• 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝐷3 . + +𝐷2 . 𝐷1 .
+ 𝐷0
2 4 168
𝑉
= [8𝐷3 + 4𝐷2 + 2𝐷1 + 𝐷0 ]
16

• 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 ∝ 𝐷
• For an N-bit DAC, the contribution of k-th bit 𝐷𝑘 on the output
𝑉
voltage will be 𝑁−𝑘
2
Digital-to-Analog Converter
DEC (EC 2011)