4-20 mA

(4 to 20 MilliAmp) A point-to-
point or multi-drop circuit mainly
used in the process automation
field to transmit signals from
instruments and sensors in the
field to a controller.

It sends an analog signal from 4

to 20 mA that represents 0 to
100% of some process variable.

As a current loop signal, 4-20

mA also powers the sensor
transmitter on the same wire
pair, and 4-20mA provides more
resistance to interference than
a voltage-based line.
4-20 mA is an analog electrical
transmission standard for
industrial instrumentation and
communication.
The symbol "mA" is standard SI
notation for milliampere, or
1/1000 of an ampere.
The signal is a current loop
where 4 mA represents zero
percent signal and 20 mA
represents the one hundred
percent signal.
The reason zero is at 4 mA and not 0
mA is that this "live zero" allows the
receiving instrumentation to
differentiate between a zero signal
and a broken wire or a dead
instrument.
This standard was developed in
the 1950s and is still widely
used in industry today, even
though many attempts have
been made to replace it with
digital forms of communication
such as fieldbus and Profibus.
Its benefits of being a widely
followed standard, low cost, its
reliability and immunity to
electrical noise keep it in
regular use.
Process-control use
For industrial process control
instruments, analog 4-20 mA
and 10-50 mA current loops are
commonly used for analog
signaling, with 4 mA
representing the lowest end of
the range and 20 mA the
highest.
The key advantages of the
current loop are that the
accuracy of the signal is not
affected by voltage drop in the
interconnecting wiring, and that
the loop can supply operating
power to the device.
Even if there is significant
electrical resistance in the line,
the current loop transmitter will
maintain the proper current, up
to its maximum voltage
capability.
 The live-zero represented by 4
mA allows the receiving
instrument to detect some
failures of the loop, and also
allows transmitter devices to be
powered by the same current
loop (called two-wire
transmitters).
Such instruments are used to
measure pressure, temperature,
flow, pH or other process
variables.
A current loop can also be used
to control a valve positioner or
other output actuator.
An analog current loop can be
converted to a voltage input
with a precision resistor. Since
input terminals of instruments
may have one side of the
current loop input tied to the
chassis ground (earth), analog
isolators may be required when
connecting several devices in
series.
Taking the point of view of the
source of current for the loop,
devices may be classified as
active (supplying power) or
passive (relying on loop power).
For example, a chart recorder
may provide loop power to a
transmitter instrument such as a
pressure transmitter. The
pressure transmitter modulates
the current on the loop to send
the signal to the strip chart
recorder, but does not in itself
supply power to the loop and so
is passive.
Another loop may contain two
passive chart recorders, a
passive pressure transmitter,
and a 24 V battery. (The battery
is the active device). Panel
mount displays and chart
recorders are commonly termed
'indicator devices' or 'process
monitors'. Several passive
indicator devices may be
connected in series, but a loop
must have only one transmitter
device and only one power
source (active device).
The relationship between
current value and process
variable measurement is set by
calibration, which assigns
different ranges of engineering
units to the span between 4 and
20 mA. Occasionally the
mapping between engineering
units and current was inverted,
so that 4 mA represented the
maximum and 20 mA the
minimum.
Long circuits
Analog current loops were
occasionally carried between
buildings in telephone cables
leased from the local telephone
company. 4-20 mA loops were
more common in the days of
analog telephony. These circuits
require end-to-end direct current
(DC) continuity. DC continuity is
not available over a microwave
radio, optical fiber, or a
multiplexed telephone circuit
connection.
Basic DC theory reminds us that
current is the same at all points
in a circuit. It was common to
see 4-20 mA circuits that had
loop lengths in miles or circuits
working over telephone cable
pairs that were longer than ten
thousand feet end-to-end. There
are still legacy systems in place
using this technology. In Bell
System circuits, voltages up to
125V DC were employed.
Discrete control
Discrete control functions can
be represented by discrete
levels of current sent over a
loop. This would allow multiple
control functions to be operated
over a single pair of wires.
Currents required for a specific
function vary from one
application or manufacturer to
another. There is no specific
current that is tied to a single
meaning. It is almost universal
that 0 mA indicates the circuit
has failed. In the case of a fire
alarm, 6 mA could be normal, 15
mA could mean a fire has been
detected, and 0 mA would
produce a trouble indication,
telling the monitoring site the
alarm circuit had failed.
These devices can be employed
for any remote control need a
designer might imagine. For
example, a current loop could
actuate an evacuation siren or
command synchronized traffic
signals.
Two-way radio use
Current loop circuits are one
possible way used to control
radio base stations at distant
sites. The name inside the two-
way radio industry for this
general type of 4-20 mA remote
control device is, DC remote.
This name comes from the need
for DC circuit continuity
between the control point and
the radio base station. Some
equipment, such as the Motorola
MSF-5000 base station, uses
currents below 4 mA for some
functions. An alternative type,
the Tone remote, is more
complex but requires only an
audio path between control
point and base station.
For example, a taxi dispatch
base station might be physically
located on the rooftop of an
eight-story building. The taxi
company office might be in the
basement of a different building
nearby. The office would have a
remote control unit that would
operate the taxi company base
station over a 4-20 mA circuit.
The circuit would normally be
over a telephone line or similar
wiring. Control function currents
come from the remote control
console at the dispatch office
end of a circuit. In two-way
radio use, an idle circuit would
normally have no current flow
present.
In two-way radio use, radio
manufacturers use different
currents for specific functions.
Polarities are changed to get
more possible functions over a
single circuit. For example,
imagine one possible scheme
where the presence of these
currents cause the base station
to change state:
 no current means receive on
channel 1, (the default).
 +6 mA might mean transmit
on channel 1
 -6 mA might mean stay in
receive mode but switch to
channel 2. So long as the -6
mA current were present, the
 remote base station would
continue to receive on
channel 2.
 -12 mA might command the
base station to transmit on
channel 2.
Note that this circuit is polarity-
sensitive. If a telephone
company cable splicer
accidentally reversed the
conductors, selecting channel 2
would lock the transmitter on.
Each current level could close a
set of contacts, or operate solid-
state logic, at the other end of
the circuit. That contact closure
caused a change of state on the
controlled device. Some remote
control equipment could have
options set to allow
compatibility between
manufacturers. That is, a base
station that was configured to
transmit with a +18 mA current
could have options changed to
(instead) make it transmit when
+6 mA was present.
In two-way radio use, AC signals
were also present on the circuit
pair. If the base station were
idle, receive audio would be
sent over the line from the base
station to the dispatch office. In
the presence of a transmit
command current, the remote
control console would send
audio to be transmitted. The
voice of the user in the dispatch
office would be superimposed
over the DC current that caused
the transmitter to operate.
Designing Intelligent 4–20 mA Transducers

Intelligent transmitters are only as good as their components. Here's how ADCs, and
other low-power devices, come into play.

Aug 1, 2006
By: Brendan Cronin
Sensors

Pages | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Modern industrial automation applications—such as PLCs, factory process control, and

intelligent transmitters—all demand high-performance, low-power components. Current-
mode data transmission is no exception. Intelligent 4–20 mA current-mode data
transmission is the preferred technique in many industrial automation applications and is
a well-established standard for communications between the host computer and
smart/intelligent transmitters in harsh factory environments. This article describes
intelligent transmitters and explains their need for high-resolution, low-power ADCs,
DACs, and isolation devices.

Why Use 4–20 mA Loops for Data Transmission?

When transmitting low-amplitude, low-frequency data signals over several hundred

meters in a noisy industrial control environment, current-loop transmission is well
established and is preferred over voltage-mode transmission for the following reasons:

 Insensitivity to IR drops makes current loops suitable over long distances. In

contrast, voltage at any point depends on line resistance and capacitance and
therefore varies with cable length.
 Current transmission allows a single 2-wire cable to carry both power and signals
 at the same time, an important factor when powering electronic components in
remote locations.
 Current loops don't require a precise or stable supply voltage.
 Inexpensive 2-wire twisted-pair cables offer good noise immunity and lower EMI
sensitivity.
 It's easy to detect offline sensors, broken transmission lines, and other fault
mechanisms.

Intelligent 4–20 mA Transducer Design

In a 2-wire, 4–20 mA current loop, the supply current for

the sensor electronics must not exceed 4 mA (the
remaining 16 mA carries the signal information), so the
components that make up the transmitter must be low
power. As shown in Figure 1, smart transmitter systems
Figure 1. Block diagram of a use five building blocks: an ADC, a microcontroller or
smart 4–20 mA transmitter DSP, memory (RAM), a
DAC with an optional integrated amplifier and reference,
and a sensor or transducer.

The microprocessor or microcontroller performs

linearization and other functions on the sensor data and
communicates them back to the host system. The Figure 2. Frequently used
transducer voltage—usually ranging from a few industrial automation sensors
millivolts to a few volts, depending on the type of sensor and their input spans Note:
(Figure 2)—must be digitized by a high-precision ADC *A/D input spans from
before the signal reaches the processor. Choosing a high- resistive sensors depend on the
resolution ADC with an onchip low-noise magnitude of the excitation
programmable-gain amplifier (PGA) and good offset, current sources
full-scale, and drift specifications ensures precise
conversion of the sensor inputs with minimum noise and drift due to external temperature
variations.

For high-end applications, the rms noise requirements must be <100 nV at high gain
settings (e.g., 64 or 128), with offset and gain drift of 10 nV/°C and 1 ppm/°C,
respectively. Operating current consumption ideally should be <400 µA. The ADCs used
in 4–20 mA transducer designs often include simultaneous 50/60 Hz rejection filters,
onchip matched current sources for cold junction compensation and resistance
temperature detector (RTD) biasing, and a precision reference. If integrated, these
features simplify the design task significantly by eliminating some of the board and
layout challenges presented by discrete components while simultaneously reducing cost.