Analog To Digital Converter(ADC)

Presented
By
SHEMA Frank, STES Group Ltd
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 Why do we need Analog to Digital converters?
- In the real world, most data is characterized by analog signals. In order to
manipulate the data using a microcontroller, we need to convert the
analog signals to the digital signals, so that the microcontroller and
microprocessor will be able to read, understand and manipulate the
data.

- Microprocessors can only perform complex processing on digitized

signals

- When signals are in digital form they are less affected of additive noise

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 Introduction of ADC

● What is ADC?

● Why is ADC important?

● How does it work?

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 What is ADC?
● ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) is an electronic device that converts a
continuous
 analog input signal to discrete digital numbers (binary)
● Analog: - Real world signals that contain noise Continuous in time

● Digital: - Discrete in time and value

- Binary digits that contain values 0 or 1

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 Analog to digital converter (ADC )

● ADC. An Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) is

a very useful feature that converts an analog
voltage on a pin to a digital number.

• The ADC on the Arduino is a 10-bit ADC

meaning it has the ability to detect 1,024
(2^10) discrete analog levels.

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ADC conversion
In electronics, an analog–to-
digital converter (ADC, A/D, or A-to-D) is
a system that converts an analog signal,
such as a sound picked up by a
microphone or light entering a digital
camera, into a digital signal.

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Electronic Signals

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Analog and Digital Converters

Measure voltage
Parameters
◦ Bits per sample
◦ Sampling rate
For 1 bit we have …
◦ GPIO Input

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Analog and Digital Converters

Measure voltage
Parameters
◦ Bits per sample
◦ Sampling rate
For 1 bit we have …
◦ GPIO Input
For n bits we have …
◦ 0 to 2n 1

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 Sampling
• Reduction of a continuous signal to a discrete signal
• Achieved through sampling and holding circuit
• Switch ON – sampling of signal
• Switch OFF - voltage stored in capacitor (hold
operation)
• Must hold sampled value constant for digital
conversion

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Sampling
Sensor signals are analog

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Sampling Rate

The faster we sample the higher the

accuracy Nyquist Theorem
◦ Sampling frequency >= 2 x maximum
frequency
Voice is 0.3 .. 3.4 KHz
◦ 8KHz phone

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 Resolution
Maximum value of quantization error. Error is reduced with more
available memory
Vrange=Input Voltage Range

n= # bits of ADC

resolution  Vrange /(2n 1)

Example:
Vrange  7.0V
n 3
1V  7V /(23 1)

Resolution
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 Digital output
Each amplitude level can be
represented as a binary sequence

• The ADC assumes 5V is 1023 and

anything less than 5V will be a ratio
between 5V and 1023.
• Suppose our sensor is giving 2.12V
output

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 Why is ADC Important?
• All microcontrollers store information using digital logic
• Compress information to digital form for efficient storage
• Medium for storing digital data is more robust
• Digital data transfer is more efficient
• Digital data is easily reproducible

• Provides a link between real-world signals and data storage

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 How ADC Works
2 Stages:
 Sampling
- Sample-Hold Circuit
- Aliasing
 Quantizing and Encoding
- Resolution

Binary
output
 Quantizing and Encoding
• Approximates a continuous range of values and replaces it with a
binary number

• Error is introduced between input voltage and output binary

representation
• Error depends on the resolution of the ADC

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 Applications For ADC

What are some applications for Analog to Digital Converters?

• Measurements / Data Acquisition

• Control Systems

• PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers)

• Sensor integration (Robotics)

• Cell Phones

• Video Devices

• Audio Devices
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 Thank you!

https://www.stesgroup.rw

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