Data-Converter Circuits

A/D and D/A

Unit-6

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 Analog Signals every where
Examples of A/D
• Microphones - takes your voice varying pressure waves in the air and
convert them into varying electrical signals
• Thermocouple – temperature measuring device converts thermal energy
to electric energy
• Tachometer – Converts rpm to electrical voltage
• Piezo-electric Accelerometer – Converts acceleration to an electrical
signal
• Most analogue transducers produce electrical signals and the signal
needs to be converted to digital form to interface the device/signal to a
Microprocessor (μP: 8085/8086), microcontroller (μC:8051), Arduino,
PIC, Raspberry-Pi , etc.
 Need to Sample an analog Most signals are
signal analog
Then convert to digital by
A/D converter
Sample and Hold Circuit

Are sensor outputs Analog ?

e.g., Thermocouple,
Microphone, etc.

Figure 9.36 The process of periodically sampling an analog signal. (a) Sample-and-hold (S/H) circuit.
The switch closes for a small part ( seconds) of every clock period (T). (b) Input signal waveform. (c)
Sampling signal (control signal for the switch). (d) Output signal (to be fed to A/D converter). 3
 A/D converter and D/A Converters
Analog to Digital Digital to Analog

Analog input / Digital output Digital input / Analog output

Figure 9.37 The A/D and D/A converters as circuit blocks.

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 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

Figure 9.38 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 time delay usually introduced by the filter is not shown. 6
 Conversion accuracy: eg 2-bits
Blue line ?

• Analog is continuous

• But digital is discrete

• Limited by number
of bits

Red ?

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 3-bit conversion example
Quantization levels

Eg 5V divided into 8
levels – each 0.625
Each binary representation is a “range”
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D/A conversion implementation
Weighted Summing Circuit

in = ?
i =?

vo = - [(Rf / R1) * v1 + (Rf / R2) * v2 +….+ (Rf / Rn) * vn]

Figure 2.10 A weighted summer.

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 N-bit D/A Converter Implementation
Binary weighted resistive ladder

digital values control switches S1 - Sn

Figure 9.39 An N-bit D/A converter using a binary-weighted resistive ladder network.

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 Analog  Digital Conversion
2-Step Process:

• Quantizing - breaking down analog value to

set of finite states
• Encoding - assigning a digital word or number
to each state
 Step 1: Quantizing
Example: a 3 bit A/D , N=23=8 (no. of steps)

Output Discrete Voltage

0-10V signals.
Separated into discrete
states with 1.25V
increments.
Analog quantization
size:
Q=(Vmax-Vmin)/N =
(10V – 0V)/8 = 1.25V
States Ranges (V)
0 0.00-1.25
1 1.25-2.50
2 2.50-3.75
3 3.75-5.00
4 5.00-6.25
5 6.25-7.50
6 7.50-8.75
7 8.75-10.0
 Encoding
give value to each state

Output Output Binary Equivalent

States
0 000
1 001
2 010
3 011
4 100
5 101
6 110
7 111
 Accuracy of A/D Conversion
two ways to improve accuracy:

• Increase resolution: improves accuracy in measuring

analog signal amplitude

• Increase sampling rate: increases max frequency that

can be measured, e.g, high pitch audio
 A/D Converter Types

– Flash ADC
– Successive Approximation ADC
 Analog to Digital Converter
Simple, Cheap but slow : (SAR)
Increment counter  D/A  compare
A
N
A D
L I
O G
G I
T
A
L

Figure 9.43 A simple feedback-type A/D converter.

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PIC microcontroller A/D
10-bit resolution 8 Analog channels

controlled by
program. registers

If 0-5V range
What is pic resolution
What is 3.65V
In digital domain ?

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 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

Figure 9.45 Parallel, simultaneous, or flash A/D conversion.

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 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

Advantages
• Simplest in terms of
operational theory
• Most efficient in terms of
speed, very fast
• limited only in terms of
comparator and gate
propagation delays
Disadvantages
• Lower resolution
• Expensive
• For each additional output
bit, the number of
comparators is doubled
• i.e. for 8 bits, 256
comparators needed
A / D Converter
– CMOS
Implementation
Charge-redistribution
A/D
FYI

Figure 9.46 Charge-redistribution A/D converter suitable for CMOS implementation: (a) sample phase, (b) hold
phase, and (c) charge-redistribution phase.
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