05-03-2013, 11:54 AM
Digital-to-AnalogAnalog-to-Digital
Digital-to-Analog.ppt (Size: 417.5 KB / Downloads: 37)
Data Handling Systems
Both data about the physical world and control signals sent to interact with the physical world are typically "analog" or continuously varying quantities.
In order to use the power of digital electronics, one must convert from analog to digital form on the experimental measurement end and convert from digital to analog form on the control or output end of a laboratory system.
Digital-to-Analog Conversion
When data is in binary form, the 0's and 1's may be of several forms such as the TTL form where the logic zero may be a value up to 0.8 volts and the 1 may be a voltage from 2 to 5 volts.
The data can be converted to clean digital form using gates which are designed to be on or off depending on the value of the incoming signal.
Weighted Sum DAC
One way to achieve D/A conversion is to use a summing amplifier.
This approach is not satisfactory for a large number of bits because it requires too much precision in the summing resistors.
This problem is overcome in the R-2R network DAC.
R-2R Ladder DAC
The summing amplifier with the R-2R ladder of resistances shown produces the output where the D's take the value 0 or 1.
The digital inputs could be TTL voltages which close the switches on a logical 1 and leave it grounded for a logical 0.
This is illustrated for 4 bits, but can be extended to any number with just the resistance values R and 2R.
ADC Basic Principle
The basic principle of operation is to use the comparator principle to determine whether or not to turn on a particular bit of the binary number output.
It is typical for an ADC to use a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to determine one of the inputs to the comparator.
Digital-Ramp ADC
The output of the DAC is applied to the other terminal of the comparator.
Since the output of the DAC is increasing with the counter, it will trigger the comparator at some point when its voltage exceeds the analog input.
The transition of the comparator stops the binary counter, which at that point holds the digital value corresponding to the analog voltage.
Flash ADC
The resistor net and comparators provide an input to the combinational logic circuit, so the conversion time is just the propagation delay through the network - it is not limited by the clock rate or some convergence sequence.