Peer-to-peer, engineer-to-engineer questions and answers from the EDABoard.com engineering community around analog ICs and analog design. Click the “Read more” link and follow the entire conversation and maybe add your two cents by logging in to EDAboard.com. Low Dropout Voltage Regulator (LDO) design – Read more How to make a fast analog switch? – I would […]
Data Converters
Practical points for Analog-to-Digital Converters
Confusion often arises around the topic of criteria for picking analog-to-digital converters (ADC). Much discussion is usually given to the sampling rate (also referred to as the conversion rate) which dictates how frequently the source signal must be sampled per second to faithfully reproduce that signal. Twentieth-century electronic communications engineer Harry Nyquist answered that question […]
A/D converter boasts power dissipation of 1.55 W per channel
Analog Devices, Inc. announced a 14-bit, 2.6 GSPS dual A/D converter which enables IF/RF sampling with superior speed and linearity. The AD9689 A/D converter features power dissipation of 1.55 W per channel, half the dissipation of comparable solutions in the market, thus further increasing suitability for many of its targeted design situations. In addition to the […]
Top analog threads on EDAboard.com – September
(editor’s note: Intrigued by the problem? Have a question or another solution? Then click the “Read more” link and follow the conversation on EDAboard.com or log in to EDAboard and participate in the analog forum threads.) How do I design this darn differential amplifier? I’ve been trying to design a differential amplifier with the following […]
Top analog threads on EDAboard.com – July
(editor’s note: Intrigued by the problem? Have a question or another solution? Then click the “Read more” link and follow the conversation on EDAboard.com or log in to EDAboard and participate in the analog forum threads.) Simulate a simple differential amplifier – My current source is 50 uA but the drain current of M16, M29 […]
Nyquist rate basics and sufficient sampling for ADCs
Converting a real-world (analog) signal into a digital signal means that you have to bring the signal into an Analog-to-Digital converter (ADC). From there, the ADC turns the continuous analog signal into a discrete, digital signal by sampling, or taking regular snapshots of, the curves of the analog signal. After sampling is complete, any information […]
Compensating for DAC Offset and Gain Error
Digital-to-analog converters (DACs) are subject to gain and offset error. Errors can be compensated for with hardware by using external components or by trimming the DACs after they have been manufactured. Trimming is necessary because the error is caused by mismatched resistors; trimming attempts to change resistor values in the DAC. However, some DACs can […]
Top analog threads on EDAboard.com – June
(editor’s note: Intrigued by the problem? Have a question or another solution? Then click the “Read more” link and follow the conversation on EDAboard.com or log in to EDAboard and participate in the analog forum threads.) What kind of noise in a resistor and double poly cap? – I know there is a thermal noise […]
Monotonicity: What is it and why is it important?
There are many parameters which define the performance of analog and mixed-signal circuits. Among the many “static” (sometimes called “DC” specifications, but this is a misnomer) factors are offset error, gain error, integral nonlinearity, and differential nonlinearity. Note that there are also dynamic specifications (called “AC” specifications but also a misnomer) such as the effective […]
What is a multiplying DAC?
Multiplying digital-to-analog converters (MDACs) produce a (current) output signal that’s a product of the given reference voltage and the code (i.e., a string of 0s and 1s) flowing through it. All data converters require a voltage reference (VREF) and a typical, standard DAC needs a very stable fixed reference voltage in order to operate properly. […]
