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Introduction
1. Signals in digital form are more convenient than analog form for processing and control
operation.
2. Real world signals originated from temperature, pressure , flow rate, force or any other sensors
are however in analog form and for processing or control by digital systems like computer.
3. Conversion between analog form and digital form is needed.
4. Data acquisition systems (DAS) in general have the following basic components:a. Digital to analog convertor
b. Analog to digital convertor
c. Digital I/O devices
d. Timer
e. Sample and hold amplifier
f. multiplexer
5. the DAC and ADC are the important basic components that determine the capabilities and
performance of the DAS.
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g. The number of samples collected in unit time is called as the sampling rate.
h. Increasing the sampling rate gets samples of analog signal at close intervals.
Examples
A 1 kHz sine wave is sampled at three different rates, i.e at 4,8,16 samples. Show the reconstructed
waveforms schematically.
Reference books :- PC-Based instrumentation concepts and practice by N.mathivanan, Prentic hall of
india, 2007
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Digital to analog converters (DAC)
1. A DAC converts digital quantities represented by binary codes to proportional analog voltage or
currents.
2. Several techniques are used for digital to analog conversion.
Basic inputs and outputs
1. A basic n-bit DAC has n digital inputs, an analog voltage output and a reference voltage input
2. The DAC receives the digital representation (in binary format) of information to be converted to
analog value through the digital input pins.
3. The width of digital word (the number of bits in the digital world) defines the accuracy of the
analog representation of the information to be produced by the DAC and a term resolution is
used to indicate this.
4. Typically resolutions ranging from 8 to 20 bits.
5. The DAC produces analog voltages representing the input digital quantity on the analog output
pin.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Internally an n-bit DAC consists of an n latches, n switches and a resistor network block.
The n latches hold the n bits of the digital input word.
Output of each latch, controls a transistor switch in the resistor network.
The resistor network block in the converter performs the actual digital to analog conversion.
Each switched ON resistor in the network passes definite amount of current.
The Opamp performs the sum of current and output the analog quantity.
Reference books :- PC-Based instrumentation concepts and practice by N.mathivanan, Prentic hall of
india, 2007
Page |4
Digital to analog Conversion techniques.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
7. Where, S3,S2,S1 and S0 represent the status of switches and take value 1 or 0 if the respective
switch is closed or opened.
Reference books :- PC-Based instrumentation concepts and practice by N.mathivanan, Prentic hall of
india, 2007
Page |5
8. If resistor are in binary weights, i.e , R3 = 2RF ,R2 = 4RF , R1 = 8RF and R0 = 16RF the previous
equation reduce to;
9. The 4 bits of the digital input control the 4 switches to provide 16 different switch settings and
produce 16 different discrete voltage at the output.
10. In general, an n bit digital quantity produce 2n different discrete analog voltages.
Example:A 4-bit DAC has -5V internal reference. Find output for all possible inputs
Solution:The binary pattern of 4 bit digital word is 0000,0001,0010,.,1111. The output voltage for each word is
obtained using the equation
1.
2.
3.
4.
Construction of a DAC based on the binary weighted resistor network is practically difficult
The construction of an n-bit DAC needs n+1 resistors with values 20R, 21R, 22R,., 2nR.
The value of LSB resistor is 2n times the feedback resistor, RF.
The nominal value of feedback resistor is 5kohm, for 8 bit = 1.28M @ 28 X 5k and for 12 bit =
20.48 Mohm. Such high values are not easily achievable in the ICs.
5. Solution:a. Is to separate the inputs into groups of four bits and converting each group with
difference voltages that are in multiples of 16
Reference books :- PC-Based instrumentation concepts and practice by N.mathivanan, Prentic hall of
india, 2007
Page |6
b. Another solution is illustrated in figure below, where 3 op amps are used to cpnvert 8
bit digital data. 2 groups of 4 bits are independently converted and their output are
added in 1:16 ration using another op amp.
Reference books :- PC-Based instrumentation concepts and practice by N.mathivanan, Prentic hall of
india, 2007
Page |7
R-2R ladder network
1. The R-2R ladder resistor network solves the above problem in a simple way.
2. The figure shown in figure below uses resistors with only 2 values, R and 2R, in the ladder
arrangement.
3. The current entering a branch in the network splits into two equal halves at a node and further
divides equally again at each node as it proceeds through the ladders.
4. Each digital input controls a switch to steer current through the resistor either to the summing
point or to the ground.
5. The op amp performs the sum of currents reaching the summing point (Is) and outputs
proportional voltage.
6. Analog output voltage for a digital input quantity is given as,
Where S3,S2,S1 and S0 represent the status of the switches and take value of respective digital
input (1 or 0)
Reference books :- PC-Based instrumentation concepts and practice by N.mathivanan, Prentic hall of
india, 2007
Page |8
Example
Find the current output of R-2R ladder network for a digital input of 1011. The ladder network has
resistor values of R = 10K ohm, 2R = 20K ohm. Vref = 10V
Solution:The current reaching the summing point, IS ,for a digital input is
1. Each resistance in the network has a difference value. Since the dividers are usually constructed
using precision resistor, their cost factor increases.
2. The value of LSB resistor is 2n times the feedback resistor Rf, in high bit input design, LSB resistor
value is too high and the value are not easily available in the ICs.
3. The resistance used in the MSB is required to handle a much large current than the LSB resistor (
for example the current through the MSB may be 500 times larger than that through the LSB )
Reference books :- PC-Based instrumentation concepts and practice by N.mathivanan, Prentic hall of
india, 2007
Page |9
Reference books :- PC-Based instrumentation concepts and practice by N.mathivanan, Prentic hall of
india, 2007
P a g e | 10
Characteristics of DAC
The DACs operating on different principles are commercially available in the market.in order to
distinguish their performance, several characteristic parameter are defined. Manufacturers provide
typical values for the parameters in the datasheets.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Resolution
Full-scale output
Output-input equation
Range of operation
Settling time
Accuracy
Errors
Differential non linear error
Integral non linearity error
Offset error
Gain error.
Reference books :- PC-Based instrumentation concepts and practice by N.mathivanan, Prentic hall of
india, 2007