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Shield Driver Circuits PDF
Shield Driver Circuits PDF
2, FEBRUARY 2010
which points out that the circuit is stable (i.e., f (RS ) > 1) for
A. Transfer Function of the Buffer RS < RS,A and RS > RS,B , but not for intermediate values.
When the buffer drives a high capacitive load CL , its tran- This dependence on the value of RS can be critical in those
sient response significantly differs from the first-order response applications where RS is not constant, for example, in biopo-
previously assumed. For this reason, we proceed to analyze the tential measurements [10] and impedance tomography [11].
circuit when G(s) is a second-order transfer function, i.e., From (7), we can determine the minimum value of f (i.e.,
fmin ) and the value of RS (i.e., RS,C ) that brings about fmin
ω22 (Fig. 4), i.e.,
G(s) = (3)
s2 + 2ξ2 ω2 s + ω22 1
RS,C = √ (8)
ω2 CIN CSH
where ω2 is the undamped natural frequency, and ξ2 is the
damping ratio. These parameters depend on the OpAmp fea- fmin = f (RS,C ) = 4ξ22 + 4ξ2 CIN /CSH . (9)
tures and also on the capacitive load, which is almost equal to
the parasitic capacitance CSS of the cable. Consequently, since From (6) and (7), the circuit is clearly stable if fmin is greater
CSS depends on the cable length, then G(s) also depends on than 1. The parameter fmin depends on the ratio CIN /CSH , but
the cable length. The effects of the input capacitance CIN of the this is quite variable since CSH depends on the cable type and
OpAmp are also considered here, as shown in Fig. 3. length and CIN depends on the OpAmp used. Therefore, a good
Using (3), the circuit in Fig. 3 has the transfer function T (s) option to ensure the stability of the circuit (i.e., fmin > 1) for
in (4), shown at the bottom of the page, where τi = RS CIN . any ratio CIN /CSH is to select a buffer with 4ξ22 higher than 1
TABLE I
EXPERIMENTAL VALUES OF THE PARAMETERS CIN , ω2 , AND ξ2 OF THE
UNITY–GAIN BUFFER WHEN DRIVING A CAPACITIVE LOAD
CSS = 720 pF
TABLE II
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS OF THE STABILITY TESTS FOR
DIFFERENT VALUES OF RS
to select a high-bandwidth OpAmp when using long cables. All [11] D. S. Holder, Electrical Impedance Tomography: Methods, History and
these theoretical stability conditions have experimentally been Applications. Bristol, U.K.: CRC Press, 2005.
[12] Operational amplifier stability compensation methods for capacitive load-
verified for different commercial OpAmps. ing applied to TS507, STMicroelectronics, Geneva, Switzerland, 2007.
[Online]. Available: http://www.st.com
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank F. López and S. Rodriguez Enrique Mario Spinelli (S’98–M’02–SM’08) was
for the technical support. born in Balcarce, Argentina, in 1964. He received
the Engineer degree in electronics and the M.S. and
Ph.D. degrees from the Universidad Nacional de La
R EFERENCES Plata (UNLP), La Plata, Argentina, in 1989, 2000,
and 2005, respectively.
[1] S. M. Huang, A. L. Stott, R. G. Green, and M. S. Beck, “Electronic Since 1990, he has been with the Industrial Elec-
transducers for industrial measurement of low value capacitances,” J. tronics, Control, and Instrumentation Laboratory
Phys. E, Sci. Instrum., vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 242–250, Mar. 1988. (LEICI), Facultad de Ingeniería, UNLP, working on
[2] D. Marioli, E. Sardini, and A. Taroni, “High-accuracy measurement tech- scientific instrumentation. He is currently a Profes-
niques for capacitance transducers,” Meas. Sci. Technol., vol. 4, no. 3, sor of control systems with the Facultad de Inge-
pp. 337–343, Mar. 1993. niería, UNLP, and a Researcher with the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones
[3] I. Lenicek, D. Ilic, and R. Malaric, “Determination of high-resolution Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). His current research interests are analog
digital voltmeter input parameters,” IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 57, signal processing and brain control interfaces.
no. 8, pp. 1685–1688, Aug. 2008.
[4] B. P. Iliev, G. A. M. Pop, and G. C. M. Meijer, “In-vivo blood characteri-
zation system,” in Proc. IEEE IMTC, Apr. 2006, pp. 1781–1785.
[5] H. G. Goovaerts, T. J. C. Faes, E. Raaijmakers, and R. M. Heethaar, “Some Ferran Reverter was born in Llagostera, Spain, on
design concepts for electrical impedance measurement,” Ann. N.Y. Acad. January 4, 1976. He received the B.Sc. degree in
Sci., vol. 873, no. 1, pp. 388–395, Apr. 1999. industrial electronic engineering from the Univer-
[6] A. C. Meeting van Rijn, A. Peper, and C. A. Grimbergen, “High-quality sity of Girona, Girona, Spain, in 1998, the M.Sc.
recording of bioelectric events. Part 1: Interference reduction, theory degree in electronic engineering from the Univer-
and practice,” Med. Biol. Eng. Comput., vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 389–397, sity of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, in 2001, and
Sep. 1990. the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from the
[7] R. Morrison, Solving Interference Problems in Electronics. New York: Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), Barcelona,
Wiley, 1995. in 2004.
[8] F. Reverter, X. Li, and G. C. M. Meijer, “Stability and accuracy of active Since 2001, he has been an Assistant Professor
shielding for grounded capacitive sensors,” Meas. Sci. Technol., vol. 17, of analogue electronics and digital systems with the
no. 11, pp. 2884–2890, Nov. 2006. UPC. From 2005 to 2007, he was a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow with Delft
[9] R. C. Dorf and R. H. Bishop, Modern Control Systems. Upper Saddle University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands. He is the coauthor (with
River, NJ: Prentice–Hall, 2005. R. Pallàs-Areny) of the book Direct Sensor-to-Microcontroller Interface
[10] J. Rosell, J. Colominas, P. Riu, R. Pallàs-Areny, and J. G. Webster, “Skin Circuits (Barcelona: Marcombo, 2005). His research interests are in the field
impedance from 1 Hz to 1 MHz,” IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., vol. 35, of electronic instrumentation, particularly the design and characterization of
no. 8, pp. 649–651, Aug. 1988. interface circuits for sensors.