AE303 MEASUREMENT

TECHNIQUES

Lecture 4
COMPUTERIZED DATA-ACQUISITION SYSTEMS

Dr. Osman Nuri Şahin

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Electrical Signal Measurement Systems

• Computers so facilitate the process of data acquisition that they are

the appropriate tool for a very broad spectrum of experiments.

• Computers significantly enhance the process of data acquisition,

largely because of their versatility and speed.
• Computers manage the acquisition of data from multiple sensors (at
high sampling rates if desired), save the data, manipulate and display
the data, and, if required, make use of the results to perform control
functions.
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Electrical Signal Measurement Systems

Computerized data-acquisition system (DAS or DAQ) 3

Representing Numbers in Computer Systems

• Numbers used in the everyday world are normally represented in base

10 (decimal).
• It is far more practical in computers to represent numbers in base 2
(binary).
• Information in computers is stored in bistable devices called flip-flops,
which can have two possible states.

• One state is defined as “on” and is

assigned a numerical value of 1, and the
other state is defined as “off” and is
assigned a numerical value of 0.

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Representing Numbers in Computer Systems

• A series of flip-flops are required to represent a number.

• For example, the binary number 1001, which corresponds to the
decimal number 9, can be represented in a computer using four flip-
flops.
• Each of these flip-flops represents a “bit” of the number.
• The leftmost “1” in the binary number 1001 is the most significant bit
(MSB). The rightmost “1” is the least significant bit (LSB).
• The 4-bit binary number above can be used to represent the positive
decimal integers from 0 (represented by 0000) to 15 (represented by
1111).

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Example 1

• Convert the 8-bit binary number 01011100 to decimal.

Solution: In moving from left to right, the bits represent and . Hence to
get the decimal equivalent, we simply have to add the contributions of
each bit.

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Example 2

• Find the 8-bit binary number with the same value as that of the
decimal number 92.
Solution: This problem can be solved by a series of divisions by 2:

• The top number is the least significant bit, and the

bottom number is the most significant bit. The
answer is, thus, 1011100. However, we are asked
for an 8-bit number, so the most significant bit is 0
and the answer is

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Representing Numbers in Computer Systems

• In Examples 1 and 2, binary numbers are used to represent positive

decimal integers. However, it is also necessary to represent negative
numbers.
• Negative numbers are most commonly represented inside computers by a
technique known as 2’s complement.
• As noted above, 4 bits can be used to represent the decimal integers 0 to
15. These same 4 bits can alternatively be used to represent numbers
from -8 to +7.
• The positive numbers from 0 to 7 are represented by the three least
significant bits, ranging from 0000 to 0111.
• The negative numbers from -8 to -1 are represented by the binary
numbers 1000 to 1111, respectively.
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Representing Numbers in Computer Systems

• For positive numbers, the most significant bit is always 0, while it is

always 1 for negative numbers. To convert a negative decimal integer
to 2’s-complement binary, the following procedure can be followed:
1. Convert the integer to binary as if it were positive.
2. Invert all of the bits—change 0’s to 1’s and 1’s to 0’s.
3. Add 1 LSB to the final result.

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Example 3

• Convert the decimal integer -92 to an 8-bit 2’s-complement binary

number.
Solution: In Example 2 we converted +92 to binary and the result was

Next we invert all the bits, to obtain

and then add 1 to obtain the final result, 10100100.

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Basics Of Analog-to-digital Converters

• To explain the function of the A/D converter it is necessary to describe

two distinct methods by which electronic systems process numerical
information: analog and digital.

• Many everyday electronic devices, such as radios and audio amplifiers,

are basically analog devices. Modern computers, on the other hand,
are digital devices.

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Basics Of Analog-to-digital Converters

• if we are trying to represent a value of 5 V in an analog device, we

could charge a capacitor to 5 V.
• In a digital device, 5 V will be represented by a digital code (a digital
binary number such as 0101).
• Most transducers generate an analog output signal. For example, a
temperature transducer might generate an output voltage that is
proportional to the sensed temperature.
• The analog-to-digital converter (A/D converter or ADC) is the device
required in data-acquisition systems to convert the analog transducer
signals into the digital code used by the computer.

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Basics Of Analog-to-digital Converters

• Computerized data-acquisition systems usually use A/D converters

with at least 8 bits, where the number of possible states is (which
equals 256).
• The input range of A/D converters can be classified as unipolar or
bipolar. A unipolar converter can only respond to analog inputs with
the same sign. Examples of the input range are or .
• Bipolar converters can convert both positive and negative analog
inputs, with or being typical input ranges.

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Basics Of Analog-to-digital Converters

• There are a number of output codes that are used to represent the digital
output of A/D converters.

• Table 4.2 shows the form of the binary numbers for these codes. and
represent the upper and lower values of the input range and is the input
voltage.
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Basics Of Analog-to-digital Converters

• "int" indicates that the calculation should be rounded to the nearest

integer. If the computed output is outside these limits, the converter
is saturated, and the actual output will have the value of the nearest
limit 15
Basics Of Analog-to-digital Converters

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Example

• A 4-bit single-slope integrating A/D converter has an input range of 0

to 10 V. Compute the digital output for an analog input of 6.115.
Solution: Since this is a simple binary device, Eq. (B) is applicable:

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Example

• A 12-bit A/D converter with 2’s-complement output has an input range

of -10 to +10 V. Find the output codes when the input is -11, -5, 0,
6.115, and 12 V.
• Solution: Substituting into Eq. (A) the results are as follows:

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Basics Of Analog-to-digital Converters

• Since the output of an A/D converter changes in discrete steps (one

LSB), there is a resolution error (uncertainty), known as a quantizing
error. In input units, this translates to

• Thus, changes in the input as large as this resolution may not show up
as changes in the digital output. For an 8-bit converter, the error is
about ±0.2%. of the input range, and for a 12-bit converter it is about
±0.01%.

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Example

• A 12-bit A/D converter has an input range of -10 to +10. Find the
resolution error of the converter for the analog input.
Solution:

The resolution uncertainty of is the best that can be achieved.

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