IntermediateTopic 49 of 104Electronics & Embedded
ADC
Analog-to-digital converters sample and quantise a signal; resolution is bits.
In depth
ADCs convert voltage to digital codes: resolution (bits), sampling rate, accuracy. LSB=V_ref/2ⁿ. Architectures: flash (fast), SAR (general), sigma-delta (high resolution, slower), pipeline. Quantisation noise limits SNR≈6.02N+1.76 dB.
Key points
- Aliasing needs anti-alias filter
- INL and DNL errors
- ENOB
ExampleA 12-bit ADC with 3.3 V reference has 0.8 mV steps.
What is ADC?
Analog-to-digital converters sample and quantise a signal; resolution is bits.
Why is it important to understand ADC?
ADCs turn real-world signals into numbers for processing, so resolution and speed limit what an embedded system can measure.
What is the resolution of an ADC?
The number of bits, which sets the number of output levels and the smallest voltage step the converter can detect.
What is quantisation error?
The difference between the true input and the nearest code, which is up to half a least significant bit and cannot be removed by the converter itself.
How is ADC used in practice?
Typical applications include reading a potentiometer position with a 10-bit ADC, digitising the output of a strain gauge amplifier and sampling a battery voltage to estimate remaining charge.
What should I learn before ADC?
Study "Logic families" first (topic 48 of 104 in Electronics & Embedded). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
What are the key points of ADC?
Aliasing needs anti-alias filter. INL and DNL errors. ENOB.
Can you give an example of ADC?
A 12-bit ADC with 3.3 V reference has 0.8 mV steps.
What comes after ADC?
The next topic is "DAC", which builds directly on this one.
How difficult is ADC?
It is classed as Intermediate in Electronics & Embedded (topic 49 of 104). It is an intermediate topic. Work through the beginner topics in Electronics & Embedded first.