
AD8401
–11–
REV. 0
T able III. DAC Unipolar Code
Nominal
Analog
DAC Register Contents
General T ransfer
Decimal
Binary
E quation
Output V
OUT
255
1111 1111
2
.
500
×
129
2
.
500
×
255
256
2.490 V
129
1000 0001
2
.
500
×
128
256
1.260 V
128
1000 0000
2
.
500
×
127
256
1.250 V
127
0111 1111
256
1.240 V
1
0000 0001
2
.
500
×
1
256
0.010 V
0
0000 0000
2
.
500
×
0
256
0.000 V
APPLICAT IONS INFORMAT ION
T he software programming needs to format data as defined by
the transfer equations and Code T ables that follow.
DAC T ransfer E quation
V
OUT
=
2.500
×
D
256
=
2.500
×
255
256
for a 2.50 V full scale
where
D
is the decimal value 0 through 255 of the 8-bit data
word.
T he nominal output voltages listed in the Code T able are sub-
ject to the static performance specifications. T he INL, Zero-
Scale and Full-Scale errors describe the total specified variation
that will be encountered from part to part. One LSB of error for
the 2.5 V FS range is 9.766 millivolts (= 2.50/256).
Although separate AGNDs exist for both the DAC and ADC to
minimize crosstalk, writing data to the DAC while the ADC is
performing a conversion may result in an incorrect conversion
from the ADC due to signal interaction between the DAC and
ADC. T herefore, to ensure correct operation of the ADC, the
DAC register should not be updated while the ADC is converting.
T he AD8401 is configured for an input range of +3.0 volts Full
Scale. T he nominal transfer characteristic for this range is plot-
ted in Figure 23. T he output coding is natural binary with one
LSB equal to 11.72 millivolts. Note that the first code transition
between 0 LSB and 1 LSB occurs at 5.8 mV, one half of the
11.72 mV LSB step size. T he last code transition occurs at Full
Scale minus 1.5 LSBs, which is a 2.982 V input.
T he AD8401 is easily interfaced to most microprocessors by us-
ing either address bits or address decode to select the appropri-
ate multiplexer channel. Figure 24 shows how easily the AD8401
interfaces to the AD899. No additional hardware is required.
OUTPUT
CODE
FULL SCALE
TRANSITION
1
2
3
FS
FS – 1LSB
V
IN
INPUT VOLTAGE – LSBs
1LSB = FS
256
11111111
11111110
11111101
00000011
00000010
00000001
00000000
Figure 23. ADC 0 V to +3 V Input Transfer Characteristic