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Intersil Corporation 1999
A Complete Analog-to-Digital Converter
Operating From a Single 3.3V Power Supply
Introduction
The current data acquisition marketplace has an ever
increasing
demand
for
integrated
operating with a single 3.3V power supply. The Intersil
HI-5812 12-bit sampling analog-to-digital converter has
proven capable of meeting this market demand and can
assist system designers with their 3.3V requirements. The
Intersil HI-5813, which will be our 3.3V, 12-bit ADC with
guaranteed 3.3V parameters, is scheduled to be introduced
in the fall of 1993.
circuits
capable
of
Features
The Intersil HI-5812 is a fast, low power, 12-bit successive
approximation analog-to-digital converter capable of operat-
ing from a single 3.3V to 6V supply. Typical supply current is
1.9mA (when operating with a 5V supply), and the device
can operate from either an external clock or from its own
internal clock. It is offered over the full industrial temperature
range in 24 lead narrow body Plastic DIP, narrow body
Ceramic DIP, and wide body Plastic SOIC packages.
Theory of Operation
The HI-5812 uses capacitor charge balancing to approxi-
mate the analog input. The heart of the converter is a
capacitor network with a common node connected to a
comparator and the second terminal of each capacitor is
individually switchable to the analog input, V
REF
+, or V
REF
-.
A complete conversion takes 15 clock cycles. The first three
clock cycles are used to auto-balance the comparator at the
capacitor common node. The switchable terminal of every
capacitor in the network is connected to the analog input
during this time.
During
disconnected from the input. The capacitor representing the
MSB is then connected to the V
REF
+ terminal and the
remaining capacitors to V
REF
-. After the charge balances
out, the capacitor common node will indicate whether the
input was above 1/2 of ((V
REF
+) - (V
REF
-)). At the end of the
fourth clock period the comparator output is stored and the
MSB capacitor is either connected to V
REF
+ (if the
comparator output is high) or connected to V
REF
-. This
allows the next comparison to be at either 3/4 or 1/4 of
((V
REF
+) - (V
REF
-)). A similar procedure is used during
clock periods five through fifteen to test the capacitors
representing the remaining bits. At the end of each clock
cycle the comparator result is stored and each capacitor
either connected to V
REF
+ or V
REF
-.
the
fourth
clock
period,
all
capacitors
are
Typical 3.3V Performance
At room temperature, the HI-5812 will typically exhibit eleven
bit linearity under the following operating conditions: (1) V
DD
= V
REF
+ = 3.3V and (2) maximum clock frequency f
CLKMAX
= 600kHz (which equates to a conversion time of t
C
= 25
μ
s).
Refer to Figure 1 through Figure 10 for typical performance
curves. Note that all data shown was taken at room tempera-
ture (+25
o
C).
Power supply current
, at reduced supply voltage (3.3V), is
typically 500
μ
A and remains relatively independent of the
applied external clock frequency (Figure 1.)
Offset and Gain
errors remain below
±
2LSBs up to f
CLK
= 600kHz (Figure 2
and Figure 3). Both
Differential and Integral Linearity
also
remain below
±
2LSBs with f
CLK
up to 600kHz or 25
μ
s
conversion time (Figure 4 and Figure 5). Typical overall
12-bit performance is achievable with f
CLK
up to 500kHz or
30
μ
s conversion time.
Figure 6 and Figure 7 are spectral plots of the HI-5812
output with a 1kHz sine wave input and clock frequencies of
500kHz and 600kHz respectively. The plots show that the
noise floor is between -90dB and -100dB and all harmonics
are below -80dB for both clock frequencies. Figure 8, Figure
9 and Figure 10 illustrate signal-to-noise + distortion
(SINAD) vs frequency, total harmonic distortion (THD) vs
frequency, and effective number of bits (ENOB) vs frequency
respectively. As expected, each of these parameters
degrades with increasing clock frequency. In particular,
ENOB decreases from 11.1 bits at f
CLK
= 500kHz to 10.2
bits at f
CLK
= 750kHz. Figure 11 shows the test circuit used
for this 3.3V characterization. conversion time (Figure 4 and
Figure 5). Typical overall 12-bit performance is achievable
with f
CLK
up to 500kHz or 30
μ
s conversion time.
Figure 6 and Figure 7 are spectral plots of the HI-5812
output with a 1kHz sine wave input and clock frequencies of
500kHz and 600kHz respectively. The plots show that the
noise floor is between -90dB and -100dB and all harmonics
are below -80dB for both clock frequencies. Figure 8, Figure
9 and Figure 10 illustrate signal-to-noise + distortion
(SINAD) vs frequency, total harmonic distortion (THD) vs
frequency, and effective number of bits (ENOB) vs frequency
respectively. As expected, each of these parameters
degrades with increasing clock frequency. In particular,
ENOB decreases from 11.1 bits at f
CLK
= 500kHz to 10.2
bits at f
CLK
= 750kHz. Figure 11 shows the test circuit used
for this 3.3V characterization.
Conclusions
The capacitor charge balancing technique used by the
HI-5812 lends itself well to operation at reduced supply
voltages. Optimal performance is determined by the clock
frequencies applied.
Slower clocks allow for additional conversion time and allows
the comparator to meet the higher accuracy requirements
imposed by both the reduced headroom and the reduced
LSB size. Eleven bit performance can typically be obtained
with clock frequencies less than 600kHz (equating to t
C
=
25
μ
s) and twelve bit performance can typically be achieved
with f
CLK
= 500kHz (t
C
= 30
μ
s).
Application Note
August 1993
AN9326