
Analog-to-Digital Converters 2
Although this chapter is primarily about analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), an
understanding of digital-to-analog converters (DACs) is important to understand-
ing how ADCs work. Figure 2.1 shows a simple resistor ladder with three
switches. The resistors are arranged in an R/2R configuration. The actual values
of the resistors are unimportant; R could be 10 K or 100 K or almost any other
value. Each switch, S0–S2, can switch one end of one 2R resistor between ground
and the reference input voltage, VR. The Figure shows what happens when
switch S2 is on (connected to VR) and S1 and S2 are OFF (connected to ground).