SECTION 3-2

ADC/DAC Specifications

Walt Kester

ADC and DAC Static Transfer Functions and DC Errors

The most important thing to remember about both DACs and ADCs is that either the input or output is digital, and therefore the signal is quantized. That is, an N-bit word represents one of 2N possible states, and therefore an N-bit DAC (with a fixed reference) can have only 2N possible analog outputs, and an N-bit ADC can have only 2N possible digital outputs. The analog signals will generally be voltages or currents.

The resolution of data converters may be expressed in several different ways: the weight of the Least Significant Bit (LSB), parts per million of full scale (ppm FS), millivolts (mV), and so forth. It is common that different devices ...

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