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DigitalToAnalogConverter(DAC)
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Digitaltoanalogconverterisusedtoconvertdigitalquantityintoanalogquantity.DACconverter
SHAREBAR producesanoutputcurrentofvoltageproportionaltodigitalquantity(binaryword)appliedtoitsinput.
Todaymicrocomputersarewidelyusedforindustrialcontrol.Theoutputofthemicrocomputerisa
digitalquantity.Inmanyapplicationsthedigitaloutputofthemicrocomputerhastobeconvertedinto
analogquantitywhichisusedforthecontrolofrelay,smallmotor,actuatore.t.c.Incommunication
systemdigitaltransmissionisfasterandconvenientbutthedigitalsignalshavetobeconvertedback
toanalogsignalsatthereceivingterminal.DACconvertersarealsousedasapartofthecircuitryof
severalADCconverters.
Thereareseveralwaysofmakingadigitaltoanalogconverter.Someofthemaregivenasunder.
1.BinaryweightedresistorDAC
2.R2RLaddernetwork
3.SerialDACconverter
4.BCDDAC
5.BipolarDAC
BinaryweightedResistorDAC
AbinaryweightedresistorladderD/Aconverterisshowninfigure1.
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Itconsistsofthefollowingfourmajorcomponents.
1.nswitchesoneforeachbitappliedtotheinput
2.aweightedresistorladdernetwork,wheretheresistanceareinverselyproportionaltothe
numericalsignificanceofthecorrespondingbinarydigital
3.areferencevoltageVrefand
4.asummingamplifierthataddsthecurrentflowingintheresistivenetworktodevelopasignalthat
isproportionaltothedigitalinput.
Thebehaviorofthecircuitmaybeanalyzedeasilybyusing"Millman'stheorem".Itstatethat"the
voltageappearingatanynodeinaresistivenetworkisequaltothesummationofthecurrent
enteringthenode(assumingthenodevoltageiszero)dividedbythesummationofthe
conductanceconnectedtothemode".
Mathematicallywecanwrite
AssumethattheresistorR1,R2,R3.......Rnarebinaryweightedresistors,thus
R1=R
R2=2R
R3=4R
..............
.............
.............
Rn=(2n1)R
AResistorLadderNetwork,candeliversabinarynumbersaynumberofnbits.
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EachbitcontrolsaswitchsithatisconnectedtoVref.
whenai=1,thenbitisON,andwhenai=0,thenbitisOFF.
ThereferencevoltagesourceVRisconsideredtohavezerointernalimpedance.Theresistorthatare
connectedtotheswitcheshavevaluesuchastomakethecurrentflowproportiontothebinaryweight
oftherespectiveinput.ButtheresistorintheMSBpositionhasthevalueR,thenexthasthevalue2R
etc.TheresistoroftheLSBhavethevalueof
(2n1)R.
Thecurrentflowinginthesummingamplifieris
Multiplyinganddividingby(2)n1R
AboverelationshowsthatoutputvoltageoftheD/Aconverterisproportionaltoanumberrepresented
bytheswitchthatareconnectedtoVRi.e.ai=1
Maximumcurrentwillflowwhenallaicoefficientare1,i.e.
Whenallthebitsofdigitalwordhavevalueof1,thentheoutputcurrentofD/Aconverteristermedthe
fullscaleoutputcurrentandisanimportantdesignparameter.
Ontheotherhand,ifallswitchesareopeni.e.allaicoefficientsarezero,thentheoutputvoltage
(current)iszero.
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ThemaximumoutputvoltageVo=RiIdependsonthefeedbackresistorRf.As,theoperational
amplifierisoperatedinthenegativefeedbackmodeforthepurposeofsummingsothatitperformsas
anexcellentcurrenttovoltageconverter.
Advantages
Asonlyoneresistorisusedperitintheresistornetwork,thusitisaneconomicalD/Aconverter.
Disadvantages/Limitations
1.Resistorsusedinthenetworkhaveawiderangeofvalues,soitisverydifficulttoensurethe
absoluteaccuracyandstabilityofalltheresistors.
2.Itisverydifficulttomatchthetemperaturecoefficientsofalltheresistors.Thisfactorisspecially
importantinD/Aconvertersoperationoverawidetemperaturerange.
3.Whennissolarge,theresistancecorrespondingtoLBScanassumealargevalue,whichmay
becomparablewiththeinputresistanceoftheamplifier.Thisleadstoerroneousresults.
4.Astheswitchesrepresentfiniteimpedancethatareconnectedinserieswiththeweighted
resistorsandtheirmagnitudesandvariationshavetobetakenintoaccountinaD/Aconverter
design.
R2RLadderNetwork
IncaseofweightedresistorDACrequiresawiderangeofresistancevaluesandswitchesforeachbit
positionifhighaccuracyconversionisrequired.AdigitaltoanalogconverterwithanR2Rladder
networkasshowninfigure2eliminatesthesecomplicationsattheexpenseofanadditionalresistor
foreachbit.
TheoperationofR2RladderDACiseasilyexplainedconsideringtheweightsofthedifferentbitsone
atatime.Thiscanbefollowedbysuperpositiontoconstructanalogoutputcorrespondinganydigital
inputword.LetonlytheMSBisturnedONinthefirstcase,andallotherbitsareOFF,asimplified
equivalentcircuitcanbedrawnasshowninfigure3.
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Figure3:EquivalentCircuitforR2Rladdernetwork,whenMSBisONandallotherareOFF
TheequivalentcircuitwithonlyswitchSn2connectedtothereferencevoltageisshowninfigure4.
Byusingprincipleofsuperpositionallcontributionsaresummedupandtheresultantoutputis
Vo=VR[an12n1+an22n2+.............a12(n1)+ao2n]
Vo=VR2n[an12n1+an22n2+.............a12+1+ao2o]
Notethataidependsonwhetherthitheswitchisat0oratVR.ThustheoutputoftheDACis
proportionaltothesumoftheweightsrepresentedbythoseeswitchesthatareconnectedtoVRand
theratioofresistorsintheR2Rladdernetwork.
Fromthiscircuit,voltageatmode(n1)isgivenby
Vn1=VR(R/3R)(3R)=VR/3
Astheinputterminaloftheoperationalamplifierisatvirtualground.IfthefeedbackresistorRfforthe
operationalamplifieristakenas3R,thecorrespondingoutputvoltagedutotheMSBaloneis
Vo=(VR/3)(3R/2R)
=VR/2
LetnextswitchSn2atVRwithallotherswitchesatzero.Here,thecurrentatnode(n2)divide
equallytotherightandtotheleftresultinginavoltageatnode(n2)
Vn2=VR/3
Thisvoltageisattenuatedbyafactorof2atnode(n1),as
Vn1=Vn2(R/2R)=VR/6
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Outputvoltageduetonoden2attheoperationalamplifieris
Vo=(VR/6)(3R/2R)
=VR/4
Advantages
1.OnlytwovaluesofresistorsareusedRand2R.
2.TheactualvalueusedforRisrelativelylessimportantaslongasextremelylargevalues,where
straycapacitanceenterthepicture,arenotemploysonlyratioofresistorvaluesiscritical.
3.R2Rladdernetworkareavailableinmonolithicchips,.Thesearelasertrimmedtobewithin
0.01%ofthedesiredratios.
4.ThestaircasevoltageismorelikelytobemonotonicastheeffectoftheMSBresistorisnotmany
timesgraterthanthatforLSBresistor.
Startthediscussion
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