Datasheet

ADC10662, ADC10664
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SNAS076E JUNE 1999REVISED MARCH 2013
FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION
The ADC10662 is obsolete. It is discussed here for reference only.
The ADC10662 and ADC10664 digitize an analog input signal to 10 bits accuracy by performing two lower-
resolution “flash” conversions. The first flash conversion provides the six most significant bits (MSBs) of data,
and the second flash conversion provides the four least significant bits LSBs).
Figure 19 is a simplified block diagram of the converter. Near the center of the diagram is a string of resistors. At
the bottom of the string of resistors are 16 resistors, each of which has a value 1/1024 the resistance of the
whole resistor string. These lower 16 resistors (the LSB Ladder) therefore have a voltage drop of 16/1024, or
1/64 of the total reference voltage (V
REF+
V
REF
) across them. The remainder of the resistor string is made up
of eight groups of eight resistors connected in series. These comprise the MSB Ladder. Each section of the
MSB Ladder has of the total reference voltage across it, and each of the LSB resistors has 1/64 of the total
reference voltage across it. Tap points across these resistors can be connected, in groups of sixteen, to the
sixteen comparators at the right of the diagram.
On the left side of the diagram is a string of seven resistors connected between V
REF+
and V
REF
. Six
comparators compare the input voltage with the tap voltages on this resistor string to provide a low-resolution
“estimate” of the input voltage. This estimate is then used to control the multiplexer that connects the MSB
Ladder to the sixteen comparators on the right. Note that the comparators on the left needn't be very accurate;
they simply provide an estimate of the input voltage. Only the sixteen comparators on the right and the six on the
left are necessary to perform the initial six-bit flash conversion, instead of the 64 comparators that would be
required using conventional half-flash methods.
To perform a conversion, the estimator compares the input voltage with the tap voltages on the seven resistors
on the left. The estimator decoder then determines which MSB Ladder tap points will be connected to the sixteen
comparators on the right. For example, assume that the estimator determines that V
IN
is between 11/16 and
13/16 of V
REF
. The estimator decoder will instruct the comparator MUX to connect the 16 comparators to the taps
on the MSB ladder between 10/16 and 14/16 of V
REF
. The 16 comparators will then perform the first flash
conversion. Note that since the comparators are connected to ladder voltages that extend beyond the range
indicated by the estimator circuit, errors in the estimator as large as 1/16 of the reference voltage (64 LSBs) will
be corrected. This first flash conversion produces the six most significant bits of data—four bits in the flash itself,
and 2 bits in the estimator.
The remaining four LSBs are now determined using the same sixteen comparators that were used for the first
flash conversion. The MSB Ladder tap voltage just below the input voltage (as determined by the first flash) is
subtracted from the input voltage and compared with the tap points on the sixteen LSB Ladder resistors. The
result of this second, four-bit flash conversion is then decoded, and the full 10-bit result is latched.
Note that the sixteen comparators used in the first flash conversion are reused for the second flash. Thus, the
multistep conversion technique used in the ADC10662 and ADC10664 needs only a small fraction of the number
of comparators that would be required for a traditional flash converter, and far fewer than would be used in a
conventional half-flash approach. This allows the ADC10662 and ADC10664 to perform high-speed conversions
without excessive power drain.
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Product Folder Links: ADC10662 ADC10664