4/27/2021 Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) Basics

Analogue to Digital Converter

Analogue to Digital Converter, or ADC, is a data converter which allows digital circuits to
interface with the real world by encoding an analogue signal into a binary code

Analogue-to-Digital Converters, (ADCs) allow micro-processor controlled circuits, Arduinos,

Raspberry Pi, and other such digital logic circuits to communicate with the real world. In the real
world, analogue signals have continuously changing values which come from various sources and
sensors which can measure sound, light, temperature or movement, and many digital systems
interact with their environment by measuring the analogue signals from such transducers.
While analogue signals can be continuous and provide an infinite number different voltage values,
digital circuits on the other hand work with binary signal which have only two discrete states, a logic
“1” (HIGH) or a logic “0” (LOW). So it is necessary to have an electronic circuit which can convert
between the two different domains of continuously changing analogue signals and discrete digital
signals, and this is where Analogue-to-Digital Converters (A/D) come in.
Basically an analogue to digital converter takes a snapshot of an analogue voltage at one instant in
time and produces a digital output code which represents this analogue voltage. The number of
binary digits, or bits used to represent this analogue voltage value depends on the resolution of an
A/D converter.
For example a 4-bit ADC will have a resolution of one part in 15, (24 – 1) whereas an 8-bit ADC will
have a resolution of one part in 255, (28 – 1). Thus an analogue to digital converter takes an unknown
continuous analogue signal and converts it into an “n”- bit binary number of 2n bits.
But first let us remind ourselves of the differences between an analogue (or analog) signal and a
digital signal as shown:

Analogue and Digital Signals

https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/combination/analogue-to-digital-converter.html 1/7
4/27/2021 Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) Basics

Here we can see that as the wiper terminal of the potentiometer is rotated between between 0 volts
and VMAX, it produces a continuous output signal (or voltage) which has an infinite number of output
values relative to the wiper position. As the potentiometers wiper is adjusted from one position to the
next, there is no sudden or step change between the two voltage levels thereby producing a
continuously variable output voltage. Examples of analogue signals include temperature, pressure,
liquid levels and light intensity.
For a digital circuit the potentiometer wiper has been replaced by a single rotary switch which is
connected in turn to each junction of the series resistor chain, forming a basic potential divider
network. As the switch is rotated from one position (or node) to the next the output voltage,
VOUTchanges quickly in discrete and distinctive voltage steps representing multiples of 1.0 volts on
each switching action or step as shown.
So for example, the output voltage will be 2 volts, 3 volts, 5 volts, etc. but NOT 2.5V, 3.1V or 4.6V.
Finer output voltage levels could easily be produced by using a multi-positional switch and increasing
the number of resistive elements within the potential divider network, therefore increasing the number
of discrete switching steps.
Then we can see that the major differences between an analogue signal and a digital signal is that an
“Analogue” quantity is continuously changing over time while a “Digital” quantity has discrete (step by
step) values. “LOW” to “HIGH” or “HIGH” to “LOW”.
So how can we convert a continously changing signal with an infinite number of values to one which
has distinct values or steps for use by a digital circuit.

Analogue-to-Digital Converter
The process of taking an analogue voltage signal and converting it into an equivalent digital signal
can be done in many different ways, and while there are many analogue-to-digital converter chips
such as the ADC08xx series available from various manufacturers, it is possible to build a simple
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/combination/analogue-to-digital-converter.html 2/7
4/27/2021 Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) Basics

ADC using discrete components. One simple and easy way is by using parallel encoding, also known
as flash, simultaneous, or multiple comparator converters in which comparators are used to detect
different voltage levels and output their switching state to an encoder.
Parallel of “Flash” A/D converters use a series of interconnected but equally spaced comparators and
voltage references generated by a series network of precision resistors for generating an equivalent
output code for a particular n-bit resolution. The advantage of parallel or flash converters is that they
are simple to construct and do not require any timing clocks as the instant an analogue voltage is
applied to the comparator inputs, it is compared against a reference voltage. Consider the comparator
circuit below.

Comparator Circuit
An analogue comparator such as the LM339N which has two analogue
inputs, one positive and one negative, and which can be used to
compare the magnitudes of two different voltage levels. A voltage
input, (VIN) signal is applied to one input of the comparator, while a
reference voltage, (VREF) to the other. A comparison of the two voltage
levels at the comparator’s input is made to determine the comparators
digital logic output state, either a “1” or a “0”.
The reference voltage, VREF is compared against the input voltage,
VIN applied to the other input. For an LM339 comparator, if the input
voltage is less than the reference voltage, (VIN < VREF) the output is
“OFF”, and if it is greater than the reference voltage, (VIN > VREF) the
output will be “ON”. Thus a comparator compares two voltage levels
and determines which one of the two is higher.
In our simple example above, VREF is obtained from the voltage divider network setup by R1 and R2. If
the two resisors are of equal values, that is R1 = R2, then clearly the reference voltage level will be
equal to half the supply voltage, or V/2. So for a comparator with an open-collector output, if VIN is
less than V/2, the output is HIGH, and if VIN is greater than V/2, the output is LOW acting as a 1-bit
ADC.
But by adding more resistors to the voltage divider network we can effectively “divide” the supply
voltage by an amount determined by the resistances of the resistors. However, the more resistors we
use in the voltage divider network the more comparators will be required.
In general, 2n– 1 comparators would be required for conversion of an “n”-bit binary output, where “n”
is typically in the range from 8 to 16. In our example above, the single bit ADC used 21– 1, which
equals “1” comparator to determine if VIN was greater or smaller than the V/2 reference voltage.
If we now create a 2-bit ADC, then we will need 22– 1 which is “3” comparators as we need four
different voltage levels corresponding to the 4 digital values required for a 4-to-2 bit encoder circuit as
shown.

2-bit Analogue to Digital Converter Circuit

https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/combination/analogue-to-digital-converter.html 3/7
4/27/2021 Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) Basics

This will give us a 2-bit output code for all four possible values of analogue input of:

2-bit A/D converter Output

Digital
Comparator Outputs
Analogue Input Outputs
Voltage (VIN)
D3 D2 D1 D0 Q1 Q0

0 to 1 V 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 to 2 V 0 0 1 X 0 1

2 to 3 V 0 1 X X 1 0

3 to 4 V 1 X X X 1 1

Where: “X” is a “don’t care”, that is either a logic “0” or a logic “1” condition.
So how does this analogue-to-digital converter work. For an A/D converters to be useful it has to
produce a meaningful digital representation of the analogue input signal. Here in this simple 2-bit
ADC example we have assumed for simplicity that the input voltage VIN is between 0 and 4 volts, so
have set VREF and the resistive voltage-divider network to drop 1 volt across each resistor.
When VIN is between 0 and 1 volt, (<1V) the input on all three comparators will be less than the
reference voltage, so their outputs will be LOW and the encoder will output a binary zero (00)
condition on pins Q0 and Q1. When VIN increases and exceeds 1 volt but is less than 2 volts,
(1V<VIN<2V) comparator U1 which has a reference voltage input set at 1 volt, will detect this voltage
difference and produce a HIGH output. The priority encoder which is used as the 4-to-2 bit encoding
detects the change of input at D1 and produces a binary output of “1” (01).

https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/combination/analogue-to-digital-converter.html 4/7
4/27/2021 Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) Basics

Note that a Priority Encoder such as the TTL 74LS148 allocates a priority level to each individual
input. The priority encoders output corresponds to the currently active input which has the highest
priority. So when an input with a higher priority (D1 compared to D0) is present, all other inputs with a
lower priority will be ignored. So if there are two or more inputs at logic level “1” at the same time, the
actual output code on D0 and D1 would only correspond to the input with the highest designated
priority.
So now as VIN increases above 2 volts, the next reference voltage level, comparator U2 detects the
change and produces a HIGH output. But because input D2 has a higher priority than inputs D0 or D1,
the priority encoder outputs a binary “2” (10) code, and so on when VIN exceeds 3 volts producing a
binary code output of “3” (11). Clearly as VIN reduces or changes between each reference voltage
level, each comparator will output either a HIGH or a LOW condition to the encoder which inturn
produces a 2-bit binary code between 00 and 11 relative to VIN.
This is all well and good, but priority encoders are not available as 4-to-2 bit devices, and if we use a
commercially available one such as the TTL 74LS148 or its CMOS 4532 equivalent which are both 8-
bit devices, then six of the binary bits would not be used. But a simple encoder circuit can be made
using digital Ex-OR gates and a matrix of signal diodes as shown.

2-bit ADC Using Diodes

Here the outputs of the comparators are encoded using Exclusive-OR gates before being fed to the
diodes. Two external pull-down resistor are used at their outputs and ground (0V) to ensure a LOW
condition and stop the outputs from floating when the diodes are reverse biased. So as with the
previous circuit, depending upon the value of VIN determines which comparator produces an output
signal HIGH (or LOW) to the exclusive-OR gates producing a HIGH output if one input or the other
input is HIGH, but not both, (Boolean expression is Q = A.B + A.B). These Ex-OR gates could also be
constructed using the combinational logic AND–OR–NAND gates.
The problem here with both designs of 4-to-2 converters is that the resolution of this simple 2-bit A/D
converter is 1 volt because as we have seen, the analogue input voltage at VIN must change by one
full volt in order for the encoder to change its output code. One way to improve the resolution of the
output is to increase it to a 3-bit A/D converter using more comparators.

3-bit Analogue-to-Digital Converter

https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/combination/analogue-to-digital-converter.html 5/7
4/27/2021 Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) Basics

The parallel ADC above converts the analogue input voltage in the range from 0 to over 3 volts to
produce a 2-bit binary code. Since a 3-bit digital logic system can generate 23 = 8 different digital
outputs, the analogue input voltage can therefore be compared against eight reference voltage levels
with each voltage level being equal to one eighth (V/8) of the reference voltage. Thus we could now
measure a resolution of 0.5 (4/8) volts and would require 23– 1 comparators for a 3-bit binary code
output between 000 (0) and 111 (7) as shown.

3-bit Analogue to Digital Converter Circuit

This will give us a 3-bit output code for all eight possible values of analogue input of:

3-bit A/D converter Output

Digital
Comparator Outputs
Analogue Input Outputs
Voltage (VIN)
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 Q2 Q1 Q0

0 to 0.5 V 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0.5 to 1.0 V 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 X 0 0 1

1.0 to 1.5 V 0 0 0 0 0 1 X X 0 1 0

https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/combination/analogue-to-digital-converter.html 6/7
4/27/2021 Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) Basics

1.5 to 2.0 V 0 0 0 0 1 X X X 0 1 1

2.0 to 2.5 V 0 0 0 1 X X X X 1 0 0

2.5 to 3.0 V 0 0 1 X X X X X 1 0 1

3.0 to 3.5 V 0 1 X X X X X X 1 1 0

3.5 to 4.0 V 1 X X X X X X X 1 1 1

Where again “X” is a “don’t care”, that is either a logic “0” or a logic “1” input condition.
Then we can see, that by increasing the resolution of the ADC, not only increases the number of
output binary bits, but also increases the number of comparators and voltage levels needed. So a 4-
bit resolution requires 15 (24– 1) comparators, an 8-bit resolution requires 255 (28– 1) comparators,
while a 10-bit analogue-to-digital converter would require 1023 comparators, etc. So for this type
of Analogue-to-Digital Converter circuit, the higher the number of output bits required, the more
complex becomes the circuit.
However, the advantage of this type of parallel or flash A/D converter is that its real-time conversion
rate is relatively fast and can be easily built as part of a project if only a few binary bits are required to
produce a read out on a digital display to show the voltage value of an analogue input signal.
As well as taking an analogue input signal from a sensor or transducer and converting it using an
analogue-to-digital converter into a digital binary code as part of an input interfacing circuit, we can
also take a binary code and convert it into an equivalent analogue quantity using a Digital-to-
Analogue Converter for output interfacing to control a motor or actuator, or commonly in audio
applications.

In the next tutorial about digital circuits, we will look at the a digital-to-analogue converter, or
simply DAC, which are the exact opposite of the analogue-to-digital converters looked at here. DAC’s
use op-amps and resistive divider networks to convert an “n”-bit binary number into an equivalent
analogue output voltage, or current signal.

https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/combination/analogue-to-digital-converter.html 7/7