AN-1252 Application Note: How To Configure The
AN-1252 Application Note: How To Configure The
AN-1252 Application Note: How To Configure The
APPLICATION NOTE
One Technology Way • P.O. Box 9106 • Norwood, MA 02062-9106, U.S.A. • Tel: 781.329.4700 • Fax: 781.461.3113 • www.analog.com
INTRODUCTION
The AD5933 and AD5934 are high precision impedance The output programmable gain amplifier (PGA) is used for
converter system solutions. The main difference between conditioning the output signal. It can be configured in four user
these two solutions is the maximum measurable frequency. selectable excitation voltages.
This application note applies to both parts. The main blocks Receive Stage
of the AD5933 and AD5934 are shown in Figure 1.
The receive stage consists of
The impedance converter is a finite system and has some
limitations. This application note only aims to explain the • The transimpedance amplifier (TIA) that converts the
optimum setup for measurements. current that crosses the impedance into voltage
• The input PGA that amplifies the TIA signal ×1 or ×5
IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENT BLOCKS • The ADC that samples the signal and fills the internal
Impedance converters can be divided into three different buffer (1024 points)
blocks: a transmit stage, a receive stage, and a discrete Fourier
transform (DFT) engine. DFT Engine
The DFT engine processes the data and generates real (R) and
Transmit Stage
imaginary (I) number components.
The DDS core and the high speed DAC generate a sine wave
signal used to excite the impedance.
MCLK
Z(ω)
AD5933/AD5934
RFB
3pF
VIN
1024-POINT ADC INPUT
DFT ENGINE TIA
(12 BITS) PGA
LPF
11834-001
VDD/2
Rev. 0 | Page 1 of 12
AN-1252 Application Note
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ...................................................................................... 1 Choosing an Appropriate Settling Time ....................................5
Impedance Measurement Blocks .................................................... 1 Calculating the Gain Factor .........................................................5
Revision History ............................................................................... 2 When the Impedance is Outside the Maximum AD5933/
Getting Started .................................................................................. 3 AD5934 Measurable Range..........................................................7
REVISION HISTORY
11/13—Revision 0: Initial Version
Rev. 0 | Page 2 of 12
Application Note AN-1252
GETTING STARTED
BENEFITS OF ADDING AN EXTERNAL AFE An example of the different dc bias voltages is shown Figure 3
CN-217 describes an external analog front end (AFE) designed for Range 1 where VDD = 5 V.
to improve measurements. 5.00V
2.50V
REBIASING THE DC LEVEL 3V p-p
2.24V
When connecting the impedance between VIN and VOUT, as 1.76V
11834-003
0.74V
VDD2 needs to be added into the equation. Typical values are shown
in Table 2.
Figure 2. AD5933 Without External AFE
The receiver dc offset is set to the ADC midscale, noninverting Table 2. System Output Impedance
pin of the TIA, VDD/2, while the dc offset in the transmitter Range No. Typical Output Impedance, ZOUT
depends on the selected output voltage shown in Table 1. 1 to 4 >100 Ω
(Adding external op amp)
Table 1. DC Offset Voltage vs. Output Range for 3.3 V 1 200 Ω
Range No. DC Offset Voltage V p-p 2 2.4 kΩ
1 1.48 1.98 3 1 kΩ
2 0.76 0.97 4 600 Ω
3 0.31 0.383
4 0.173 0.173
Rev. 0 | Page 3 of 12
AN-1252 Application Note
current. To compensate, the value of RFB needs to increase. In ROUT 47nF 50kΩ
other words, a high RFB value means worse SNR and lower
sensitivity in your system.
Implementing these suggestions is relatively easy. Rebiasing the A1, A2 ARE
½ AD8606
ZUNKNOWN
11834-004
20kΩ
EVAL-AD5933EBZ, Rev. C1.
The second AD8606 is used as a TIA due to the lower leakage Figure 4. AD5933 with AFE
and noise; the internal receive stage TIA is operating as a
voltage follower.
Rev. 0 | Page 4 of 12
Application Note AN-1252
AD5933 Z(ω)
MUX
3:1
11834-005
–45
VIN
PHASE (Degrees)
𝑉𝐷𝐷 𝐺𝐴𝐼𝑁
10 100 1k 10k 100k 1M 10M 100M
�𝑉𝑃𝐾 + 2 − 𝑉𝐷𝐶𝑂𝐹𝐹𝑆𝐸𝑇 � FREQUENCY (Hz)
Rev. 0 | Page 5 of 12
AN-1252 Application Note
Calculating the Gain Factor Using Single Impedance and Improvements: Best Fit Equation
Single Frequency This is a method to correct offset and gain errors in the system,
The impedance is excited with a single frequency. Typically, in other words, to linearize the system within a range.
this is a frequency in the middle of your frequency sweep.
First, the gain factor is calculated using one of the methods
This type of calibration is fast and requires minimum space described in this application note.
in memory, but offers less precision than other methods.
Once the gain factor is calculated, measure the impedance in
Specifically, the AD5933 DFT engine uses a method called the extremes of the range as shown in Table 7.
single point DFT. Rather than analyze the entire spectrum The equations to correct the measured value are
and calculate the energy for a given frequency, the algorithm
returns a single bin that contains multiple frequencies, at 𝑍 =𝑀×𝑋+𝐶
approximately 976.56 Hz at 1MSPS. (𝑍𝑀𝐴𝑋 − 𝑍𝑀𝐼𝑁 )
𝑀=
For example, when configuring a measurement for a 1 kHz (𝑋𝑀𝐴𝑋 − 𝑋𝑀𝐼𝑁 )
excitation signal, the bin will contain the energy stored from 𝐶 = 𝑍𝑀𝐼𝑁 − (𝑀 × 𝑋𝑀𝐼𝑁 )
976 Hz to 1952 Hz. where:
On the board, there are many devices generating noise at ZMAX is the real maximum impedance.
different frequencies, such as an SMPS regulator; this could add ZMIN is the real minimum impedance.
more energy to the bin that the energy measured only in the XMAX is the maximum measured impedance.
impedance. XMIN is the minimum measured impedance.
Calculating the Gain Factor Using Multipoint The best fit equation for each frequency can be calculated, but
Frequencies, Single Impedance this increases memory requirements.
In this case, calculate the gain factor for each frequency.
This method is preferred if your frequency span is wide because
it helps to reduce errors related to the op amp bandwidth as well
MEASURED IMPEDANCE
11834-008
ZMIN ZMAX
REAL IMPEDANCE
VOUT D
ADG849
S1 S2
RCAL Z(ω)
RFB
VIN
11834-007
Rev. 0 | Page 6 of 12
Application Note AN-1252
WHEN THE IMPEDANCE IS OUTSIDE THE In this case, the error is due to an assumption; the output
MAXIMUM AD5933/AD5934 MEASURABLE impedance is 2.4. Figure 10 shows the error assuming that the
RANGE output impedance is 2.4 ± 5%. To be considered negligible, the
error added by the output impedance tolerance, ZMIN, should be
There are some limitations in terms of maximum and
at least 10 times larger than the amplifier output impedance.
minimum measurable impedance. In this case, the easy way
1.4
to overcome the limitation is by adding a series or parallel
resistance to decrease or increase the impedance as needed. 1.2
This method decreases the accuracy because the unknown
impedance is measured artificially in a different range. 1.0
4.7kΩ NO AFE 1V p-p 47kΩ NO AFE 1V p-p
EXAMPLE 4.7kΩ NO AFE 2V p-p 47kΩ NO AFE 2V p-p
ERROR (%)
0.8
4.7kΩ AFE 1V p-p 47kΩ AFE 1V p-p
Consider a simple example that works for several scenarios, 4.7kΩ AFE 2V p-p 47kΩ AFE 2V p-p
11834-009
1950 3900 5850 7800 9750 11700
FREQUENCY (Hz)
As shown in Table 4, only Range 1 and Range 2 can be used for
Figure 9. Experimental Results Error
the measurements; all four ranges can be used if an external
1.8
buffer is added. For this example, the selected op amp is the
AD8606 as shown in CN-217. 1.6
1.4
Table 4. Selecting Ranges
AFE Range No. Within Ratio 1.2
4.7kΩ, NO AFE 1V p-p 47kΩ, NO AFE 1V p-p
ERROR (%)
Using AD8606 1 to 4 Yes 1.0 4.7kΩ, 2.4kΩ –5% 47kΩ, 2.4kΩ –5%
4.7kΩ, 2.4kΩ +5% 47kΩ, 2.4kΩ +5%
Without AFE 1 Yes 0.8
2 Yes
0.6
3 No
4 No 0.4
11834-010
Table 5. Maximum and Minimum Impedance to Measure 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
FREQUENCY (kHz)
With AFE Without AFE
AD8606 Range 1 Range 2 Figure 10. Error with Output Impedance Tolerance
ZMIN, 4.7 kΩ ZMIN, 4.9 kΩ ZMIN, 7.1 kΩ If the system adds an external buffer, there are not big
ZMAX, 47 kΩ ZMAX, 47.2 kΩ ZMAX, 49.4 kΩ differences using gain ×1 or ×5 as shown in Figure 11.
0.25
Calculate RFB according to Table 6. 4.7kΩ AFE 1V p-p 47kΩ AFE 1V p-p
4.7kΩ AFE 2V p-p 47kΩ AFE 2V p-p
4.7kΩ AFE 2V p-p ×5 47kΩ AFE 2V p-p ×5
Table 6. RFB Values for Different PGA Configurations 0.20 4.7kΩ AFE 1V p-p ×5 47kΩ AFE 1V p-p ×5
With AFE Without AFE
Range 1 Range 1 Range 2
0.15
ERROR (%)
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
As shown in Figure 9 through Figure 12, the results without the FREQUENCY (kHz)
AFE are slightly worse than those with an AFE. In all cases, the Figure 11. Error With and Without PGA Stage Enabled for System
results are below the 1% except for Range 2 at low impedance. with External AFE
Rev. 0 | Page 7 of 12
AN-1252 Application Note
If the system does not add an external buffer, there is a slight maximum data rate, the internal 1024-point buffer cannot store
improvement using ×5 gain as shown in Figure 12. a full period; this adds a considerable error to the final result.
1.4
If you need to measure below 1 kHz, the recommendation is
1.2
to reduce the MCLK frequency. This increases the calculation
time; the DFT engine clock is MCLK and requires an external
1.0 filter to attenuate harmonics. Keep the Nyquist theorem in
47kΩ NO AFE 2V p-p ×5 4.7kΩ NO AFE 2V p-p ×5 mind since the internal filters are optimized for the maximum
47kΩ NO AFE 2V p-p 4.7kΩ NO AFE 2V p-p
ERROR (%)
11834-013
The equations intentionally omit the bandwidth contribution
and other noise sources added by the op amp itself.
Figure 13. Example of Sensor to Measure Liquids
The PGA stage noise is constant while the TIA noise depends
The measured impedance is defined by
directly on the TIA gain. The worst case scenario is at
maximum gain, ZLOAD = ZMIN. 𝑙
𝑍= 𝜌
𝐴
MEASURING A COMPLEX IMPEDANCE
where:
To measure complex impedance, refer to the conversion l is the distance between plates (or traces).
table (see Table 7) to calculate the maximum and minimum A is the area of the plates.
impedance based on the excitation frequency. This section ρ is the electric resistivity.
describes three points to keep in mind.
The conductivity of a liquid is defined as
Do Not Calibrate the System with a Complex Impedance
1
Otherwise, phase results will be not as expected. This is 𝜎=
𝜌
explained in the Calculating the Gain Factor section.
The parameters of the sensor are constant, thus the impedance
There is a Minimum Excitation Frequency changes are driven by the electric conductivity.
The ADC samples at MCLK/16 with a 1 MSPS maximum data
rate. For an excitation frequency below 1 kHz sampling at the
Rev. 0 | Page 8 of 12
Application Note AN-1252
Rev. 0 | Page 9 of 12
Application Note AN-1252
START
FREQUENCY
SWEEP
REGISTER
ADDRESS: 0x80
DATA: 0x21
READ STATUS
REGISTER
REGISTER
ADDRESS: 0x8F
STATUS REGISTER NO
[DATA AND 0x02] > 0
YES
READ RESULT
REGISTER
ADDRESSES,
0x94
0x95
0x96
0x97
REPEAT
THE
DO YOU WANT TO MEASUREMENT
AVERAGE THE NO
MEASUREMENTS? REGISTER
--AVERAGE; ADDRESS: 0x80
AVERAGE== 0
DATA: 0x41
YES
READ STATUS
REGISTER
ADDRESS: 0x8F
GENERATE
NEXT
STATUS REGISTER NO FREQUENCY
[DATA AND 0x02] > 0
REGISTER
ADDRESS: 0x80
DATA: 0x31
YES
DONE
POWER DOWN
THE PART
REGISTER
11834-014
ADDRESS: 0x80
DATA: 0xA0
Rev. 0 | Page 10 of 12
Application Note AN-1252
Table 7. Example of Impedance Conversion
Schematic Impedance Phase Notes
𝑍𝑅 = 𝑅 0 Constant impedance
tan−1 = 0
R
𝑅
𝑅
|𝑍𝑇𝑀𝐼𝑁 | =
�12 + (2𝜋𝑅𝐶𝑓𝑀𝐴𝑋 ) 2
𝑍𝑇 = 𝑍𝑅 + 𝑍𝐶 𝑅𝐶𝑤 𝐶𝑤
tan−1 − tan−1
R
1 1 + 𝑅𝐶𝑤𝑗 1 0
C 𝑍𝑇 = 𝑅 + = 𝜋
𝐶𝑤𝑗 𝐶𝑤𝑗 = − tan−1 𝑅𝐶𝑤 −
2
�12 + (2𝜋𝑅𝐶𝑓𝑀𝐼𝑁 ) 2
|𝑍𝑇𝑀𝐴𝑋 | =
2𝜋𝑅𝐶𝑓𝑀𝐼𝑁
�12 + (2𝜋𝑅𝐶𝑓𝑀𝐴𝑋 ) 2
|𝑍𝑇𝑀𝐼𝑁 | =
2𝜋𝑅𝐶𝑓𝑀𝐴𝑋
𝑍𝑇 = 𝑍𝑅 + 𝑍𝐿 𝐿𝑤
tan−1
R
𝑍𝑇 = 𝑅 + 𝐿𝑤𝑗 𝑅
L |𝑍𝑇𝑀𝐴𝑋 | = �𝑅 2 + (2𝜋𝐿𝑓𝑀𝐴𝑋 )2
|𝑍𝑇𝑀𝐼𝑁 | = �𝑅 2 + (2𝜋𝐿𝑓𝑀𝐼𝑁 )2
Rev. 0 | Page 11 of 12
AN-1252 Application Note
NOTES
Rev. 0 | Page 12 of 12