Dec 2002 SOT-23 Digitally Controlled Amplifier Puts Programmable Gain Anywhere

DESIGN FEATURES
SOT-23 Digitally Controlled Amplifier
Puts Programmable Gain Anywhere
by Max W. Hauser
Introduction
50
V+
2.7V TO 10V
0.1µF
LTC6910-1 is programmable for eight
gain magnitudes of 0, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20,
50, or 100 Volts/Volt—much like a
classic oscilloscope amplifier plug-in
or lab amplifier with a gain knob, but
much smaller. This tiny DC-coupled,
low-noise, self-contained amplifier,
useful to low Megahertz frequencies,
replaces expensive combinations of
op amps and resistor arrays. The 8lead TSOT-23 package needs no other
analog components. The LTC6910-1
operates from single or dual supplies,
2.7V to 10.5V total, and generates its
own ground reference for use with
single supplies. A simple 3-bit CMOS
digital input controls the gain.
The LTC6910-1 is an inverting voltage amplifier with a rail-to-rail output.
At gains of unity and zero (digital
inputs 001 and 000) it handles railto-rail input signals. At gains above
unity (digital input 010 through 111),
the input-referred noise decreases
with increasing gain, as desired in a
variable-gain amplifier for a wide range
of input levels. When set for a gain of
zero (digital input 000), the output
remains active (tracking the analogground or AGND pin), but feedthrough
from the signal input pin is low, typi-
40
30 GAIN OF 50 (DIGITAL INPUT 110)
4
3
LTC6910-1
5
7
6
1
VOUT = GAIN • VIN
2
GAIN (dB)
8
VIN
VS = ±5V, VIN = 5mVRMS
GAIN OF 100 (DIGITAL INPUT 111)
GAIN OF 20 (DIGITAL INPUT 101)
20
GAIN OF 10 (DIGITAL INPUT 100)
10 GAIN OF 5 (DIGITAL INPUT 011)
AGND
1µF OR LARGER
GAIN OF 2 (DIGITAL INPUT 010)
G2 G1 G0
0
Figure 1. Single-supply programmable
amplifier using LTC6910-1
cally –122dB at 20kHz and –100dB at
200kHz. Output noise in this zerogain setting is typically 5.8µVRMS in a
200kHz bandwidth, which is 116dB
(19 equivalent bits) below the maximum signal output at a 10V power
supply. The output will source or sink
10mA into a load, and is currentlimited at approximately 30mA.
Typical standing supply current is
2mA at 2.7V and 3mA at 10V total
VSUPPLY.
Easy to Use
The LTC6910-1 amplifier has only
three analog signal pins: input, output, and an analog-ground reference
(AGND), which can provide a halfsupply reference for single-supply
applications (Figure 1). The other pins
GAIN OF 1 (DIGITAL INPUT 001)
–10
100
1k
10k
100k
FREQUENCY (Hz)
1M
10M
Figure 2. LTC6910-1 frequency response at
non-zero gain settings
are the power supply and the three
digital input pins. These high-impedance CMOS digital inputs accept both
rail-to-rail logic levels at any supply
voltage, and 0V and 5V levels when
the supply voltage is ±5V. Table 1
relates the 3-bit input code to the
resulting voltage gain and other characteristics. (Other versions of the
product are the LTC6910-2 with 0–64
binary gain code and the LTC6910-3
with 0–7 gain code.) Figure 2 shows
the typical frequency response.
Circuit Description
Internally the LTC6910-1 includes
an operational amplifier, switched
Table 1. LTC6910-1 gain settings and properties
Nominal Voltage Gain
Maximum Input Signal (For Unclipped Output Signal) (VP-P)
G2
G1
G0
Volts/Volt
(dB)
Dual 5V Supply
Single 5V Supply
Single 3V Supply
Nominal Input
Impedance (k )
0
0
0
0
–120
10
5
3
(Open)
0
0
1
–1
0
10
5
3
10
0
1
0
–2
6
5
2.5
1.5
5
0
1
1
–5
14
2
1
0.6
2
1
0
0
–10
20
1
0.5
0.3
1
1
0
1
–20
26
0.5
0.25
0.15
1
1
1
0
–50
34
0.2
0.1
0.06
1
1
1
1
–100
40
0.1
0.05
0.03
1
16
Linear Technology Magazine • December 2002
DESIGN FEATURES
G2
G1
G0
7
6
5
Table 2. Resistor values in LTC6910-1
Gain
CMOS LOGIC
IN 3
INPUT R ARRAY
FEEDBACK R ARRAY
–
MOS-INPUT
OP AMP
V+
10k
1 OUT
+
10k
V–
8
2
4
V+
AGND
V–
6910 F03
Figure 3. Block diagram of LTC6910-1
resistors, and CMOS decoding logic
to drive the switches (Figure 3). The
gain code is always monotonic: an
increase in the 3-bit binary number
(G2 G1 G0) increases the gain between the IN and OUT pins. For
single-supply applications, an internal matched pair of 10kΩ resistors at
the AGND pin generates a convenient
half-supply reference voltage for input and output. The user can override
this built-in analog ground reference
by tying the AGND pin to a system
reference voltage (within the AGND
voltage range specified in the data
sheet). The AGND pin presents a nominal impedance of 5kΩ due to the
internal resistor pair. Digital inputs
(G2 G1 G0) control the input and
–20
(THD + NOISE)/SIGNAL (dB)
–30
feedback resistances in the closedloop amplifier.
In the design of the LTC6910-1,
the lowest noise with gain variation
would be achieved by varying the
input R array in Figure 3. That,
however, would impose a 100:1 inputresistance range for the closed-loop
amplifier with a 100:1 gain range. To
avoid such a wide variation of input
resistance, logic in the LTC6910-1
trades off changing the input resistance and the feedback resistance
(Table 2). This gain-control approach
still produces near-minimal noise.
When the gain setting is zero (digital
input 000), switches disconnect the
IN pin internally and short the feedback path in Figure 3 to reduce signal
feedthrough and noise.
–60
0
10k
10k
2
5k
10k
5
2k
10k
10
1k
10k
20
1k
20k
50
1k
50k
100
1k
100k
Bandwidth of the LTC6910-1 depends on gain setting. The lower gain
settings of 1, 2, and 5V/V (digital
inputs 001–011) exhibit –3dB corner
frequencies respectively of 7, 5, and
2.5MHz at ±5V supply (Figure 2). The
gain-control strategy described above
causes the gain settings from 10 to
100 (digital inputs 100–111) to show
a different high-frequency response,
with a constant gain-bandwidth product of approximately 11MHz.
Figure 4 is a SINAD curve showing
signal output more than 100dB above
combined noise and distortion, with
large-signal outputs and a ±5V supply.
Applications
Expanding an ADC’s Dynamic
Range
Figure 5 shows a compact data-acquisition system for wide-ranging
input levels, which combines an
LTC6910-1 programmable amplifier
in an 8-lead TSOT -23 with an
LTC1864 analog-to-digital converter
1µF
5V
0.1µF
GAIN SETTING = 10
LTC1864
8
–70
4
–80
VIN
3
LTC6910-1
–90
6
–100
2
GAIN SETTING = 1
–110
0.01
∞
1
5V
GAIN SETTING = 100
0.1
1
INPUT VOLTAGE (VP-P)
RFB
0
fIN = 1kHz
VS = ±5V
NOISE BW = 22kHz
–40
–50
RIN
7
1 499Ω
5
270pF
VREF
VCC
IN+
SCK
IN–
SDO
GND CONV
AGND
10
Figure 4. LTC6910-1 THD plus noise, referred
to the signal output
Linear Technology Magazine • December 2002
1µF
GAIN
CONTROL
ADC
CONTROL
Figure 5. Expanding an ADC’s dynamic range
17
DESIGN FEATURES
R2
C2
–
VIN
C1
R1
–
R
–
+
R
+
–
+
GAIN CONTROL PGA
(GAIN A)
+
2π
VOUT = (GAIN A)VIN
BANDWIDTH CONTROL PGA
(GAIN B)
MID-BAND-GAIN = (GAIN A)
1
≤ BANDWIDTH ≤
2πR1C1
VOUT
6910 F05
1
R2
C2
(GAIN B)
Figure 6. Low-noise AC amplifier with gain and bandwidth control
(ADC) in an 8-lead MSOP. The
LTC1864 ADC has 16-bit resolution
and a maximum sampling rate of
250ksps. The LTC6910-1 expands the
ADC’s input amplitude range by 40dB
while operating from the same single
5V supply. The 499Ω resistor and
270pF capacitor couple cleanly between the LTC6910-1’s output and
the switched-capacitor input of the
LTC1864.
The two ICs shown in Figure 5 have
similar distortion performance, with
total harmonic distortion (THD) levels about –90dB at 10kHz and –77dB
at 100kHz. At a gain setting of 10 in
the LTC6910-1 (digital input 100) and
a 250ksps sampling rate in the
LTC1864, a 100kHz input signal at
V+ V –
0.1µF
8
4
VIN
3
LTC6910-1
R2
15.8k
C1
10µF R1
15.8k
1
C2
1µF
1
2
5
3
6
2
4
7
0.1µF
0.1µF
V+
LT1884
–
+
V–
V+
0.1µF
8
7
+
–
0.1µF
V+ V –
VOUT
8
4
R4 15.8k
3
LTC6910-1
5
1
5
6
6
R3
15.8k
2
7
0.1µF
V–
GAIN
CONTROL
GN2
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
GN1 GN0
0 1
1 0
1 1
0 0
0 1
1 0
1 1
BANDWIDTH
CONTROL
GAIN = 1
GAIN = 2
GAIN = 5
GAIN = 10
GAIN = 20
GAIN = 50
GAIN = 100
BANDWIDTH 1Hz TO 10Hz
BANDWIDTH 1Hz TO 20Hz
BANDWIDTH 1Hz TO 50Hz
BANDWIDTH 1Hz TO 100Hz
BANDWIDTH 1Hz TO 200Hz
BANDWIDTH 1Hz TO 500Hz
BANDWIDTH 1Hz TO 1000Hz
BW2 BW1BW0
0
0 1
0
1 0
0
1 1
1
0 0
1
0 1
1
1 0
1
1 1
Figure 7. Practical low-noise AC amplifier with gain and bandwidth control
10
GN2 GN1 GN0 = 001
0
BW2 BW1 BW0
1
1
1
–10
GAIN (dB)
–20
BW2 BW1 BW0
0
0
1
–30
–40
BW2 BW1 BW0
1
0
0
–50
–60
–70
–80
1
10
100
1k
FREQUENCY (Hz)
10k
Figure 8. Measured frequency responses for Figure 7
18
100k
60% of full scale shows a THD of
–75dB from the combination. 10kHz
input signals under the same conditions produce measured THD values
around –87dB. Noise effects (both
random and quantization) in the ADC
are divided by the gain of the amplifier and combined with the amplifier’s
noise when referred to VIN in Figure 5.
Because of this, the circuit can acquire a signal that is 40dB down from
full scale of 5VP–P with an SNR of over
70dB. Such performance from an ADC
alone (110dB of useful dynamic range
at 250ksps) would be prohibitively
expensive today.
Low Noise AC Amplifier with
Programmable Gain and
Bandwidth
Analog data acquisition can exploit
band-limiting as well as gain, to suppress unwanted signals or noise.
Tailoring an analog front end to both
the level and bandwidth of each source
maximizes SNR.
Figure 6 shows a block diagram
and Figure 7 the practical circuit for
a low-noise amplifier with gain and
bandwidth independently programmable over 100:1 ranges. One
LTC6910-1 controls the gain and
another controls the bandwidth. An
LT1884 dual op amp forms an integrating lowpass loop with capacitor
C2 to set the programmable upper
corner frequency. The LT1884 also
supports rail-to-rail output swings
over the total supply-voltage range of
2.7V to 10.5V. AC coupling through
capacitor C1 establishes a fixed low
continued on page 24
Linear Technology Magazine • December 2002
DESIGN FEATURES
inactive for an amount of time longer
than the watchdog time-out period,
the WDO line falls, indicating a loss of
the periodic input. Figure 8 demonstrates how the LTC2901 can be used
to monitor a switching regulator’s
activity. In this application, the 3.3V
input, 1.8V output and feedback voltage to the LTC1772 regulator are
supervised. Furthermore, if the load
goes open circuit, the LTC1772
switches into Burst Mode® operation,
reducing the duty cycle at the gate of
M1. The pulse spacing exceeds the
watchdog time-out period, and the
watchdog output falls indicating the
low-load condition.
Power Supply Margin Testing
with the LTC2902
In high reliability system manufacturing and test, it is desirable to verify
the correct operation of electrical components at or below the rated power
supply tolerance. The LTC2902 is
designed to complement such testing
in two ways. First, the reset disable
pin (RDIS) can be pulled low which
forces the RST output high. With RDIS
low, moving supply voltages below
threshold does not invoke the reset
command during margining tests. The
individual comparator outputs operate normally with RDIS high or low,
allowing for individual supply monitoring.
LTC6910-1, continued from page 18
frequency corner of 1Hz, which can
be adjusted by changing C1. Alternatively, shorting C1 makes the amplifier
DC-coupled. (When DC is not needed,
however, the AC coupling suppresses
low frequency noise and all amplifier
offset voltages other than the low
internally-trimmed LT1884 offset in
the integrating amplifier, which is the
second amplifier in Figure 6. If desired, another coupling capacitor in
series with the input can relax the
requirements on input DC level as
well.)
24
10k
Table 3. LTC2902 Tolerance Programming
6
5V
3.3V
2.5V
1.8V
R1
59k
1%
R2
40.2k
1%
4
14
V1
RST
V2
T0
T1
7
T0
T1
Tolerance
VREF
9
Low
Low
5%
1.210V
Low
High
7.5%
1.178V
High
Low
10%
1.146V
High
High
12.5%
1.113V
3
8
V3
RDIS
LTC2902-1
13
2
V4
COMP1
16
12
COMP2
VREF
1
COMP3
11
15
VPG
COMP4
GND
10
CRT
5
CRT
47nF
Figure 9. Quad supply monitor
with asymmetric hysteresis
metric hysteresis, having 5% tolerance when supplies are rising and
12.5% tolerance after all supplies have
safely crossed their 5% thresholds.
Conclusion
The second way allows the user to
provide more supply headroom by
lowering the trip thresholds. Using
the digital tolerance programming
inputs (T0, T1), the global supply
tolerance can be set to 5%, 7.5%,
10%, or 12.5% (Table 3).
When using the positive or negative adjustable inputs in conjunction
with tolerance programming, external resistors need only to be sized
once, based on a 5% tolerance threshold. Once the external resistor dividers
are set using the 5% tolerance thresholds, the thresholds for the other
tolerance modes (7.5%, 10%, 12.5%)
are automatically correct because the
reference voltage (VREF) is scaled accordingly. Figure 9 shows how the
LTC2902 can be configured for asym-
One part can now satisfy most present
and future supervisory needs. The
LTC2900, LTC2901 and LTC2902
micropower quad supervisors provide
the versatility, accuracy and reliability
required in multi-voltage monitoring
applications. Input supply combinations are programmable including
positive and/or negative adjustable
thresholds. The comparators are 1.5%
accurate over temperature and feature built-in noise rejection. Reset
logic is correct for VCC down to 1V,
and is available with open-drain or
push-pull outputs. Reset and watchdog times are user adjustable with
external capacitors. Power supply
margining features include real-time
supply tolerance selection and an ondemand reset disable pin.
Measured frequency responses
(Figure 8) demonstrate bandwidth
settings of 10Hz, 100Hz, and 1kHz
(digital BW inputs of 001, 100, and
111, respectively) and unity gain in
each case. By scaling C2, this circuit
can serve other frequency ranges,
such as a maximum of 10kHz with
0.1µF using LT1884 (gain-bandwidth
product around 1MHz). Output signal-to-noise ratio measured with
10mVP–P input, gain of 100, and 100Hz
bandwidth is 76dB; for 100mVP–P
input, gain of 10, and 1000Hz bandwidth it is 64dB.
Conclusion
With a printed circuit footprint of only
about 11mm 2 , the easy-to-use
LTC6910-1 provides two decades of
programmable DC or AC voltage gain.
It can preamplify, drive loads, and
introduce gain flexibility into spaces
so small that, as one engineer put it,
“your boss doesn’t even need to know
it’s there.”
Acknowledgements
Mark Thoren and Derek Redmayne collaborated
on the ADC application and Philip Karantzalis
contributed the AC amplifier.
Linear Technology Magazine • December 2002