AN1636 Datasheet, PDF (1/42 Pages) STMicroelectronics – UNDERSTANDING AND MINIMISING ADC CONVERSION ERRORS

AN1636
APPLICATION NOTE
UNDERSTANDING AND MINIMISING ADC CONVERSION
ERRORS
By Microcontroller Division Applications
1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this document is to explain the different ADC errors and the techniques that
application developers can use to minimise them. The ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) is an
important peripheral that connects the analog world to the digital world of microcontrollers.
In this application note the ADC embedded in the ST7 microcontroller is used as an example,
however the same principles to apply to other ADCs.
The accuracy of analog to digital conversion has an impact on overall system quality and effi-
ciency. To be able to improve accuracy you need to understand the errors associated with the
ADC and the parameters affecting them.
The ADC itself, cannot ensure the accuracy of results, It depends on your overall system de-
sign. For this reason, you need to do some careful preparation before starting your develop-
ment.
Lots of parameters affect the ADC accuracy depending on the application. Some of these fac-
tors are: PCB layout, voltage source, I/O switching and analog source impedance.
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