SAR ADC ideal for high performance industrial process control

Linear Technology has announced the LTC2358-18, an 18-bit, 8-channel simultaneous sampling SAR ADC featuring integrated picoamp input buffers. With board real estate at a premium, the device brings substantial space and cost savings by eliminating front end signal conditioning circuitry normally required to drive unbuffered switched-capacitor ADC inputs. The combined component savings of three amplifiers, six resistors and two capacitors for each channel, a total of 88 components over eight channels, saves BOM cost and significant board space and provides over 40% savings in power consumption. Picoamp inputs and 128dB CMRR over a 30VP-P common mode range enable the device to directly connect to a wide range of sensors without compromising measurement accuracy. While converting eight channels at 200ksps per channel throughput, the device provides added flexibility via independently configurable SoftSpan input ranges. Each channel can be programmed on a conversion-by-conversion basis to accept ±10.24V, 0V to 10.24V, ±5.12V, or 0V to 5.12V unipolar, true bipolar, fully differential or arbitrary input signals. The differential analog inputs operate over a wide 30V input common mode range, allowing the ADC to directly digitize a variety of signals while simplifying the signal chain design. The input signal flexibility, combined with unrivaled ±3.5LSB maximum INL, no missing codes at 18 bits, and 96.4dB SNR, makes the device ideal for high performance industrial process control, test and measurement, power line monitoring and motor control applications. The device features a precision internal reference with 20ppm/C maximum temperature coefficient and an integrated reference buffer capable of accurate one-shot measurements, providing space savings in densely packed circuit boards. Optionally, an external 5V reference can be used to expand the analog input range to ±12.5V. The device dissipates 219mW when converting eight channels simultaneously at 200ksps per channel, and features nap and power-down modes to reduce power dissipation at slower throughputs. In addition to its unique analog characteristics, the device offers unmatched digital flexibility, featuring pin-selectable SPI CMOS and LVDS serial interfaces. The wide digital output supply range allows the device to communicate with any CMOS logic between 1.8V and 5V. In CMOS mode, applications can employ between one and eight lanes of serial output data, enabling the user to optimize bus width and data throughput. LVDS mode offers low noise, high speed communications over greater distances using differential signaling. Together, these I/O interface options enable it to communicate equally well with legacy microcontrollers and modern FPGAs.