AD8557
Rev. C | Page 14 of 24
THEORY OF OPERATION
A1, A2, R1, R2, R3, P1, and P2 form the first gain stage of the
differential amplifier. A1 and A2 are auto-zeroed op amps that
minimize input offset errors. P1 and P2 are digital potentiome-
ters, guaranteed to be monotonic. Programming P1 and P2
allows the first stage gain to be varied from 2.8 to 5.2 with 7-bit
resolution (s
ee Table 6 and Equation 1), giving a fine gain
adjustment resolution of 0.49%. Because R1, R2, R3, P1, and P2
each have a similar temperature coefficient, the first stage gain
temperature coefficient is lower than 100 ppm/°C.
×
≈
27
1
2.8
5.2
8
2
Code
.
GAIN1
(1)
A3, R4, R5, R6, R7, P3, and P4 form the second gain stage of the
differential amplifier. A3 is an auto-zeroed op amp that mini-
mizes input offset errors and also includes an output buffer. P3
and P4 are digital potentiometers, which allow the second stage
gain to be varied from 10 to 250 in eight steps (see
Table 7). R4,
R5, R6, R7, P3, and P4 each have a similar temperature coefficient,
so the second stage gain temperature coefficient is lower than
100 ppm/°C. The output stage of A3 is supplied from a buffered
version of VCLAMP instead of VDD, allowing the positive
swing to be limited.
A4 implements a voltage buffer, which provides the positive
supply to the output stage of A3. Its function is to limit VOUT
to a maximum value, useful for driving analog-to-digital
converters (ADC) operating on supply voltages lower than
VDD. The input to A4, VCLAMP, has a very high input
resistance. It should be connected to a known voltage and not
be left floating. However, the high input impedance allows the
clamp voltage to be set using a high impedance source, such as a
potential divider. If the maximum value of VOUT does not
need to be limited, VCLAMP should be connected to VDD.
An 8-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is used to generate a
variable offset for the amplifier output. This DAC is guaranteed
to be monotonic. To preserve the ratiometric nature of the input
signal, the DAC references are driven from VSS and VDD, and
the DAC output can swing from VSS (Code 0) to VDD (Code
255). The 8-bit resolution is equivalent to 0.39% of the difference
between VDD and VSS, for example, 19.5 mV with a 5 V supply.
The DAC output voltage (VDAC) is given approximately by
(
) VSS
VSS
VDD
Code
VDAC
+
+
≈
256
5
.
0
(2)
where the temperature coefficient of VDAC is lower than
200 ppm/°C.
The amplifier output voltage (VOUT) is given by
(
) VDAC
VNEG
VPOS
GAIN
VOUT
+
=
(3)
where GAIN is the product of the first and second stage gains.
A3
A2
A4
VDD
DIGIN
VSS
VDD
VSS
VDD
VCLAMP
VPOS
VSS
VOUT
A1
VDD
VSS
VNEG
R1
R3
R2
R5
R7
P4
R4
R6
P3
P2
P1
06013-
047
Figure 45. Functional Schematic