ADS7843 11
SBAS090B www.ti.com
POWER DISSIPATION
There are two major power modes for the ADS7843: full power
(PD1-PD0 = 11B) and auto power-down (PD1-PD0 = 00B).
When operating at full speed and 16 clocks per conversion ( see
Figure 6), the ADS7843 spends most of its time acquiring or
converting. There is little time for auto power-down, assuming
that this mode is active. Therefore, the difference between full
power mode and auto power-down is negligible. If the conver-
sion rate is decreased by simply slowing the frequency of the
DCLK input, the two modes remain approximately equal. How-
ever, if the DCLK frequency is kept at the maximum rate during
a conversion but conversions are simply done less often, the
difference between the two modes is dramatic.
Figure 9 shows the difference between reducing the DCLK
frequency (“scaling” DCLK to match the conversion rate) or
maintaining DCLK at the highest frequency and reducing the
number of conversions per second. In the later case, the
converter spends an increasing percentage of its time in
power-down mode (assuming the auto power-down mode is
active).
Another important consideration for power dissipation is the
reference mode of the converter. In the single-ended refer-
ence mode, the converter’s internal switches are on only
when the analog input voltage is being acquired (see Figure
5). Thus, the external device, such as a resistive touch
screen, is only powered during the acquisition period. In the
differential reference mode, the external device must be
powered throughout the acquisition and conversion periods
(see Figure 5). If the conversion rate is high, this could
substantially increase power dissipation.
devices have fairly “clean” power and grounds because most
of the internal components are very low power. This situation
would mean less bypassing for the converter’s power and
less concern regarding grounding. Still, each situation is
unique and the following suggestions should be reviewed
carefully.
For optimum performance, care should be taken with the
physical layout of the ADS7843 circuitry. The basic SAR
architecture is sensitive to glitches or sudden changes on the
power supply, reference, ground connections, and digital
inputs that occur just prior to latching the output of the analog
comparator. Thus, during any single conversion for an ‘n-bit’
SAR converter, there are n ‘windows’ in which large external
transient voltages can easily affect the conversion result.
Such glitches might originate from switching power supplies,
nearby digital logic, and high-power devices. The degree of
error in the digital output depends on the reference voltage,
layout, and the exact timing of the external event. The error
can change if the external event changes in time with respect
to the DCLK input.
With this in mind, power to the ADS7843 should be clean and
well bypassed. A 0.1µF ceramic bypass capacitor should be
placed as close to the device as possible. A 1µF to 10µF
capacitor may also be needed if the impedance of the
connection between +VCC and the power supply is high.
The reference should be similarly bypassed with a 0.1µF
capacitor. If the reference voltage originates from an op amp,
make sure that it can drive the bypass capacitor without
oscillation. The ADS7843 draws very little current from the
reference on average, but it does place larger demands on
the reference circuitry over short periods of time (on each
rising edge of DCLK during a conversion).
The ADS7843 architecture offers no inherent rejection of
noise or voltage variation in regards to the reference input.
This is of particular concern when the reference input is tied
to the power supply. Any noise and ripple from the supply will
appear directly in the digital results. While high frequency
noise can be filtered out, voltage variation due to line fre-
quency (50Hz or 60Hz) can be difficult to remove.
The GND pin should be connected to a clean ground point.
In many cases, this will be the “analog” ground. Avoid
connections which are too near the grounding point of a
microcontroller or digital signal processor. If needed, run a
ground trace directly from the converter to the power-supply
entry or battery connection point. The ideal layout will include
an analog ground plane dedicated to the converter and
associated analog circuitry.
In the specific case of use with a resistive touch screen, care
should be taken with the connection between the converter
and the touch screen. Since resistive touch screens have
fairly low resistance, the interconnection should be as short
and robust as possible. Longer connections will be a source
of error, much like the on-resistance of the internal switches.
Likewise, loose connections can be a source of error when
the contact resistance changes with flexing or vibrations.
FIGURE 9. Supply Current versus Directly Scaling the Fre-
quency of DCLK with Sample Rate or Keeping
DCLK at the Maximum Possible Frequency.
LAYOUT
The following layout suggestions should provide the most
optimum performance from the ADS7843. However, many
portable applications have conflicting requirements concern-
ing power, cost, size, and weight. In general, most portable
10k 100k1k 1M
f
SAMPLE
(Hz)
Supply Current (µA)
100
10
1
1000
f
CLK
= 2MHz
f
CLK
= 16 • f
SAMPLE
T
A
= 25°C
+V
CC
= +2.7V