Digital-to-Analog

Converter

Mairtin O Conghaile

Computer Engineering IV
Introduction
 In electronics, a digital-to-analog
converter (DAC) is a device for converting
a digital (usually binary) code to an
analog signal (current, voltage or charges).
 DACs are the interface between the abstract
digital world and the analog real life.
 Simple switches, a network of resistors,
current sources or capacitors may
implement this conversion.
 An ADC performs the reverse operation.

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DAC performance
 DACs are at the beginning of the analog
signal chain, which makes them very
important to system performance. The most
important characteristics of these devices
are:
 Resolution

 Maximum sampling frequency

 Monotonicity

 THD+N

 Dynamic range

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Resolution
 This is the number of possible output levels
the DAC is designed to reproduce.
 Usually stated as the number of bits it
uses, which is the base two logarithm of
the number of levels.
 For instance a 1 bit DAC is designed to
reproduce 2 (21) levels while an 8 bit DAC is
designed for 256 (28) levels.
 Resolution is related to the Effective
Number of Bits (ENOB) which is a
measurement of the actual resolution
attained by the DAC.

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Maximum sampling frequency
 This is a measurement of the maximum speed at
which the DACs circuitry can operate and still produce
the correct output.
 As stated in the Shannon-Nyquist sampling theorem,
a signal must be sampled at over twice the bandwidth
of the desired signal.
 For instance, to reproduce signals in all the
audible spectrum, which includes frequencies of up to
20 kHz, it is necessary to use DACs that operate at
over 40 kHz. The CD standard samples audio at 44.1
kHz, thus DACs of this frequency are often used.
 A common frequency incheap computer sound cards
is 48 kHz - many work at only this frequency, offering
the use of other sample rates only through (often
poor) internal resampling.

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Monotonicity
 This refers to the ability of DACs
analog output to increase with an
increase in digital code or the
converse.
 An important characteristic in many
comms applications in which DACs
are used.

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THD+N
 This is a measurement of the distortion and
noise introduced to the signal by the DAC.
 It is expressed as a percentage of the total
power of unwanted harmonic distortion and
noise that accompany the desired signal.
 This is a very important DAC characteristic
for dynamic and small signal DAC
applications.

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Dynamic range
 This is a measurement of the
difference between the largest and
smallest signals the DAC can
reproduce expressed in Decibels.
 Usually related to DAC resolution and
noise floor.

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DAC Types
 The most common types of electronic
DACs are:
 Pulse Width Modulator
 Binary Weighted DAC
 R2R Ladder DAC
 Segmented DAC
 Hybrid DACs

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Pulse Width Modulator
 the simplest DAC type.
 A stable current (electricity) or
voltage is switched into a low pass
analog filter with a duration
determined by the digital input code.
 This technique is often used for
electric motor speed control, and is
now becoming common in high-
fidelity audio.

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Binary Weighted DAC
 Contains one resistor or current source for each bit of
the DAC connected to a summing point.
 These precise voltages or currents sum to the correct
output value.
 One of the fastest conversion methods but suffers
from poor accuracy because of the high precision
required for each individual voltage or current.
 Such high-precision resistors and current-sources are
expensive, so this type of converter is usually limited
to 8-bit resolution or less.
 Disadvantage: Number of different resistor values
required. (e.g. 8-bit => 8 resistors ranging in value of
R to 128R in binary weighted steps).

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A 4-bit DAC with binary weighted
inputs
Rf
8R
D0
4R
D1
2R
D2
R
D3

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R2R Ladder DAC
 A binary weighted DAC that creates
each value with a repeating structure
of 2 resistor values, R and R times
two.
 This improves DAC precision due to
the ease of producing many equal
matched values of resistors or current
sources, but lowers conversion speed
due to parasitic capacitance.

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An R/2R ladder DAC
D0 D1 D2 D3

Rf = 2R

2R 2R 2R 2R

Vo
2R R R R

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Segmented DAC
 Contains an equal resistor or current source segment
for each possible value of DAC output.
 An 8-bit binary segmented DAC would have 255
segments, and a 16-bit binary segmented DAC would
have 65,535 segments.
 This is perhaps the fastest and highest precision DAC
architecture but at the expense of high cost.
 Conversion speeds of >1 billion samples per second
have been reached with this type of DAC.

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Hybrid DACs
 Use a combination of the above
techniques in a single converter.
 Most DAC integrated circuits are of
this type due to the difficulty of
getting low cost, high speed and high
precision in one device.

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Applications
 Audio: Most modern audio signals are stored in
digital form (MP3s, CDs, etc.) and in order to be
heard through speakers they must be converted into
an analog signal. DACs are therefore found in
CD players, digital music players, and PC sound cards.
 Video: Video signals from a digital source, such as a
computer, must be converted to analog form if they
are to be displayed on an analog monitor.
 The DAC is usually integrated with some memory (
RAM), which contains conversion tables for
gamma correction, contrast and brightness, to make
a device called a RAMDAC.
 A device that is distantly related to the DAC is the
digitally-controlled potentiometer, used to control an
analogue signal digitally.

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Assignment 1 – Due Mon 13th Mar
 Q1. Determine the output of the DAC on the following
page, if the 4-bit data below is applied to the inputs.
Input D0 is the LSB.
+5V = Binary 1
0V = Binary 0
D3 D2 D1 D0
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 1
0 1 0 1
1 0 1 1
1 1 0 1
1 1 1 1

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Figure Q.1
10K
200K
D0
100K
D1
50K Vo
D2
25K
D3

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Assignment 1 – Due Mon 13th Mar
 Q2. Explain with the aid of a diagram
the operation of the 4-bit R/2R
Ladder DAC. Use 1000 and 0010 as
examples of possible inputs in your
explaination.

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