AN2668

Application note
Improving STM32F1x and STM32L1x
ADC resolution by oversampling

Introduction
The STMicroelectronics STM32F1x and STM32L1x Cortex™-M3 based microcontrollers
come with 12-bit enhanced ADC sampling with a rate up to Msamples/s. In most
applications, this resolution is sufficient, but in some cases where higher accuracy is
required, the concept of oversampling and decimating the input signal can be implemented
to save the use of an external ADC solution and to reduce the application consumption.
This application note gives two methods to improve ADC resolution. These techniques are
based on the same principle: oversampling the input signal with the maximum 1 MHz ADC
capability and decimating the input signal to enhance its resolution.
The method and the firmware (STSW-STM32014) given within this application note apply to
both Medium- and High-density STM32F1x products as well as all STM32L1x products.
Some specific hints are given at the end of the application note to take advantage of the
implementation of the DAC peripheral and the ADC dual mode into some STM32F1x and
STM32L1x devices.
This application note is split into two main parts: the first one describes how oversampling
increases the ADC-specified resolution while the second describes the guidelines to
implement the different methods available and gives the firmware flowchart of their
implementation on the STM32F1x and STM32L1x devices.

September 2013 DocID14183 Rev 2 1/22

www.st.com
Contents AN2668

Contents

1 Definition of ADC signal-to-noise ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2 Nyquist theorem and oversampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3 Oversampling using white noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3.1 SNR of oversampled signal with white input noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 Decimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3 When is this method efficient? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.4 Method implementation on the STM32F1x and STM32L1x devices . . . . . 9
3.4.1 Oversampling using a white noise firmware flowchart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4.2 Oversampling using white noise result evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 Oversampling using triangular dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.1 When does this method work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.2 Method implementation on STM32F1x and STM32L1x devices . . . . . . . 14
4.2.1 Oversampling using triangular dither firmware flowchart . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5 Comparing the first and second methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

6 Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
6.1 What is the maximum number of bits that can be added to
the on-chip ADC resolution? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
6.2 Taking advantage of STM32 DAC implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
6.3 Taking advantage of the STM32F1x Dual ADC mode implementation . . 18

Appendix A Quantization error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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AN2668 List of tables

List of tables

Table 1. Oversampling using white noise vs. oversampling using triangular dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Table 2. Document revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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List of figures AN2668

List of figures

Figure 1. Oversampling effect on the quantization noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Figure 2. Histogram analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Figure 3. Histogram analysis for DC = 1.65 V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 4. Oversampling using a white noise flowchart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Figure 5. Ramp samples with 1 additional bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Figure 6. Ramp samples with 2 additional bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Figure 7. How to perform oversampling by adding a triangular signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Figure 8. Hardware requirements of oversampling by adding a triangular signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Figure 9. Oversampling using triangular dither flowchart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Figure 10. Oversampling effect on the quantization error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

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AN2668 Definition of ADC signal-to-noise ratio

1 Definition of ADC signal-to-noise ratio

The ADC gives a representation of an analog signal among a finite number of digital words.
Since the digital domain is represented by a finite number of words which have to present a
continuous signal, the conversion step introduces the quantization error function of the ADC
input range and resolution.
For an ideal ADC, the quantization error is between ±0.5 LSB. In the case where the input
signal is varying through many levels between samples, and the sampling rate is not
synchronized with the input frequency, the quantization error can be considered as a white
noise whose energy is uniformly spread from the DC domain to half of the sampling
frequency. Please refer to Appendix A for more details regarding the calculation of its
density.
The SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) is the ratio of the ADC noise to the input signal power. For
an ideal ADC, it is assumed that the SNR is equal to the quantization noise (no other noise
source is considered) to the input signal. It is demonstrated that for a full-scale sinusoidal
signal, the ADC SNR is maximum and given by the following formula:
SNR dB = 6,02N + 1,76 , where N is the ADC resolution.
It is can be easily noticed that when the SNR increases, the ADC effective number of bits
increases.
For a real ADC, different error sources should be considered: offset, gain, INL (integral
nonlinear) and DNL (differential nonlinear). A brief description of these errors can be found
in the STM32F1x and STM32L1x datasheets. They degrade the ideal ADC resolution. In
this case, we speak of real effective number of bits.
Improving the SNR involves an enhancement of the ADC effective number of bits.
The following section demonstrates that sampling the input signal with higher rates than the
Nyquist frequency improves the SNR. The Nyquist frequency is introduced in the next
paragraph.

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Nyquist theorem and oversampling AN2668

2 Nyquist theorem and oversampling

The Nyquist theorem states that in order to be able to reconstruct the analog input signal,
the signal should be sampled at a rate fS (sampling frequency) that is greater than twice the
maximum frequency component of the input signal.
Not respecting the Nyquist theorem causes aliasing effects and the analog signal cannot be
fully reconstructed from the input samples. Therefore, in most applications, a low-pass filter
is required at the ADC input to filter frequencies lower than half the sampling frequency. It is
difficult to handle the filter constraints with low sampling frequencies.
Oversampling consists in sampling the input analog signal at rates higher than the Nyquist
frequency limit, filtering the samples and reducing the sample rate by decimation. Using this
method relaxes the anti-aliasing low-pass filter constraints.

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AN2668 Oversampling using white noise

3 Oversampling using white noise

3.1 SNR of oversampled signal with white input noise

Let us assume that the quantization noise is assimilated to white noise. Then its power
density is uniformly distributed between DC and half the Nyquist frequency. This power
density is independent of the sampling frequency.
When sampling at higher rates, the quantization noise is spread over the bandwidth of the
sampling frequency.

Figure 1. Oversampling effect on the quantization noise

PSD PSD

Input signal
Same area
Quantization error
PSD = Power signal density

F F
-2.fm - fm fm fS = 2.fm -2.N.fm - fm fm fS= 2.N.fm

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According to Figure 1, when sampling the input signal at higher rates, the same noise
power, represented by the area of the green rectangle, is spread over a bandwidth equal to
the sampling frequency which is much greater than the signal bandwidth fm. Only a
relatively small fraction of the total noise power falls in the [–fm, fm] band, and the noise
power outside the signal band can be greatly attenuated with a digital low-pass filter.
Reducing the quantization noise enhances the signal-to-noise ratio and, consequently, the
ADC effective number of bits. Oversampling the input signal OSR times faster than the
Nyquist frequency gives the following SNR
SNR OVS = 6,02 ⋅ N + 1,76 + 10 log ( OSR )

It can be concluded that each doubling of the sampling frequency will lower the in-band
noise by 3 dB, and increase the measurement resolution by 1/2 bit. Therefore, 6dB SNR
gain is required to add 1 resolution bit to the ADC.
In general, if p additional bits are required by the application then, the ADC sampling
frequency should be at least:
p
F OVS = 4 F S , where FS is the current ADC sampling frequency used.

3.2 Decimation
The conventional meaning of averaging is adding m samples and dividing the result by m.
Averaging several data from an ADC measurement is equivalent to a low-pass filter which
attenuates the signal fluctuation and noise. The average method is often used to smooth
and remove speaks from the input signal.
Note that normal averaging does not increase the resolution of the conversion because the
sum of m N-bit samples divided per m is an N-bit representation of the sample.

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Oversampling using white noise AN2668

Decimation is an averaging method. When combined with oversampling, decimation

improves the ADC resolution.
In fact, adding 4p ADC N-bit samples, gives a representation of the signal on N+2p bits. In
order to have p additional effective bits, the sum is shifted to the right by p bits.
This FIR filter with equal filter coefficients enables the user to filter the oversampling
frequency by giving an output sample computed from the OSR input samples.
The oversampling method limits the maximum input frequency bandwidth. In fact, in the
case of the STM32F1x and STM32L1x (with maximum sampling rate 1Msps), signals
having components up to 500 kHz can be processed by the ADC. If for example, two
additional resolution bits are required, then the maximum input frequency that can be
entered is 500 kHz/16 = 31.25 kHz when oversampling using white noise.

3.3 When is this method efficient?

For the oversampling and decimating method to work properly, the following requirements
must be satisfied:
• There should be some noise in the input signal. This noise must approximate white
noise with a uniform power spectral density over the frequency band of interest.
• The noise amplitude must be sufficient to toggle the input signal randomly from sample
to sample by an amount of at least 1 LSB. Otherwise, the input samples would have
the same representation and the sum and average operations would not give any extra
resolution. In most applications, the internal ADC thermal noise and the input signal
noise are sufficient to use this method. In the case where the thermal noise does not
have a high-enough amplitude to toggle the input signal randomly, then artificial white
noise should be injected into the input signal. This operation is referred to as
“dithering”. Regarding this point, two questions can be raised. The first is “How to
evaluate the ADC noise and test its Gaussian criteria?” and “How to generate white
noise if needed?”
– A practical way of detecting the Gaussian criteria of the input signal noise is to see
the distribution of a clean DC signal over the ADC codes. The histogram method
can be used to verify if the input noise follows a Gaussian distribution. The
example in Figure 2 shows two possible situations.

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AN2668 Oversampling using white noise

Figure 2. Histogram analysis

ADC codes ADC codes

N–2 N–1 N N+1 N+2 N–2 N–1 N N+1 N+2
Histogram for a signal with white noise Histogram for a signal without white noise

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– In the case where external noise dither should be added to the input signal, then
the thermal noise generated by a diode or a resistor can be injected into the input
signal.
– The input noise should not correlate with the useful input signal and the input
signal should have equal probability to be between two adjacent ADC codes. This
means that for systems using feedback process, this method does not work.

3.4 Method implementation on the STM32F1x and STM32L1x

devices
This method describes the different steps undertaken to implement and test the
oversampling method on the STM32F1x and STM32L1x devices.
According to the previous section, in order to make this solution work properly, there should
be some white noise to make the input signal toggle randomly by 1/2 LSB. For this, the
application environment noise should be considered.
The first step consists in computing the ADC thermal noise to conclude if external white
noise should be injected into the input signal. In a typical application board, the computed
noise does not include only the ADC internal noise but also the possible noise generated by
the different board components and the layout. Therefore, this evaluation depends on the
application board but the methodology remains the same.
The histogram method is used for different DC input voltages. This input voltage is sampled
a large number of times (example 5000). The related distribution can be easily interpreted
using a spreadsheet.
For example, for a 1.65 V DC input voltage applied on the STM3210B-EVAL evaluation
board, the histogram shown in Figure 3 is detected.

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Oversampling using white noise AN2668

Figure 3. Histogram analysis for DC = 1.65 V

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The ADC thermal noise can be computed from this histogram (though this can be shown, it
is not the objective of this application note and details are not offered here).
In order to carry on this ADC noise test, the user should do the following:
• uncomment the line #define Themal_Noise_Measure in the oversampling.h file
• configure the Total_Samples_Number which is the number of ADC conversion
operations. It should be smaller than 65535. The DMA channel is configured to store
the number of ADC samples in a RAM buffer. At the end of the transfer, an interrupt is
generated and the number of occurrences of each ADC code is computed
• In order to compute the occurrence of the ADC codes, a variable giving the relevant
ADC codes is defined
When the code is run, Relevant_ADC_Samples ADC samples and their corresponding
number of occurrences are displayed on the HyperTerminal. The HyperTerminal
configuration is 8-bit data, no parity, 115 200 baud rate. If the effective number of ADC
samples found is smaller than the defined Relevant_ADC_Samples variable, then 0 is
displayed for both ADC code and ADC code occurrence. The user can capture them and
build a histogram.

3.4.1 Oversampling using a white noise firmware flowchart

The STM32F1x and STM32L1x on-chip ADC conversion frequency is fixed to 1 MHz. The
ADC DMA channel is configured to transfer the number of oversampled inputs from the
ADC data register to a buffer in RAM. This transfer is configured to occur one time. At the
end of the DMA transfer, an interrupt is triggered and the oversampled result is computed.
The general-purpose timer TIM2 is used to generate the input signal sampling frequency.
For this, the TIM2 reference clock is configured at 1 µs. Its period determines the input
signal sampling period. It is defined in the oversampling.h file as #define
Input_Signal_Sampling_Period. When the TIM2 update interrupt is triggered, the
DMA is re-enabled and the converted ADC values can be treated. Figure 4 summarizes the
implemented functionality.

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AN2668 Oversampling using white noise

Figure 4. Oversampling using a white noise flowchart

ADC period = 1 µs

<=1µs

Time t

TIM2 update interrupt DMA transfer complete interrrupt

Clear flag Clear DMA Interrupt pending bit
Enable DMA Compute the oversampled result
Update DMA counter and pointer
Disable DMA

Sampling period = TIM2 period

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The oversampled data are computed in the DMA transfer complete interrupt. For
synchronization reasons, it is recommended to read it in the second TIM2 interrupt.
Note that with this implementation, the TIM2 period should be greater than the time required
by the ADC to convert OSR samples, and greater than the ADC interrupt execution time.
If the sampling frequency required by the application is exactly OSR µs, then the user is not
required to use Timer TIM2 to generate the input sampling frequency. However, the DMA
should be configured to be functional in continuous mode and the DMA transfer complete
interrupt should be updated accordingly. The oversampled data are usually computed in the
DMA transfer complete interrupt.

3.4.2 Oversampling using white noise result evaluation

In order to evaluate the oversampling method, the user should uncomment the #define
Oversampling_Test line and configure the number of samples with the enhanced
resolution.
When this line is uncommented, a buffer is created in RAM to store the oversampled data.
The buffer contents are then displayed on the HyperTerminal. The HyperTerminal
configuration should be 8-bit data, no parity and 115 200 baud rate. The user can capture
them into a txt file and then compare the expected results to the real ones.
In order to evaluate the new enhanced ADC, a ramp with a 50 Hz frequency and a 1 V
amplitude is input into the ADC and sampled using the oversampling algorithm every 50 µs.
The firmware example related to this method is located in the WhiteNoiseMethod folder.

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Oversampling using white noise AN2668

Figure 5. Ramp samples with 1 additional bit

50 H/1 V - 1 additional bit

3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0

30

60

90

120

150

180

210

240

270

300

330

360

390
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Figure 6. Ramp samples with 2 additional bits

50 H/1 V - 2 additional bits

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
0
41
82
123
164
205
246
287
328
369
410
451
492
533
574
615
656
697
738
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The oversampling algorithm using white noise is run with the same ramp (50 Hz frequency
and 1 V amplitude). Both Figure 5 and Figure 6 give the ADC oversampled data as a
function of time in µs. Figure 5 is the result of adding one bit while Figure 6 is the result of
adding two additional bits to the ADC on-chip resolution.
When the ramp is sampled without using any extra software resolution, with a 3.3 V
reference supply, 1 V corresponds to the digital value 1250.
When one additional bit is added, 1 V is sampled as 2500 and when two additional bits are
added, 1 V is sampled as 5000.
This means that the environment contains enough noise for this method to work.

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AN2668 Oversampling using triangular dither

4 Oversampling using triangular dither

Assuming that the input signal is between two successive quantization steps q0 and q1
during the oversampling period, then the converter may convert it either to q0 or q1. Adding
extra p bits of resolution means determining the relative position of the input signal between
q0 and q1.
With the addition of an appropriate triangular signal, the quantizer generates a series of q1s
and q0s. Averaging the q1 occurrences over a given interval determines the relative position
of the input signal between the lower and the higher quantization steps.
The theory states that the best results are achieved when dithering the input signal using a
triangular waveform with a period of OSR times the ADC sampling period and an amplitude
of n+0.5LSB where n = 0,1,2,3.
The theory behind this methods is quite complicated, so that Figure 7 serves as an example
to illustrate how this method works. In this example, the ADC on-chip resolution is 3 and
three extra bits are added by firmware. The input signal is assumed to have an amplitude of
q0+ 0.6LSB (q0 = 6 in this example). In order to add three additional bits, the input signal is
sampled 2.23 times (16 times).

Figure 7. How to perform oversampling by adding a triangular signal

111 000 q1
Input signal @ q0+0.6LSB
110 111
110 110 Input signal + triangular
waveform samples q1
110 101
110 100 (q1+q0)/2

110 011
Input signal + triangular
110 010 (q1+q0)/4
waveform samples q0
110 001 (q1+q0)/8
110 000 q0 Average of q1 occurrences= 9/16 = 0.563
-> The nearest value is 110 101
Result =(7x110 000+ 9x111 000 + 1) >>1=110 101
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If the input signal is not correlated with the triangular waveform, then it is demonstrated that
the gain in the SNR is equal to

SNR Gain = 20. log ⎛ -------------⎞

OSR
⎝ 2 ⎠

Therefore, each doubling of the sampling frequency improves the SNR by 6dB and adds 1
ADC bit resolution.
In general, in order to add p-bit extra resolution, the oversampling frequency should be
equal to
p
F OVS = 2.2 F S

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Oversampling using triangular dither AN2668

4.1 When does this method work?

In order to make this method work, the input signal should not vary by more than ±0.5LSB
during the oversampling period and should not correlate with the triangular dither signal.

4.2 Method implementation on STM32F1x and STM32L1x

devices
In order to implement the second solution, the following is needed:
• An operational amplifier to perform the sum of the input signal and the triangular
waveform. For this, an op-amp inverter/summing stage is required. The ST component
LMV321 can be used.
• Triangular waveform with a period of OSR times the ADC conversion rate. The user
can either use a signal generator or one of the on-chip timers and an RC network to
generate this triangular signal. Indeed, the on-chip timer generates a PWM signal with
a duty cycle varying from 0 to 100%. This PWM output can be filtered with an RC filter
to generate a triangular signal varying from 0 to VDD. In order to generate an amplitude
of 0.5LSB, then the output is first passed through a capacitor (to cut the DC
component) and then divided by the prescaler R2/R3 (see Figure 8). This prescaler is
equal to the ADC number of words.
• The input signal should not be changed after the op-amp. For this reason, R1 should
be equal to R3.
• The sum of the input signal and the triangular dither is inverted. For this purpose, a
3.3 V offset is required on the positive entry of the op-amp. After the oversampled data
are computed, this offset is subtracted to give the input signal estimation with extra
resolution.

Figure 8. Hardware requirements of oversampling by adding a triangular signal

R1 R3
Input signal 10 kΩ
10 kΩ

0.46 kΩ VDD 100 nF

0
R2
4 MΩ -
PWM output VDD/2 1 kΩ ADC Input
5.5 nF -VDD/2 VDD + Vs

1 kΩ

RC to filter the PWM

frequency

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4.2.1 Oversampling using triangular dither firmware flowchart

The STM32F1x and STM32L1x on-chip ADC conversion frequency is fixed at 1 MHz. The
ADC DMA channel is configured to transfer the number of oversampled inputs from the
ADC data register to a buffer in RAM. This transfer is configured to occur one time. At the
end of the DMA transfer, an interrupt is triggered and the oversampled result is computed.
The general-purpose timer TIM2 is used to generate the input signal sampling frequency.
For this, the TIM2 reference clock base is configured at 1 µs. Its period determines the input
signal sampling period. It is defined in the oversampling.h file by #define
Input_Signal_Sampling_Period.

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AN2668 Oversampling using triangular dither

The triangular dither is generated using Timer TIM3 configured in PWM mode by updating
the Capture Compare Register CCR1. Timer TIM3 period should be equal to the ADC
conversion rate and CCR1 should be updated OSR times where OSR is the oversampling
factor. In order to do this, the possible CCR1 values are first computed and stored into a
RAM buffer, then DMA transfer is used to update the CCR1 register, removing the need for
interrupts.
Note that the ADC conversion rate limits the oversampling factor. For example, in the case
where the ADC is running at 1 MHz, the STM32F1x is operating at 56 MHz. In order to have
a period of 1 µs, the auto-reload register of timer TIM3 should be equal to 55. The maximum
number of additional bits is then 4.
When a TIM2 update interrupt is triggered, the ADC and TIM3 DMA are re-enabled and the
converted ADC values can be treated to compute the new sample with the extra resolution
bits. Figure 9 summarizes the implemented functionality.

Figure 9. Oversampling using triangular dither flowchart

ADC period = 1 µs
TIM 3 period = ADC period = 1 µs
TIM3 CCR1 register varies during OSR period (OSR = 4 in this example)

Input signal

Input signal dithered with the

triangular signal
<=1µ

Time t

TIM2 Update interrupt ADC DMA transfer complete interrupt

Clear flag Clear DMA Interrupt pending bit
Enable ADC DMA Compute the oversampled result
Update ADC DMA counter and pointers
Enable TIM3 DMA Update TIM3 DMA counter and pointers
Disable DMA

Sampling period = TIM2 period

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For this method to work, the input signal should not vary by more than ±0.5LSB during the
oversampling period. This means that for an STM32F1x or STM32L1x operating from a
3.3 V VREF+, the maximum allowed variations of the input signal during the oversampling
period is ~0.4 mV.
On the other side, a triangular waveform with an amplitude of 0.5LSB means a 0.4 mV
amplitude when operating the STM32F1x or STM32L1x from a 3.3 V VREF+. The application
environment must therefore not be very noisy. Any disturbance of the triangular waveform
will have an impact on the computed oversampled data.
According to the implementation, the triangular waveform is generated by means of the
STM32 timer and an RC filter that cuts the 1 MHz timer frequency. The timer PWM output
signal is integrated to provide a triangular signal with a 3.3 V amplitude. The division is done
with the ratio R3/R2.
The firmware related to this method is located in the TriangularDitherMethod
directory.

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Comparing the first and second methods AN2668

5 Comparing the first and second methods

The first method based on oversampling and averaging using white noise provides a half-bit
additional resolution for each doubling of the oversampling rate. The maximum input
frequency is drastically decreased with the additional number of additional bits.
For applications where this gain is sufficient, then it is a good choice. It requires the
presence of white noise in the input signal to make the signal toggle between two adjacent
ADC codes. In general, the ADC thermal noise is sufficient and there is no need to add
external hardware to act as an external white noise source. This makes the solution more
cost-effective.
The second method based on dithering the input signal using a triangular waveform and
computing its relative position between two quantized steps provides one more bit for each
doubling of the oversampling rate. This is twice the improvement given by the first method.
To make this method work, the input signal should not correlate with the triangular signal
and should not have a variation greater than 0.5LSB during the oversampling period.
However, external hardware is needed to add the input signal and the triangular waveform.
Table 1 summarizes the main differences between the two methods. It is not possible to say
that one method is better than the other. Each method has its advantages and limitations.
The user should select the one that better meets their application requirements (sampling
frequency, number of effective bits etc.).

Table 1. Oversampling using white noise vs. oversampling using triangular dither
Oversampling using Oversampling using triangular
Implementation conditions
white noise dither

Oversampling factor to add p bits p

4 2.2p
to he ADC on-chip resolution
Maximum Input signal frequency fADCmax/(2.4p) fADCmax/(2.2.2p)
White noise with an Triangular signal with an amplitude
Dither signal
amplitude of at least 1 LSB of n+0.5LSB
Triangular waveform generator: an
on-chip timer can be used.
External white noise In this case, an RC network is used
External hardware source needed if the input to filter the PWM frequency
signal noise is not sufficient An op-amp is needed to add the
triangular waveform and the input
signal

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AN2668 Hints

6 Hints

6.1 What is the maximum number of bits that can be added to

the on-chip ADC resolution?
It can be easily shown that increasing the on-chip ADC resolution decreases the maximum
frequency component of the input signal.
For example, when using the STM32F1x or STM32L1x ADC at 1 MHz and two additional
bits are required by the application, then the maximum input frequency is divided by:
• 16 when using the white noise method (62.5 kHz).
• 4 when using the triangular dither method (125 kHz)
What is the maximum number of bits that can be added to the on-chip ADC resolution?
For the two methods, the estimation of the input signal is done during an oversampling
period of OSR times the ADC conversion rate. In the case, the ADC is running at 1 MHz, the
input signal estimation is done over OSR µs. The signal should not vary by more than
1/2LSB for the white noise method and, by ±0.5LSB for the triangular waveform method.
• When using the white noise method, the maximum number of bits that can be added to
the ADC resolution depends only on the input signal.
• When using the triangular dither method, the maximum number of bits that can be
added to the ADC resolution does not depend only on the input signal. In fact, the steps
defining the triangular signal depend on the ADC and APB frequencies. The timer
period should be equal to the ADC rate:
2.2p ≤ Timer period
P ≤ log2 (Timer period / 2)
In our example, running the ADC with a rate of 1 µs causes the STM32F1x to operate at
56 MHz, which means that the timer period should be equal to 55. The maximum number of
bits that can be added in this case is 4.

6.2 Taking advantage of STM32 DAC implementation

Some STM32F1x and STM32L1x devices come with a DAC (digital-to-analog converter)
that can be used in the oversampling method to avoid the use of external components.
The DAC can be used in the two oversampling methods as follows:
• In the first method, the DAC can be used to generate a white-noise waveform with
programmable amplitude that can be injected into the input signal if noise is not
sufficient. The waveform is generated thanks to the implemented pseudo-random
algorithm. For more details, please refer to the STM32F1x and STM32L1x reference
manuals.
• In the second method, the DAC can be used to generate the triangular waveform. This
removes the need for any additional external RC circuitry to filter the timer PWM
frequency.
Note: This hint is not implemented in the software given within the application note.

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Hints AN2668

6.3 Taking advantage of the STM32F1x Dual ADC mode

implementation
In some STM32F1x devices, the Dual ADC mode is an interesting feature that allows two
ADCs to convert at the same time.
Using the Dual ADC Fast Interleave mode, the same channel is converted alternately by
ADC2 and ADC1. The time separating two successive samples is 7 ADC clock cycles. The
input signal is therefore oversampled faster. In the example described in this application
note, a sample is obtained every 1 µs. Using the Dual ADC Fast Interleave mode, it is
possible to have a sample every 7 ADC clock cycles, that is every 0.5 µs when running the
ADC at 14 MHz.
Note: This hint is not implemented in the software given within the application note.

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AN2668 Quantization error

Appendix A Quantization error

Let us assume that we have an N-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a voltage
reference VAREF.
Let quantum q be the minimum distance between two adjacent ADC codes. It is defined as
follows:
V AREF
q = ----------------
N
-
2

The quantization error equation is:

q
e q ≤ ---
2

Let us assume that:

• the signal crosses many levels between samples
• the sampling rate is not synchronized to the signal frequency
• the input signal has equal probability of being anywhere in the quantization interval q,
leading to a random quantization error
Given the above assumptions, the quantization noise can be approximated to a random
variable equally distributed between ADC codes with zero mean. From this assumption, it
can be easily demonstrated that the quantization noise variance is given by the following
formula
q 2
---
q
∫
2 2 2 2
σ = E ( eq ) = q
( P ( eq ) ⋅ e q ) de q = ------
– --- 12
2

According to the above formula, the quantization noise power depends on the ADC
resolution and decreases drastically when the ADC resolution increases.
Given an ADC sampling frequency fS (which is specified according to the MCU), in the case
where the Shannon criteria is respected, then the quantization noise power density is equal
to
2
σ
PSD = ------
fs

Let fm be the maximum frequency component of the input signal. The quantization noise
power present in the band of interest is given by
fm 2
σ 2 2f m 2 2f m
∫–fm fs- df = σ ⋅ --------
2
η0 = ----- - = q ⋅ -------------
fs 12.f s

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21
Quantization error AN2668

Figure 10. Oversampling effect on the quantization error

PSD PSD
Input signal

Same area Quantization error

F F
-2.fm - fm fm fS = 2.fm -2.N.fm - fm fm fS= 2.N.fm

ai14946

Note that increasing the sampling frequency reduces the in-band quantization noise power
and consequently improves the signal-to-noise ratio.
Given the same input signal and sampling it with 2.fm and fS = OSR.2.fm, the gain in SNR is

⎛ 2 ⎞
⎜ σx ⎟
SNR OVS = 10 log ⎜ --------------------⎟ = SNR 2.fm + 10 log ( OSR )
⎜ 2 2f m⎟
⎝ σ ⋅ -------- fs ⎠
-

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AN2668 Revision history

Revision history

Table 2. Document revision history

Date Revision Changes

08-Jul-2008 1 Initial release.

Added STM32L1x products
Added subchapter title Section 4.2.1: Oversampling using triangular
dither firmware flowchart in Section 4.2: Method implementation on
STM32F1x and STM32L1x devices
Updated ‘3.3V VREF+’ and ‘R3/R2’ in Section 4.2.1: Oversampling
23-Sep-2013 2
using triangular dither firmware flowchart
Updated title of Section 6.2: Taking advantage of STM32 DAC
implementation
Updated title of Section 6.3: Taking advantage of the STM32F1x
Dual ADC mode implementation

DocID14183 Rev 2 21/22

21
 AN2668

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