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MODULE-3
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Signal condition
 GENERAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

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COMPONENTS

 General
measurement system
components:

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GENERAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

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COMPONENTS
 The first stage of the measurement
system which detects the measurand is
termed as detector-transducer stage.
 In this stage the quantity is detected and
is transduced into an electrical form.
 The output from the first stage needs
certain modifications before it becomes
compatible with the data presentation
stage.
 Modification is carried out in the
intermediate stage which is known as
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signal conditioning stage.
GENERAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

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COMPONENTS

 Last stage consists of indicating,

recording, recording, displaying, data
processing elements or may consists of
control elements.
 Signal conditioning & its necessity:
 It may be defined as the process of
modifying the output signals from the
transducer into usable and satisfactory
signal using amplification, attenuation,
non linearization, linearization
multiplication by another function. 4
GENERAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM COMPONENTS

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 Necessity:
 Signals may be too noisy due to electromagnetic
interference
 Signals may be too small usually in mV range
 Signals may be non linear & require to be
converted into digital form.
 Signals may be analog one and require to be
converted into digital form
 Signals may be digital one and need to be
converted into analog signals
 It may be required to improve the quality of
digital signals 5
FUNCTIONS OF SIGNAL CONDITIONING

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EQUIPMENT

 Amplification
 Modification or modulation
 Impedance matching
 Data processing
 Data transmission
 Amplification: It means enhancement of
the signal level which is in the low level
range.
 Amplified signal can be used for
conversion, processing, indicating &
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recording.
FUNCTIONS OF SIGNAL CONDITIONING

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EQUIPMENT

 Modification or Modulation: It means

to change the form of signal.
 The signal may be smoothened, linearised,
filtered or converted into digital form.
 Impedance matching: The signal
conditioning equipment arranges the
input and output impedances of the
matching device so as to prevent loading
of the transducer and to maintain a high
signal level at the recorder. 7
FUNCTIONS OF SIGNAL CONDITIONING

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EQUIPMENT

 Data processing: Carry out

mathematical operations before indication
or recording of data.
 Data transmission: To transmit signal
from one location to another without
changing the contents of the information.

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DC SIGNAL CONDITIONING SYSTEM

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DC SIGNAL CONDITIONING SYSTEM
 Advantages:

 Calibration is easy at low frequencies

 It is able to recover from an overload
conditions.
 Disadvantages:

 Drift problem

 Low pass filter eliminates high frequency

signals
 Uses: potentiometer & resistance strain
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gauges
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AC SIGNAL CONDITIONING SYSTEM

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AC SIGNAL CONDITIONING SYSTEM
 It is used in variable reactance
transducer.
 Amplification:

 Amplifier: increase the signal

 Gain or amplification or
magnification
 G=I0/Ii

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TYPES OF AMPLIFIERS
 Based on the principle of working
 Mechanical amplifiers
 Fluid amplifiers
 Optical amplifiers
 Electrical & Electronic amplifiers
 Mechanical amplifiers:
 Simple and compound levers
 Eg: Huggenberger extensometer
 Simple and compound gears
 Eg: gear trains 13
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TYPES OF AMPLIFIERS
 Limitations of mechanical
amplification:
 Internal loading
 Friction at the mating parts
 Elastic deformation
 Backlash
 Fluid amplifiers:
 Hydraulic amplifier
 Eg: mercury in glass thermo meter
 Pneumatic amplifier 14
TYPES OF AMPLIFIERS

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 Optical amplifiers:
 A ray of light strikes a mirror with an
angle of incidence I and gets reflected
with angle of reflection equal to the angle
of incidence.
 When the mirror rotates through an angle
θ, the angle of incidence change to i+θ
 Before rotation of the mirror angle
between incident ray & reflected ray is 2i
 After rotation 2(i+θ)

 Eg: UV galvanometers 15
TYPES OF AMPLIFIERS

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 AC & DC amplifiers:
 For an AC amplifier bandwidth is the
range of frequencies between which gain
or amplitude ratio is constant to with in -
3dB.
 AC amplifiers are only capable of dealing
with rapid, repetitive signals but are
usually simpler and cheaper when
compared with their DC.
 DC amplifiers are capable of amplifying
static, slowly changing or rapid repetitive
input signals.
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TYPES OF AMPLIFIERS
 Modulated & demodulated signals:
 If the carrier frequency is held constant
and its amplitude is varied by the
measurand is known as amplitude
modulation(AM)
 If the carrier amplitude is constant and
its frequency varied by the measurand is
known as frequency modulation(FM)
 Demodulation is extracting the original
signal from the carrier. 17
TYPES OF AMPLIFIERS

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 Integrated circuits:
 Operational amplifiers:
 Op amp circuits used in instrumentation:
 Inverter
 Adder
 Subtracter
 Multiplier & divider
 Integrator
 Differentiator
 Buffer amplifier
 Differential amplifier 18
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TYPES OF AMPLIFIERS
 Attenuators: It is a two port resistive
network and is used to reduce the signal
level by a given amount.
 Filters:

 Low pass

 High pass

 Band pass

 Band stop

 All pass
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DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM AND
CONVERSION

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 DAS is a system used for data processing,
data conversion, data transmission and
data storage.
 Generalized data acquisition system:

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DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM AND CONVERSION

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 An analog DAS consists of following
elements:
 Transducers

 Signal conditioners

 Calibrating equipment

 Integrating equipment

 Visual devices

 Graphic recording instruments

 Magnetic tape instrumentation

 Analog computers
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 High speed cameras & TV equipment
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM AND CONVERSION

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A digital DAS consists of following
elements:
 Transducer

 Signal conditioner

 Scanner or multiplexer

 Signal converter

 ADC

 Auxiliary equipment and system

programmer
 Digital recorder
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 Digital printer
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM AND

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CONVERSION

 Merits of DAS:
 Can result in greater accuracy

 Provides more compact storage of the data

 Enables data processing

 Allows use of the data in real time control

systems

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OBJECTIVES AND CONFIGURATION OF DAS
 Objectives of DAS:
 To be reliable, flexible and capable of
being expanded for future requirements
 To acquire the necessary data, at correct
speed and at correct time
 Down time not be more than 0.1%
 To be able to compute unit performance
indices using on line, real time data
 To maintain on line optimum and safe
operations, it must monitor the complete
plant operations. 24
OBJECTIVES AND CONFIGURATION OF DAS

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 To make use of all data efficiently to
inform the operator about the state of the
plant.
 To be able to collect, summarize and store
data for diagnosis of operation and record
purpose.
 To provide an effective human
communication system and be able to
identify problem areas, thereby
minimising unit availability and
maximizing unit through point at 25

minimum cost.
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OBJECTIVES AND CONFIGURATION OF DAS
 Configuration of DAS:
 The important factors that decide the
configuration and the sub systems of a
DAS are:
 The number of channels to be monitored

 Sampling rate per channel

 Signal conditioning requirement of each

channel
 Resolution and accuracy
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 Cost
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OBJECTIVES AND CONFIGURATION OF DAS
 The various general configurations are:
 Signal channel possibilities:

➢ Direct conversion

➢ Pre amplification & direct conversion

➢ Sample and hold and conversion

➢ Pre amplification, sample and hold, and

conversion
➢ Pre amplification, signal conditioning, and
any of the above
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OBJECTIVES AND CONFIGURATION OF DAS

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 Multi channel possibilities:
➢ Multiplexing the outputs of single channel
converters
➢ Multiplexing the outputs of sample hold
circuits
➢ Multiplexing the inputs of the sample
hold circuits
➢ Multiplexing low level data

 Noise reduction options:

➢ Filtering

➢ Integrating converters and digital 28

processing
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DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM
➢ It is the process of using output signals and
inputting that into a computer.
➢ The output signal may be one that
originates from direct measurement of
electrical quantities such as voltage,
frequency, resistance etc.
➢ The output signal may originates from
sensors.

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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS

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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 It consists of a sensor-transducer the

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output of which is connected to DAC board
through a signal conditioning unit.
 The DAC board is plugged to a computer.

 The DAC board consists of a mux,

amplifier, ADC, register and control
circuitry connected to a computer system.
 A software is employed to control the
acquisition of data through DAC.
 When the program requires input from a
particular sensor, it activates the DAC by
sending control word to the control and 31

status register.
ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS

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 The control word indicates what type of
operation the board has to carry out.
 Automated DAS may take the following
forms:
 Data loggers
 Computer with plug in boards.
 Data Loggers:
 A data logger can monitor the inputs from
a large number of sensors.
 Inputs from individual sensors, after
suitable signal conditioning are fed into
the multiplexer. 32
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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 The multiplexer is used to select one
signal which is then fed, after
amplification, to the ADC.
 The digital signal is then processed by a
microprocessor.
 The micro processor is able to carry out
simple arithmetic operations, and
measures the average value.
 The output is displayed on the digital
meter which indicates the output and
channel number. 33
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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 Computer with plug in boards:

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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 The signal conditioning prior to the inputs
to the board depends on the sensors
concerned.
 Eg: Thermocouples- Amplification, cold
junction compensation and linearisation.
 Strain gauges- Wheat stone bridge,
voltage supply for bridge and linearisation
 RTDs- Current supply, circuitry and
linearisation
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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 Single channel DAS:

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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 It consists of a signal conditioner followed
by an ADC performing repetitive
conversions at a free running, internally
determined rate.
 The digital outputs from the buffer are
further fed to a storage or printout device
or to a digital computer for analysis.
 Eg: Digital panel meter
 ADC used in this system applications are
usually designed to receive external
commands to convert and hold. 37
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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 Successive approximation type ADC is a
popular type, since it is capable of high
resolution and high speed at moderate
cost.
 It is observed that the signal level is very
small compared to input requirement.
 In such cases the amplification of the
input signal is done to bring its level to
match the input requirements.
 This is called pre amplification. 38
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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 Pre amplifiers can be coupled with the
active filters before the process of data
acquisition, in order to minimize the effect
of noise, carriers and interfacing high
frequency components and for avoiding
aliasing on conversion.
 In system design all data processing need
not be digital.
 Analog circuits can perform data
reduction effectively, relatively &
economically. 39
 ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS

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 It should be considered as an alternative
way for reducing the number of
transmission channels, software
complexity, noise and cost.
 Multi channel DAS:

 Multi channel analog multiplexed system

 Multiplexing the outputs of sample-holds

 Multiplexing after A/D conversion

 Multiplexing low level data

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 ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS

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 Multi-channel analog multiplexed
system:

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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS

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 In this system individual signals are
applied directly or after preamplification
and/ or signal conditioning where ever
necessary, to the multiplexer.
 These analog signals are then converted
to digital signals by the A/D converter,
sequentially.
 In order to have most utilization of time,
the multiplexer is made to seek the next
channel to be converted while the
previous data stored in the sample hold is 42

converted to digital form.

ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS

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 After the conversion is complete the
status line from the converter causes the
S/H to return to the sample mode and
acquires the signal of the next channel.
 On completion of acquisition either
immediately or upon command the S/H is
switched to the hold mode, a conversion
begins again and the multiplexer switches
on to the subsequent channel.
 Advantage:

 Low cost

 Disadvantage: System is slower

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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 Multiplexing the outputs of sample-
holds:

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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 This technique is useful when a large
number of channels are to be monitored at
the same time(i.e synchronously) but at
moderate speeds.
 An individual S/H is assigned to each
channel and they are updated
synchronously by a timing circuit.
 The outputs of S/H outputs are connected
to an A/D converter through a multiplexer
resulting in sequential read out of the 45
outputs.
ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 Applications:

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 Radar and fire control systems.
 Wind tunnel measurements.

 Seismographic experimentation.

 Multiplexing after A/D conversion

 Because of low cost of ADCs, it is feasible

to use ADC for each analog input and
multiplex the digital outputs.
 Since each ADC is assigned to an
individual channel, the conversion rate of
the ADC need to be only as fast as is
needed for that channel. 46
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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS

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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 In this parallel conversion scheme of DAS,
many strain gauges, thermocouples, and
LVDT’s are distributed over a large plant
area.
 The data which are converted to digital form
are used to perform logic operations and
decisions so that based on the relative speed
at which changes occur in data.
 Scanning rates can also be increased or
decreased. 48
ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS

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 Some times the ADC outputs are passed
through a processor which acts on the
data in a practical manner to produce a
digital word corresponding to a function of
the data input.
 Multiplexing low level data
 It enables the use of a single high quality
data amplifier for handling multi channel
low level inputs.
 This technique is useful when a large
number of channels all having low level
outputs need to be monitored at moderate
speeds. 49
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ANALOG & AUTOMATED DAS
 Applications of DAS:
 Aerospace, biomedical and telemetry
industries
 Analog DAS are used when wide
bandwidth is required.
 Digital DAS is used when narrow
bandwidth is required.

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DATA CONVERSION
 A/D conversion: This process changes a
sampled analog voltage into digital form.
 This process involves

 Quantizing: It is defined as the

transformation of a continuous analog
input into a set of discrete output states.
 Coding: It is an assignment of a digital
code word or number to each output state.

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DATA CONVERSION
 Procedure of conversion:

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 The procedure of A/D conversion is that a
clock supplies regular time signal pulses
to ADC and every time it receives a pulse
it samples the analog signal.

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DATA CONVERSION

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DATA CONVERSION

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DATA CONVERSION

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 Components used in A/D conversion:

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DATA CONVERSION

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 Buffer amplifier: It provides a signal in
a range close to but not exceeding the full
input voltage range of the A/D converter.
 Low pass filter: It is necessary to
remove any high frequency components in
the signal.
 S/H amplifier: It maintains a fixed input
value during the short conversion time of
the A/D converter.
 A/D converter: It should have a
resolution and analog quantization size
appropriate to the system and signal. 56
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DATA CONVERSION
 Computer: It must be properly interfaced
to A/D converter system to store and
process the data.
 A/D converter: It is an electronic device
that converts an electronic device that
converts an analog voltage to a digital
code.
 The resolution of an A/D converter is the
number of bits used to digitally
approximate the analog value of the
input. 57
DATA CONVERSION

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 Design principles:
 Successive approximations

 Flash or parallel encoding

 Single slope and dual slope integration

 Switched capacitor

 Delta sigma

 Successive approximations:

It is widely used because

 It is fast in operation

 It has high resolution

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 Less expensive
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DATA CONVERSION

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DATA CONVERSION

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 The clock generates a voltage emitting a
regular sequence of pulses which are
counted, in a binary manner, and the
resulting binary word is converted into an
analog voltage by a DAC.
 This voltage rises in steps and is
compared with the analog input voltage
from the sensor.
 When the clock generated voltage passes
the input voltage the pulses from the clock
are stopped from being counted by a gate
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being closed.
 DATA CONVERSION
 The output from the counter at that time is

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then a digital representation of the analog
voltage.
 Flash A/D converter:

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DATA CONVERSION

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 The fastest type of A/D converter is known
as a flash converter.
 For an n bit converter 2^n-1 separate
voltage comparators are used in parallel,
with each having the analog input voltage
as one input.
 A reference voltage is applied to a ladder
of resistors so that the voltage applied as
the other input to each comparator is one
bit larger in size than the voltage applied
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to the previous comparator in the ladder.
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DATA CONVERSION
 Thus when the analog voltage is applied
to the ADC, all these comparators for
which the analog voltage is greater than
the reference voltage of a comparator will
give a high output and those for which it
is less will be low.
 The resulting outputs are fed in parallel
to a logic system which translates into a
digital word.
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DATA CONVERSION
 Singleslope or ramp or voltage to
time A/D converter:

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DATA CONVERSION

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A ramp ADC involves an analog voltage
which is increased at constant rate and is
applied to a comparator where it is
compared with the analog voltage from
the sensor.
 The time consumed by the ramp voltage to
increase to the value of the sensor voltage
will depend on the size of the sampled
analog voltage.
 When the ramp voltage starts a gate is
opened which starts a binary counter
counting the regular pulses from a clock. 65
DATA CONVERSION

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 When the two voltages are equal, the gate
closes and the word indicated by the
counter is the digital representation of the
sampled analog voltage.
 Dual slope integration A/D converter
or dual ramp converter:
 The analog voltage and the reference
input voltage are successively connected
to the integrator with the help of a switch.
 These two voltages must be of opposite
polarities. 66
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DATA CONVERSION
 The fixed voltage is integrated for a fixed
sample time.
 The integrated value is then discharged at
a fixed rate and the time to do this is
measured by a counter.
 The count is then a measure of the analog
input voltage.
 Advantage:

 Excellent noise rejection

 Limitation: Slow in operation

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DATA CONVERSION

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DATA CONVERSION
 Multiplexers:

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DATA CONVERSION

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 Itis an essentially an electronic switching
device which enables each of the inputs to
be sampled in turn.
 A Multiplexer is a circuit that is able to
have inputs of data from a number of
sources and then by selecting an input
channel, give an output from just one of
them.
 In some applications a multiplexer can be
used to select each input in turn and
switch it through a single ADC and 70
microprocessor.
DATA CONVERSION

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 Digital multiplexer:

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DATA CONVERSION
 The logic level applied to the select input
determines which AND gate is enabled so
that its data input passes through the OR
gate to the output.
 Demultiplexer is similar to multiplexer
but with reversed action.
 It accepts a digital signal through its one
input and then channelizes it to a
particular output selected by binary value
at the control port. 72
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DATA CONVERSION
 D/A conversion:
 It is a process of changing a digital value
to an analog value.
 A DAC allows a computer to interface
with external analog circuits and devices.
 D/A Converters:

 Fig shows a simple form of DAC using a

summing amplifier to form the weighted
sum of all the non zero bits in the input
word 73
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DATA CONVERSION

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DATA CONVERSION
 The reference voltage is connected to the
resistors by means of electronic switches
which respond to binary 1.
 The value of the input resistances depend
on which bit in the word a switch is
responding to, the value of the resistor for
successive bits from the LSB being halved.
 Hence the sum of the voltages is a
weighted sum of the digits in the work.
 Such a system is referred to as a weighted 75

resistor network.
DATA CONVERSION
 Limitations: Accurate resistances have to

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be used for each of the resistors and it is
difficult to obtain the required wide range of
such resistors.
 As such this form of DAC tends to be limited
to 4 bit conversions.
 R-2R ladder network:
 It overcomes the problem of obtaining
accurate resistances over a wide range of
values, only two values being required.
 The output voltage is generated by switching
sections of the ladder to either the reference
voltage or 0V according to whether there is a
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1 or 0 in the digital input.
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DATA CONVERSION

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