____________________________________________________

Interfacing a Differential-Output (Isolated) Amplifier to a

Single-Ended Input ADC

measurement. The analog input range to the

Introduction
AMC1301 is ±250 mV. With a fixed gain of 8.2, the
Whether you are sensing current in an industrial 3- VOUTN and VOUTP voltages are ±1.025 V centered
phase servo motor system, a battery management around the 1.44-V common-mode output as shown in
system for an electric vehicle, or a photo voltaic Figure 2. Differentially, the output voltage is ±2.05 V.
inverter, it is often necessary to include some sort of
safety isolation scheme. Safety-related standards
define the specific isolation requirements for the end
equipment associated with the particular design.
Various factors come into play when determining what
level of safety insulation (basic, supplemental, or
reinforced) is required depending on the type of
equipment, the voltage levels involved, and the
environment that the equipment is to be installed.
Texas Instruments offers a variety of isolated current
shunt amplifiers that are used in the previously-
mentioned applications for voltage and current shunt
sensing that meet either basic or reinforced insulation
requirements. For applications requiring reinforced Figure 2. Differential Output Voltage
insulation, one such device is the AMC1301. The
output of the AMC1301 is a fully differential signal
centered around a common-mode voltage of 1.44 V The addition of a differential to single-ended amplifier
that can be fed directly to a stand-alone analog-to- output stage, illustrated in Figure 3, allows the full
digital converter (ADC) as shown in Figure 1, or to the output range of the AMC1301 to be provided to the
on-board ADC found in the MSP430 and C2000 family ADC.
of micro-controller devices.
Floating
HV+ Power Supply

3.3 V or AMC1301
Gate 5.0 V
Driver VDD1 VDD2 3.3 V or 5.0 V
Reinforced Isolation

GND1 GND2

RSHUNT VINN VOUTP

To Load
ADS7263
14-Bit ADC
VINP VOUTN

Gate
Driver

HV-
Copyright © 2016, Texas Instruments Incorporated Figure 3. Differential to Single-Ended Output
Figure 1. AMC1301 Functional Block Diagram
Assuming a full scale sine wave of ±250 mV is applied
at VIN; the internal gain of the AMC1301 will provide
Embedded ADCs 2.05 Vpk-pk outputs at points VOUTP and VOUTN
Both the MSP430 and C2000 family of processors which are 180º out of phase. The difference between
have embedded single-ended input ADCs so the these signals, VODIF, is 4.1 Vpk-pk. When R1 = R4
question becomes, “How do I get this differential signal and R2 = R3 the transfer function of the output stage
into my single-ended data converter?” is shown in Equation 1.
æ R4 ö æ R1 ö
The simplest way to achieve this is to use only one VOUT = VOUTP ´ ç ÷ + VOUTN ´ ç ÷ + VCM
output of the AMC1301 leaving the second output è R3 ø è R2 ø (1)
floating. The down side to this solution is that only half spacer
the output voltage swing is available to the data
converter, reducing the dynamic range of the spacer

SBAA229 – April 2017 Interfacing a Differential-Output (Isolated) Amplifier to a Single-Ended Input 1

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With equal value resistors for R1 through R4 in input range of the AMC1301. As shown in Figure 5,
Equation 1 and VCM set to 2.5 V, Equation 1 reduces utilizing a differential to single-ended amplifier
to: configuration with a gain of 0.5 and common mode
VOUT = (VOUTP - VOUTN) + VCM voltage of 1.25 V, the entire voltage range of the
(2) AMC1301 can be applied to the ADC12.
The plots of Figure 4 show the input voltage and
output voltages of the AMC1301 along with the output
voltage of the final differential to single-ended output
stage. Note that the differential voltage of ±2.05 V is
transposed to a single-ended signal from 0.5 to 4.5 V.

Figure 5. Scaled Differential to Single-Ended

Output

Alternative Device Recommendations

The AMC1100 or AMC1200 provide basic isolation
with similar performance to the AMC1301 at a lower
price point. For applications requiring a bipolar output
option, the TLV170 is an excellent choice.

Table 1. Alternative Device Recommendations

Device Optimized Parameter Performance Trade-Off
AMC1100 Galvanic Isolation up to 4250 Lower Transient Immunity
VPEAK

Figure 4. Single-Ended Output Voltage AMC1200 Galvanic Isolation up to 4250 Basic Isolation versus
VPEAK Reinforced
TLV170 Bi-polar operation to ±18 V Higher input bias current
Depending on the input voltage range of the ADC, gain
or attenuation can be incorporated into the differential Conclusion
to single-ended stage to adjust the output swing. The
output common mode voltage can be adjusted to fit While it is possible to use a single output of the
the input needs of the ADC as well. AMC1301 to drive a single-ended ADC, adding a
differential to single-ended op-amp stage at the output
Design Example ensures the target application will have the largest
The ADC12 found on the MSP430 devices have an possible dynamic range.
input voltage range of 0–2.5 V when using the internal
voltage reference. Using the VOUTP from the Table 2. Related TI Tech Notes
AMC1301 would provide the ADC12 with an input Low-Drift, Low-Side Current Measurements for Three-Phase
SBOA161
signal ranging from 0.415 V to 2.465 V, well within the Systems
input range of the converter while only utilizing half the SBOA165
Precision Current Measurements on High Voltage Power
Supply Rails

2 Interfacing a Differential-Output (Isolated) Amplifier to a Single-Ended Input SBAA229 – April 2017

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