‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬

Sudan University of Science

& Technology
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING
DIPLOMA PROGRAM (Avionics)
Digital Fundamentals
Lecture (02)

DATA CONVERSION
ENG / SHAIMA ELZEIN
2023
Objectives:-
To define:-
Analog Data, Digital Data;
Operation and application of analog to digital, and digital to analog
converters, inputs and outputs, limitations of various types.
Introduction
• Because signals in the real world exist in both Analog ( Continuous variables) and Digital
(On/Off) form, digital and computer systems need to be able to accept and generate both type
of signal as inputs and outputs respectively.

• because of this, there is a need for device that can convert signals in Analog form to their
equivalent in Digital form, and vice versa.

•This lecture introduces Digital to Analog and Analog to Digital conversion.

Analog Data
• Analog and digital signals can both contain the same useful information.
• Analog circuits are different from digital circuits in that they do not have two set values, such as
0 volts representing "OFF" and 5 volts representing "ON". Instead, analog circuits will vary
continuously in both time and value from high to low.
• AC (alternating current) analog signals can be bipolar in that they have both positive and
negative limits as seen in an AC sine wave.
• DC (direct current) analog signals are unipolar in that they will have 0 volts as one of its limits
with either a positive or a negative voltage defining its other analog signal voltage range limit.
• Analog signals have the advantage in that they can represent any functional quantity, such as
time, temperature, pressure, etc., by outputting an equivalent functional quantity of voltage or
current.
• Prime examples are aircraft fuel quantity and oil pressure analog synchro systems. By locating
the transmitter of a synchro system remotely, fluid pressure can be directed into it without the
necessity of running tubing through to the cockpit.
•
Digital Data
• Analog circuits and devices vary continuously in both time and value from high to low; however,
digital data are discrete and discontinuous representations of information.
• Digital signals are different from analog signals in that there are only two (binary) levels of
voltage: high for "ON" and low for "OFF".
• These different voltage levels are put into a sequence of digital numbers to describe the value
being transmitted.
• As stated in the previous Lecture , the binary number system is used in digital electronics
because the two basic conditions of electricity, ON and OFF, can represent the two digits of the
binary number system. When a switch is ON, it represents the digit 1, and when it is OFF, it
represents the digit 0. Digital circuits will be discussed later.
Digital Data

Digital Signal
ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERSION
•an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) is a device that converts a continuous input voltage
to a digital data stream that represents the amplitude of the input analog signal.
• The ADC performs conversions periodically by 3 steps:
1. Sampling
2. quantizing the input signal over a very short period of time.
3. The result is a sequence of digital numbers that have been converted from continuous time
and amplitude analog signals to discrete time and amplitude digital signals.
 ADC
• To begin the analog-to-digital data conversion process, the voltage range is divided into 2ⁿ equal bins
and then sampled continuously. This value sampled is held until the next sample is taken.
• The ADC generates binary numbers that represents each voltage level sampled. If the voltage is
divided into 2¹ bins it will generate 2 bits per sample.
• Clearly the digital representation of the analog waveform shown in Figures is a distorted version of
the original analog signal, although the basic similarity of the two can be discerned.
• Errors are produced by dividing the voltage range into bins that implies conversion back to the
original analog signal will produce the exact same values. Quantization error can be reduced by
generating more bits per sample, with each bit occupying less of the overall voltage range.
• For example, a 4-bit ADC will sample 24 or 16 voltage bands, which is its decimal equivalent value of
dynamic range. Dynamic range is the ratio of the largest input that can be converted to the smallest
step size. For example, a 4-bit ADC with an input of 0 to 5 volts has a quantization step size of 5 volts /
16 bands = 0.3125. Therefore, the dynamic range is calculated to be 5 / 0.3125 = 16.
DIGITAL TO ANALOG CONVERSION
• Digital-to-Analog Converters (DACs) are found in everyday use. For example, digital information
stored on Digital Video Discs (DVD) and Compact Disc (CD) use DACs to convert digital data
streams to analog music and video signals.
• Digital-to-analog is the reverse of the above A/D conversion process such that each
binary number is converted back into nominal levels by reconstructing the original waveform
• A DAC is a device that reconstructs finite-precision time series data in to a continuously varying
signal, which theoretically can have an infinite number of states. In simple terms, it takes
binary numbers, or combination of binary numbers, and changes them into corresponding
voltages, such that, for example, binary number 1 equals 1 volt, binary number 2 equals 2 volts,
binary number 3 equals 3 volts, and so on.
 DAC
• A typical DAC converts a sequence of binary digits (bits) into "impulses" that are then processed
by a reconstruction filter to smooth out the step response into continuous curves. These
impulses are created by updating the analog voltage output at uniform sampling intervals,
controlled by a clock signal, which are then interpolated by a low-pass reconstruction filter to fill
in the gaps between the impulses creating a continuously varied output.
• Other DAC methods produce a pulse-modulated signal that can then be filtered in a similar way
to produce a smoothly varying signal
 DAC
• Figure 3-7 is a schematic diagram of a 4-bit resistor ladder DAC with an op-amp. This DAC
converts a binary input to a matching decimal number that corresponds to the output voltage.
The numbers 1, 2, 4, and 8 refer to the relative weights assigned to each bit whereby input "1" is
the Least Significant Bit (LSB) and input "8" is the Most Significant Bit (MSB). Thus if a +5 volts
(logic 1) is applied to input "1", the output will be 5 × (4 000 ohms/20 000 ohms) = 5 × 0.2 = 1
volt. If instead +5 volts is applied to input "2", the output will be 5 × (4 000 ohms/10 000 ohms)
= 5 × 0.4 = 2 volts.
•Similarly, if either the "4" or "8" inputs are logic 1, then the output will be either 4 volts or 8
volts respectively. However, if +5 volts is applied to all 4 terminals simultaneously, the output
will be 15 volts, representing the binary number input 1111. As a result, the output voltage can
be one of 16 different voltages (including zero), in accordance with the input binary codes of
0000 through 1111 as shown on the corresponding table.
4-Bit resistor-ladder DAC with voltage
output table.
LIMITATIONS OF CONVERSION
• As previously discussed, analog signals are converted into digital signals so that the information
is manipulated by instructions executed within a computer and then converted back to analog
signals to drive analog display formats (such as hands on a clock) that are easily recognized by
the crew.
• However, reconstructing a signal from digital-to-analog or from analog-to-digital
can degrade the signal by introducing errors, also known as noise.
• Reconstruction noise, as well as sampling noise from quantization, not only combine in the final
signal, but also compound over multiple stages of conversion resulting in a loss of quality, or
fidelity, of the original signal. All though not apparent, the waveform shown at the bottom of
Figure is a distorted version of the original waveform shown at the top of Figure.
LIMITATIONS OF CONVERSION
LIMITATIONS OF CONVERSION
• A prime example of an everyday device that converts analog signals to digital and back to
analog signals is a telephone. The microphone on the phone receives sound
pressure from the sender’s voice, which produces an analog signal. The analog signal is
converted to a digital signal which is then transmitted through the airwaves to
the receiver’s phone.
• Once received, it is converted back into an analog signal to drive the coil on the speaker to
replicate the sender’s voice. However, it is well known that the quality of the sender’s voice on
the phone will always be of less quality (fidelity) as compared to hearing the person speak in
person. As such, it is important to recognize that signal degradation is a known limitation of
multiple conversions
Problems
1. Are DC (direct current) analog signals bipolar or unipolar?
2. How can quantization error be reduced in an Analog to-Digital Converter (ADC)?
3. Explain the device and process used to convert a digital signal to an analog signal.
4. What are the limitations of using multiple Analog-toDigital Converters and Digital-to-Analog
Converters?
‫وهللا ولي التوفيق‬