Chapter 4

Signal Conditioning

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Signal Conditioning
Signal conditioning is the operation performed on the signal
to convert it to a form suitable for interfacing with other
elements in the system.

Signal conditioning can be categorized into:

 Signal-range and offset changes

i.e. amplification and zero adjustment
 Linearization
 Conversions
e.g. current to voltage and voltage to current
 Filtering
removing unwanted frequencies
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Signal Conditioning

Before discussing signal conditioning, it is important

to understand:

 the loading effect.

 the buffer circuit.
 the difference amplifier.
 the instrumentation amplifier.

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Effect of Loading
Connecting a sensor or circuit to a load
introduces uncertainty in the measurement (i.e. in
the amplitude of the output voltage) as shown
below.

without load: Vy = Vx with load: Vy < Vx

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 RL
Vy  Vx
RL  R x

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Example
An amplifier outputs a voltage that is 10 times the voltage
on its input terminals. It has an input resistance of 10 k.
A sensor outputs a voltage proportional to temperature
with a transfer function of 20 mV/°C. The sensor has an
output resistance of 5.0 k. If the temperate is 50 °C, find
the amplifier output.

50 °C Sensor Amplification ?V
(20 mV/°C) (gain =10)

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Answer
– The sensor output VT = (50°C)*(20 mV/°C) = 1V.
• Due to non-zero sensor output resistance (5kΩ) and finite
amplifier input resistance (10kΩ), the sensor delivers only

10 10
Vin   VT   1  0.667
5  10 5  10
• This is amplified 10 times to give Vout = 6.67V.
• Note: if the sensor o/p impedance is zero or the amplifier i/p
impedance is infinite, Vout = 10V.

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The buffer circuit
• To minimize the loading effect, we must look for an amplifier
that has infinite (very large) input impedance to obtain the
whole sensor output voltage.

• Furthermore, as this amplifier is probably going to drive other

circuits, it should have zero (very small) output impedance.

• A device having these two properties is called a buffer such as

the voltage follower circuit shown.

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Difference Amplifier
In signal conditioning, it is sometimes required to find the
difference between two signals. This can be achieved using
the following difference amplifier circuit.

R2
Vout  (V2  V1 )
R1

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 The instrumentation amplifier
• The input impedances of the difference amplifier can be
relatively low and, hence, tend to load the sensor output.
• To have high input impedance, the difference amplifier is
preceded by two voltage follower circuits to form the so-
called instrumentation amplifier.

R2
Vout  (V2  V1 )
R1

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 The instrumentation amplifier
• One disadvantage of the previous differential circuit is that
in order to change the gain, 2 pairs of resistors need to be
changed.
• A more common differential amplifier in which the gain can
be adjusted using one resistor (RG) is shown below.

 2R1  R3 
Vout  1   (V2  V1 )
 RG  R2 
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Signal conditioning

Now, let us discuss the following signal conditioning

categories:

 Signal-range and offset changes

i.e. amplification and zero adjustment

 Conversions
e.g. current to voltage and voltage to current

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Signal-range and offset (bias)

Example

Design a circuit to achieve the following voltage conversion.

0.2 V – 0.7 V 0V–5V

Signal conditioning circuit

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Answer

• It is clear that we need to subtract 0.2V, then multiply

the signal by 10.

0.2 V – 0.7 V 0 V – 0.5 V 0V–5V

Zero shift Amplification

• This looks like a differential amplifier with a gain of

10 and a fixed input of 0.2 volts to the inverting side.
The following circuit shows how this could be done
using an instrumentation amplifier.
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Note that a voltage divider is used to provide the 0.2V offset.
The zener diode is used to keep the bias voltage (i.e. the 0.2V)
constant against changes of the supply.
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Example 2-20

A sensor output a range of 20 to 250 mV. Develop signal

conditioning so that this become 0 to 5 V. The circuit must
have very high input impedance.

Answer
Let us develop an linear equation for the output in terms of
the input
Vout  aVin  b

where a and b are to be found.

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• For the given two conditions we can write

0  a(0.020)  b
  a  21.7, b  0.434
5  a(0.250)  b 

• Hence, the required equation is

Vout  21.7Vin  0.434

 21.7(Vin  0.02)

• Therefore we need a differential amplifier with a gain of

21.7 and a fixed input of 0.02V to the inverting side. The
following circuit shows how this could be done using an
instrumentation amplifier.
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18
Example 2.21
A bridge circuit for which R4 varies from 100 to 102 is
shown below. Show how this bridge could be connected to
the given instrumentation amplifier to provide an output of 0
to 2.5V for that change of R4. Assume that, in the
instrumentation amplifier circuit, R2 = R3 = 1 k and R1 =
100 k.

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Answer
• Clearly, the bridge is at null when R4=100 Ω.
• When R4 = 102Ω the bridge offset voltage is found as
 102 100 
V  Vb  Va  5    24.75 mV.
 100  102 100  100 
• To get an output of 2.5V at 102Ω we need a differential
gain of (2.5 V/24.75 mV) = 101.
• For the instrumentation amplifier we have
 2 R1  R3 
Vout  1   (V2  V1 )
 RG  R2 
 2(100)  1 
101  1   
 RG  1 
 RG  2k
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21
Conversion
 In many situations it is required to convert one form of signal
or physical value into another form such as
o resistance to voltage
o voltage-to-current
o current-to-voltage

 For example, a typical standard in process control systems is

to use current signals in the range 4 to 20 mA for transmission.
This requires conversion from voltage to current at the sending
end and a conversion from current to voltage at the receiving
end.

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Current to voltage converter

Vout   R1 I IN

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Voltage to current converter

• In the following circuit, the current through the load resistor

RLoad is equal to Vin/(250Ω).
• Hence, no matter what value of RLoad is, the current through
it will be function of Vin only.

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Assignment
Temperature is to be measured in the range of 250˚C to 450˚C. The
sensor is a resistance that varies linearly from 200Ω to 1200Ω for
this temperature range. Power dissipated in the sensor must be kept
below 5mW. Develop analog signal conditioning that provides a
voltage varying linearly from -5 to +5 V for this temperature range.

Hint: You may use the following circuit to convert the sensor
resistance change into voltage.

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Attenuation
• Attenuation is the opposite of amplification.

• It is necessary when the voltages to be digitized are beyond the

input range of the digitizer.

• This form of signal conditioning diminishes the amplitude of

the input signal so that the conditioned signal is within range
of the ADC.

• Attenuation is necessary for measuring high voltages (more

than 10 V).

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Attenuation
• One method of attenuating signals by analogue means is to use
a potentiometer connected in a voltage-dividing circuit

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Isolation
• Improper grounding of the system is one of the most
common causes for measurement problems, including noise
and damaged measurement devices.
• Signal conditioners with isolation can prevent most of these
problems.
• Such devices pass the signal from its source to the
measurement device without a physical connection by using
transformer, optical, or capacitive coupling techniques.
• Besides breaking ground loops, isolation blocks high-
voltage surges and rejects high common-mode voltage and
thus protects both the operators and expensive measurement
equipment.

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Filtering
• Signal filtering consists of processing a signal to remove a
certain band of frequencies within it.

• The band of frequencies removed can be either at the low-

frequency end of the frequency spectrum, at the high-
frequency end, at both ends, or in the middle of the spectrum.

• Filters to perform each of these operations are known

respectively as low-pass filters, high-pass filters, band-pass
filters and band-stop filters (also known as notch filters).

• All such filtering operations can be carried out by either

analogue or digital methods.

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Filtering….
• The result of filtering can be readily understood if the analogy
with a procedure such as sieving soil particles is considered

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Filtering….
• Signal filtering consists of selectively passing or rejecting low-
, medium- and high frequency signals from the frequency
spectrum of a general signal.

• The range of frequencies passed by a filter is known as the

pass-band, the range not passed is known as the stop-band,
and the boundary between the two ranges is known as the cut-
off frequency

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Filtering….
• Filter can be passive or active filter.
– Passive filters: The circuits built using RC, RL, or
RLC circuits.
– Active filters : The circuits that employ one or
more op-amps in the design an addition to resistors
and capacitors

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Filtering….
• There are 4 basic categories of active filters:
– 1. Low-pass filters
– 2. High-pass filters
– 3. Band-pass filters
– 4. Band-reject filters

• Each of these filters can be built by using op-amp as

the active element combined with RC, RL or RLC
circuit as the passive elements.

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Basic Filter Responses
• Low -Pass Filter Response

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Basic Filter Responses….
• High -Pass Filter Response

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Basic Filter Responses….
• Band-Pass Filter Response

• The quality factor (Q) of a band-pass filter is the ratio of the center
frequency to the bandwidth.
• The higher the value of Q, the narrower the bandwidth and the better the
selectivity for a given value of f0 .
• Band-pass filters are sometimes classified as narrow-band (Q>10) or wide-
band (Q<10)
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Basic Filter Responses….
• Band -Stop Filter Response
• also known as notch, band -reject, or band -elimination filter.

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Basic Filter Responses….

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Advantages of Op-Amp Active Filters
• Filters that use op-amps as the active element provide several
advantages over passive filters (R, L, and C elements only).
• The op-amp provides gain, so the signal is not attenuated as it
passes through the filter.
• The high input impedance of the op-amp prevents excessive
loading of the driving source.
• The low output impedance of the op-amp prevents the filter
from being affected by the load that it is driving.
• Active filters are also easy to adjust over a wide frequency
range without altering the desired response.

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Single -Pole LPF

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2-Pole LPF
• It is used to provide very high Q
factor and pass band gain without
the use of inductors.
• It is also known as a VCVS
(voltage controlled voltage source)
filter.

• Assignment: Derive the fc equation.

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Single Pole HPF

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ACTIVE BAND -PASS FILTERS
• Cascaded Low-Pass and High-Pass Filters

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Excitation
• Excitation is required for many types of transducers.

• For example, strain gages, accelerometers thermistors, and resistance

temperature detectors (RTDs) require external voltage or current excitation.

• RTD and thermistor measurements are usually made with a current source
that converts the variation in resistance to a measurable voltage.

• Accelerometers often have an integrated amplifier, which requires a current

excitation provided by the measurement device.

• Strain gages, which are very-low-resistance devices, typically are used in a

Wheatstone bridge configuration with a voltage excitation source.

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Linearization
• Linearization is necessary when sensors produce voltage
signals that are not linearly related to the physical
measurement.

• Linearization is the process of interpreting the signal from the

sensor and can be done either with signal conditioning or
through software.

• Thermocouples are the classic example of a sensor that

requires linearization.

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Cold-Junction Compensation
• Cold-junction compensation (CJC) is a technology required for accurate
thermocouple measurements.

• Thermocouples measure temperature as the difference in voltage between

two dissimilar metals.

• Based on this concept, another voltage is generated at the connection

between the thermocouple and terminal of your data acquisition device.

• CJC improves your measurement accuracy by providing the temperature at

this junction and applying the appropriate correction.

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Cold-Junction Compensation…

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