SAR convertor claims speed record

The industry's fastest 16bit successive approximation register analogue-to-digital convertor is 33% faster than the nearest competing device.

Texas Instruments has announced the industry's fastest 16bit successive approximation register (SAR) analogue-to-digital convertor (ADC) which is 33% faster than the nearest competing device.

The ADS8422 achieves 4Msample/s without sacrificing AC or DC performance, making it ideal for a wide range of demanding applications such as medical imaging, test and measurement, industrial automation and scientific instrumentation.

"The ADS8422 combines best-in-class speed with superior precision specifications, enabling customers to push the boundaries in their advanced applications", said Art George, Senior Vice President of TI's high-performance analogue business.

"Texas Instruments continues to develop breakthrough data convertor solutions with leading-edge resolution, speed and performance".

The ADS8422 features excellent AC and DC specifications, such as 92dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), -102dB total harmonic distortion (THD), 2LSB integral nonlinearity (INL), +1.5/-1LSB differential nonlinearity (DNL), +/-0.5mV offset voltage over temperature, less than 0.2ppm/C offset drift, +/-0.1% gain error and 2ppm/C gain drift.

The device has a fully differential input with pseudo bipolar input range (-4 to +4V) and includes either a full 16bit interface or two 8bit option modes so data can be read in cycles, if necessary.

Other features includes an internal 4.096V reference and reference buffer, single-supply operation and guaranteed operation over the industrial temperature range of -40 to +85C.

TI provides customers with an advanced signal chain solution for high-speed, high-precision applications including an extensive portfolio of wideband amplifiers to drive the analogue inputs of the ADS8422, such as the THS4031, THS4131 and OPA2613.

The ADS8422 includes a separate I/O supply to simplify the digital interface, making it well suited to work with TI's high-performance TMS320 DSP platform.

The ADS8422 successfully complements several recently released best-in-class ADCs, such as the industry's fastest 16bit delta-sigma ADC (ADS1610, 10Msample/s) and the industry's fastest 14bit pipeline convertor (ADS5546, 190Msample/s).

The ADS8422 is sampling now, with volume production scheduled for Q3 2006.

The device is available in a 48-pin TQFP package and is priced at $31.95 in 1000-piece quantities (suggested resale pricing).

Evaluation modules (EVMs) are also available.

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