Product category:
Analogue and Mixed Signal ICs
News Release from: ZMD America | Subject: ZMD31014
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 27 November 2007
Signal conditioner upgrades to 14bit
resolution
Resistive bridge signal conditioner IC combines high accuracy amplification with analogue-to-digital conversion of a differential input.
ZMD has added to its RBic-Lite family of resistive bridge signal conditioner ICs with the ZMD31014, a device that combines high accuracy amplification with analogue-to-digital conversion of a differential input The feature-rich CMOS device is ideal for all types of microcontroller-based portable equipment, such as white goods, wireless pressure transmitters, medical infusion pumps, wearable blood-pressure meters and temperature measurement equipment
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 10 May 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
ZigBee transceiver is matched with Renesas MCU
ZMD is working with Renesas Technology America to offer sub1-GHz ZigBee wireless sensor networking solutions.
RF transceiver boosts in-building performance
Available now from ZMD is the company's second-generation ZMD44102 RF transceiver integrated circuit and starter kits.
Resistive sensor bridges for conversion of physical measurements into an electrical signal are frequently used for pressure, temperature or humidity sensors.
As their conversion characteristics are generally nonlinear and temperature-dependent, signal processing for amplification, linearisation and compensation of the effects of the temperature is required.
To deliver the highest possible accuracy, the ZMD31014 features a 14bit low-noise analogue-to-digital convertor, four times more precise than the 12bit units found in most devices in this class.
Further reading
Transceiver turns to mesh networking
Ubiwave and ZMD have developed a complete sub-1GHz workbench solution built on the ZMD44102 RF transceiver.
Two-in-one chip cuts conditioning real estate
A new dual signal conditioner chip gives designers twice the functionality in less than half the real estate occupied by two individual SOP8 packages sized at 5 x 6.30mm.
Conditioner diagnoses piezoresistive bridges
The ZMD31015 is a signal conditioner IC with on-chip diagnostics for use with nearly all piezoresistive bridge sensors.
On-chip digital logic provides sophisticated second-order error correction for temperature offset, drift and nonlinearity.
Performing all of the error correction in the ZMD31014 simplifies designing the rest of the system and helps minimise the overall bill of materials as well as the overall system power consumption.
The ZMD31014 uses 40% less power than previous designs during operation, and features a standby mode of less than 2uA to further reduce current consumption in battery-powered equipment.
"When we created the ZMD31014 we leveraged the comprehensive experience we gained when designing many different high-precision automotive and industrial sensor signal conditioning ICs", says Dirk Behrens, Vice President of Marketing at ZMD.
"Integrated diagnostics and low-power standby mode make the ZMD31014 attractive for a variety of battery operated applications - particularly ones involving the use of a microcontroller for networking sensors".
Features that are not mainstream are not included in the RBic-Lite family, whereas features that extend the range of applications without additional costs are retained - following the motto "In a world of complexity, simplicity is key".
This makes the ZMD31014, and every member of the RBic-Lite family, ideal for high-volume applications.
The ZMD31014 supports the two most widely used IC interconnect buses, I2C and SPI.
These buses support an addressing scheme so that multiple sensors can be used in the same design.
The ZMD31014's on-chip diagnostics includes a bridge-connection check and a bridge short-circuit detection, allowing the microcontroller to continuously test the entire sensor system and improve the safety and reliability of the system.
In addition, the ZMD31014 has a 32bit programmable customer ID field.
This feature lets system designers customise sensor modules for specific purposes.
For example, it can be used to determine if the correct sensor is attached to a system, or to uniquely identify each system in the field, thus providing easier field maintenance and diagnostics.
Using ZMD's unique one-shot/single-pass calibration, the microcontroller can custom-calibrate the sensor in a very short time, typically a fraction of a second.
The microcontroller can even recalibrate in-system if desired.
Eliminating the need for external trimming components reduces the overall bill of materials as well as manufacturing costs and shortens time to market.
The ZMD31014 operates on supply voltages from 2.7 to 5.5V and over a temperature range of -40 to +125C.
Accuracy is 0.1% of full scale over the range 0 to 70C, and 0.25% over the full temperature range.
Power consumption during normal operation is as low as 150uA, and standby current is below 2uA.
ZMD's RBic-Lite development kit supports the ZMD31014 with a range of evaluation and calibration tools that demonstrate the ease of use and the single pass calibration capabilities of the mixed-signal throughput used in the IC.
The ZMD31014 is sampling now and will be available for production in Q2 of 2008.
It comes in an SOP8 package and is priced at Eur 1.75 for 1000 units.
• ZMD America: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
